Yesterday it was the Ashford Classic Motorcycle Show in er, well, Ashford in Kent. The event is held at the livestock market. Thankfully there is no livestock hanging about and they do a superb job of removing the excremental evidence.
The show has the auto jumble outside and the bike displays from clubs in inside in the "warm". Even with the UK in the grips of the arctic winds coming in from the east, many riders had taken the opportunity to ride into the event. In fact. some of the bikes in the bike park were more interesting than some inside!
Sadly, with my wife Claire, a currently non-riding pillion aboard we had to take the car and inch our way to the rear car-park. Once in, a fiver well spent, we met up with my brother, Neill, and his partner Catherine, and took a turn around the show.
I was very taken with the Sixteener club with their display of FS1-E sports mopeds (with pedals) and something I have never seen outside of the scooter shop in Tolworth, the Fantic Chopper!
It seemed that a lot of the visitors were there to re-live the good old days of the British Motorcycle Industry. Those halcyon days before Honda released the CB750 four cylinder superbike.
There were quite a few old British bikes in the halls and corridors and there were some surprisingly unrestored bikes as well as the multi-quid restored classics.
I guess my favourite was the BSA Rocket-3. There were two but the one with the ray-gun silencers looked the part and turned out to be a re-import from the US.
Although it would be a toss-up between the Rocket-3 and the red Vincent I found in another hall. There is something about this one; it looks a bit more modern than the usual dual seat Vincent. The tank look vaguely like a Hesketh......
What do you think? Gorgeous eh?
From that point we ventured outside and it was freezing. There was a guy with a load of junk, although he liked to call them "Italian imports" including a Piaggio Ape pickup that had seen many better days for £950 and some rather banged and chipped scooters, Honda not real Italian stuff!
Then after a look around the auto jumble stands and wondering what half the bits were for and even what they came off, we headed for the exit an a drive to the local Triumph dealers.
And lastly, some more pictures taken on the day...... Click on any of the photos to see the bigger one.....
An after all the old British stuff there's at least a Jap 4 and a modern bike....
In fact, the lack of classic Suzukis in the show made me feel even more guilty that I have one in my garage that I used to pore love over and spend hours on a camping stool keeping the alloy bright and shiny and since I moved to the south coast (and to garages with no power and light) I have lost interest.
Maybe the Ashford Classic Motorcycle Show 2014 is a goal?
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