The World of Autojumbles at your FIngertips

30th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show

The answer, if our final attendance figures are anything to go by – 30,000 plus – is quite a bit bigger and it’s heartening to see such a healthy interest in old motorcycles. Mind you, with 115 years of motorcycle manufacture to go at, this scene actually does have something for everyone and it all comes out for Stafford.

As far as OBM is concerned there was an extra special reason for being at the show as, gathered together on the Raleigh stand on the balcony were all the editors OBM has ever had... all four of us. Why were we there? To commemorate OBM’s 300th Issue of course. And thanks to the Raleigh Club for putting up with us after we sprung it on them that we wanted to not only borrow their bike but rearrange their stand too.

From my personal point of view there’s never enough time to see everything I want to see at Stafford, mainly because there’s so much to see and I’m not the only one who rushes round like a mad thing. Though this year there was an extra element to my show as the Classic Dirt Bike experience has grown from a couple of trials demonstrations per day to a full on hall packed with off-road stuff, its own stage and guests too.

On the subject of guests, star guest Phillip McCallen really gave fans a treat as he wowed crowds with his stories of racing accolades, including four race wins at the Isle of Man TT in one week and being the only rider to win five races in one day at the North West 200.

Nice though guests are the show is actually about the bikes and buying bits, taking inspiration for future projects from exhibits and just taking in the best of classic motorcycling. Once upon a time a static display was enough for the enthusiast but these days there’s a need for a much more active approach to classic shows. Which is why there are things like iconic race bikes being fired up in the GP paddock, the CDB Trials Demo with dales Classic Club and the bike rideouts.

The public ‘Rideouts’ were once more a tremendous success for the show, with manufacturers including Yamaha, Ducati, Royal Enfield, Honda and Triumph all being thrilled at the event's success. Rob Jones from Watsonian Squire, Royal Enfield said: “The show has done exactly what we wanted it to do and more, with a great amount of enquiries and non-stop rideouts all weekend.”

To catch up on all the highlights over the course of the weekend make sure you visit www.classicbikeshows.com for all the latest news, video clips and photos.

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