AFTER re-reading my lengthy rant bemoaning the quality of our National Bike Show last year, I'm beginning to think that I may've missed the point... Well I am, after all, a journalist. And the occasion for such a shameful about-face was, of all things, the Classic Motorcycle Show which took place at the end of April in Stafford.
Now I'm not as you know a big fan of the classic movement, although I suppose a hypocritical change of heart is equally possible in this area, too. But what struck me as I wandered around the picaresque medley of displays, club and trade stands was that fiat-out commerce has largely replaced the original purpose of such events, namely to show-off what you've got, and maybe win a dinky little trophy if it's shinier and more original than everyone else's. (Which of course is one of the things about dedicated classicism that I absolutely can't stand).
This is hardly an original observation, for specialist interest shows have been little more than specialist interest marketplaces with knobs-on since I was knee-high to a Bantam footrest. But what hit me like a lightning bolt (to steal BSA's marketing department lexicography), was that without such opportunities for horse-trading, whole swathes of bikery would quickly disappear. In the case of the classic movement, many thriving businesses would probably collapse if it wasn't for shows like the one in Stafford, as more than one trader readily confided to me. (Why, I don't know - I could well've been an undercover VAT inspector).
Again, this isn't an especially original observation, but it is one pregnant with resonance when you realise that there are so few retailers of such metallic objet d'art on the high street anymore. It's surely no coincidence that in recent years the number of these enterprises has mushroomed, as a glance through Old Bike Mart's densely packed newsprint proves. Almost every area of the country has at least one event dedicated to ancient bikes and their ancient owners during the year, and that's not including the plethora of autojumbles that don't even bother with the pretence of exhibition.
Until as late as the early '90s, there were quite a few dealers in older bikes and the bits that they hungrily chewed up, but one by one they closed and I can only think of a single such outfit that remains in my original stamping grounds of west and south London. In fact I know at least one aficionado of leaky old Brit twins that gave up the game in despair shortly after Hamrax* abandoned their musty Ladbroke Grove cavern.
Indeed it's not at all funny to note that even mainstream floggers of modern bikes are disappearing at an alarming rate, and for this reason 1'll continue to support Inside Line's campaign to outlaw direct selling at the NEC show as long as accessory and clothing sales are all that keeps many small traders afloat. However that clearly doesn't apply to obsolete machines and those who flog 'em, and the same can be said in other areas of the game.
But what are we to make of exercises like the Back Street Heroes and Streetfighters Show (also held this past April), the long-established Dirt Bike Show (admittedly cancelled last year due to Foot & Mouth - was that the real reason? -Ed) and the forthcoming Dirtbike Expo? The fact that they take place at all is testimony to the variegated nature of modern motorbiking, and it must therefore be the case that retail interests are being served by these assembled wannabe outlaws and intrepid off-roaders in the same way that they are by the classic shows.
This year I've already been to a couple of large autojumbles that extended well beyond the confines of classic bikery, with traders flogging custom bike, off-road and even modern commuter machines and accessories. (And believe me, there's nothing more amusing than watching a straggle-haired goth walking a pair of six-foot long, chrome-plated springer forks out of the gate). In fact I even saw a dedicated dirt bike autojumble advertised in a recent issue of T + MX News which takes the phenomenon of selling fast-moving consumables at motocross and trials meetings to a new plateau. Presumably they would not be doing it if there wasn't a market there, and if that means it's keeping a group of motorcyclists motorcycling who might otherwise be disenfranchised, then it must be a Good Thing.
Even if they do ride goddamn classic bikes.
* Hamrax have been in touch since this article was uploaded.
They say that Hamrax is still going strong, but in different premises - just behind the old shop in Ladbroke Grove. They're at Octavia House, Southern Row, London W10 5AE (020 8969 5380 - www.hamrax.co.uk).