Half a dozen riders met at Hazelwood Park for the ride to Macclesfield in support for the inaugural Lions Classic Bike Show. Just up the track before Summertown, we had lost two of them. The remaining four bikes (a BSA, a Triumph and two Nortons) continued through Sterling, Mylor, Echunga and through to the Macclesfield Sports Ground. Warren Duncan and other members of the Honda division were already ensconced on the opposite side of the oval. So, we crossed over to the other side and raised our Classics at Hart flags at either end of the row of bikes to mark our presence. Our two lost riders eventually joined us bolstering our numbers to a dozen or more.
Well done to all COMCC members for making the effort, these included Rob Smyth (Triumph Tiger 100), Alan Wallis(Norton Dominator), Richard Knott (Jawa 250), Phil Allen(Norton 750), Mike Ryan(Honda 450), Rene Meeuwissen(Honda CB77) , Graham Riley(Vespa), Tony Mitchell(Honda XBR500), Trevor Jones (Matchless G80S), Warren Duncan(Honda CB400) , Charles Oliver(BSA A10SR) and Wayne Williams who transported the club flags to and fro by car. Another COMCC member Andrew McDonald (Harley U Model) was also exhibiting elsewhere in the oval. There were several other members who showed up for a shorter stay at the event and others whose names escape me, but they showed a 750 Bonneville, a Triumph T100, a CX650, a Yamaha and a Kawasaki. Someone even parked a very interesting 500cc Moto-Guzzi among our bikes.
Many other clubs attended, the Vintage Japanese MC probably had the most, the BMW owners also had a good showing, as well as our own club. The bikes parked in the car park were probably just as interesting and, in retrospect probably should have joined all the older bikes on the oval.
I introduced myself to Fred Keal, the event organiser, who was very happy with the turnout and was already thinking of next year’s event. Several traders were present running swap meet type stalls, local traders were invited to provide the catering and the weather was sunny all day. Exhibitors were given a token for a free sausage sandwich at the BBQ as well as other goodies in their showbags.
After a lap or two and a look round, the Honda dream team had disappeared from our own display leaving a bit of a gap in the ranks. David Saint helped fill the void with his 1957 BMW 250.
There were many interesting bikes on display, as the show continued into the afternoon until about 3 o’clock, when many patrons started taking their bikes home. Well done to the Lions for putting on a fine show, I look forward to next year’s event.
More photos here https://classicowners.org/lions-classic-bike-show/#lg=1&slide=0