Clean sweep for Classic Dirt Bike Show

The Classic Dirt Bike Show, held in early February at the Telford International Showground, isn’t exactly weather-dependent as most of the exhibits and activities are inside, and to be fair, many of the outside jumble stalls are undercover. Most of the punter tickets are sold in advance, but given the choice of driving a few hundred miles in heavy rain or sitting in front of the fire watching your favourite TV channel, you might be tempted to forgo the price of a ticket. Fortunately, this year, the weather wasn’t too bad, and most of the 9219 visitors arrived with smiles on their faces and money in their pockets.

Not only were visitor numbers up, but so were the number of exhibitors. Some 520 were displaying their offerings, and according to Mortons Media event manager Nick Mowbray, the outside bike jumble area was rammed with bargain hunters on the opening Saturday. This year, and thanks to the main sponsor Hagon Shocks, there was a big speedway theme. Under the dirt bike banner, speedway and grasstrack are often neglected, but there is still a sizeable enthusiast interest in both sports.

Apart from the hardware on display, there was a collection of speedway race outfits from different countries. A number of the UK tracks, such as Birmingham’s Belle View, were represented. Believe it or not, there are still three leagues in British Speedway: Premiership, Championship and National Development League.

As far as entertainment went, John McCrink was doing his usual on-stage interviews with off-road celebs. This year, they included five-time World Trials Champion Yrjo ‘Vesty’ Vesterninen and the only Brit ever to win the motocross 250cc world title, Neil Hudson. As if that wasn’t enough, there was the surprise appearance of Sammy Miller, who was celebrating his official 90th birthday, which was actually at the end of last year. He was presented with a caricature drawing of himself by John McCrink, which is destined to hang in the Sammy Miller Museum.

One of the regular big exhibitors is In Motion Bultaco UK, who made a special effort this year as last year was their most profitable to date. Despite the name, In Motion has evolved over the years into Europe’s biggest supplier of Twinshock Trials spares and accessories. When we spoke to company founder Dave Renham, he said it was too early to tell how profitable the event had been, but it had been a very busy show.

“It was pretty hectic. We had a big stand and were flat out most of the time, so I think we’ve done at least as well this year as last year. Sunday is always a bit slower, but it wasn’t too bad. The organisers could perhaps hold the event on Friday and Saturday instead, as being a classic show, most of the customers are semi-retired. In some ways, it’s not just about the money; it’s also about showing your potential customers what you’ve got. We cater for most of the Twinshock Trials bikes, and in a lot of instances, we get spares specially manufactured. Classic trials are still very much alive and well in the UK and Europe.”