Ally Pally Show Part 1

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org

 

7^th to 8^th September 2013.

As advertised it was supposed to take place in April but was cancelled and having promised to support the LE Owners Club then I could not refuse now. Paul and Ron had helped a great deal to make the Southern Classic Bike show in May and I had collected all the stand props from Chris at the previous club night. We were able to set up the stand from 10am on Friday. My plan was to get there as early as I could with the Valiant, come home by public transport then go back in the car with the props to meet up with Paula and Ron at 5pm to set up the stand. Unfortunately the weather got in the way and I postponed riding the Valiant to the show until Saturday morning. That meant I had a really early start to ensure I got to the show in plenty of time before it opened at 10am.

It was wet in the morning and I missed the rain that arrived as I arrived at the show. It had only taken 40 minutes following a lorry at a modest 35 to 40mph around the North Circular. Ron and Paul arrived about 9am. A mug of tea and we were ready for the day. The doors opened at 10 and a few people came in and our day of PRing for the club and the museum began. It was slow and many people complained about value for money. I said to a number of people it was better at the Museum. By 11:30 the first of the stunt displays in the arena next to us had finished and the music from the disco also near us was so loud we couldn’t hear what people were saying. I was losing my voice and when asked they did move the speakers away from us and turned the sound down enough for us to have a sensible conversation with any one passing. Many of the questions were about the LE cutaway engine and gearbox borrowed for the weekend from the Museum. We had the BSA Bantam owners club next to us and just across the way was the Two Stroke owners club. It was a bit disappointing as these were the only bike clubs at the show. Others had promised to come but not turned up.

There were some interesting bikes at the show, a little desmo Ducati that had been well restored and a 125 water cooled DKW racer that was scarily fast and with only 4inch brakes! I guess it was because you wanted to carry as much corner as you could so you didn’t need much braking.

As I wandered around the stalls there was a modern version of the Monkey Bike on the Honda stand. I was looking for a bike that I could put into a small van so something less than 1.8m long and 0.9 high and about 100kg could fit the bill. It was yellow and 125cc so it could pull two up easily. The only problem with it was the rear seat was so small I’m not sure anyone could fit on it. I marked this one down for a test ride.

Lunch came and went with a short break away from the stand followed by another stunt display that once again left the acrid fragrance of rubber. I wonder if the manufacturers could do something about that? How about jojoba as preferred by man and dog? Or am I getting my TV ads mixed up. The day speeded up and the final stunt of the day with lots of noise and burnt rubber sending everyone away coughing. I did manage to get a pair if Kevlar jeans for summer riding at a sensible price and now I have a pair the weather has changed forever and I will have to leave the country for sunnier climes to use them. Another day at the office tomorrow and I will need at least two hours to get to the show and things are  slower on public transport on Sunday mornings.