Classic Mechanics Show, Stafford, October 2015
So, the tenth year we've had a stand at this show, and a reduced turnout this time due to a calendar clash with the Endurance Legends event at Snetterton. We were in Side Hall 2 again. Tim and Sara got there at 2pm on Friday and constructed the stand. In the absence of the usual grey flooring tiles, they improvised with some red carpet purloined from the NEC show 5 years earlier.
Sara had brought her SDR200 and NSR50 along, crammed into the van with Tim's KR250. Shaun waited round the corner until all the hard work was done, then wheeled his AR125 and AP50 onto the stand. And at very short notice, Chris kindly lent us his RS250 Honda race bike.
The AP50 was a bit of departure for us, being in 'barn-find' condition. That over-used phrase was actually pretty accurate for once, as the bike was parked in a shed in 1979 and left untouched until Shaun discovered it earlier this year. On Tim's instruction, he left the tyres deflated and displayed it complete with genuine 36-year-old dirt and cobwebs. We thought it would get people talking but we weren't prepared for the near-constant attention it brought, along with dozens of offers to buy it for increasingly daft sums of money. Not for sale though.
Actually, as an Exhibitor rather than a Trader, we're not allowed to sell anything other than the odd club sticker and T-shirt, but Chris cheekily stuck a 'For Sale' ad on the front of his RS and it actually changed hands in the last hour of the show. Guest of Honour was TT-star John McGuinness, who appeared on our stand just as we were packing up, jumped on Sara's baby NSR and tried - unsuccessfully - to buy it off her.
Lots of club members came to see us, including quite a few recent joiners which was great. It was particularly good to meet Reggie, who kindly took some of these photographs after Tim watched his camera bounce across the concrete during Friday-night setup...
