Southern Classic Off-Road and Classic Motorcycle Show, Kempton Park
A Show report from John Newman
John Newman
Car Park Full! Good. I didn't mind the minor inconvenience of locating side street parking as it meant that this show and motorcycle auto jumble at Kempton Park Racecourse on Saturday 7th December was well attended, and had taken precedence over the forthcoming consumer fest.
Just dragged out of a bog
I love these auto jumble events. Not because I tend to buy anything, apart from topping up my WD40 supply, as I can rarely identify what the collections of parts laid out on tables or ground sheets are. But there is invariably an array of interesting machinery ranging from the restored and unusual to 'just dragged out of a bog' projects.
At Kempton the stalls were set out in front of the grandstand, and a great number of folk were wandering, milling, chatting, negotiating, inspecting and questioning amongst them. This all confirmed the popularity of a good show at a time of year when motorcycling activity goes into semi-hibernation.
Amongst the feast of innovative metal and restoration work on display and for sale was a lovely Manx Norton racing sidecar outfit, which was attracting a lot of attention from blokes who would have had considerable trouble dropping into the kneeling position required of a racing passenger.
And being a show with and off road theme, a number of trials and enduro type bikes featured; including a very tidy BSA Bantam based enduro machine in stand out yellow and black. It was for sale with a price tag of £4950...umm?
Fresh off the boat from Milan...
Talking of motorcycle prices; the centre piece stand in the show hall was occupied by the new SS100 Brough Superior. This must have been a bit of a coup for the organisers, as the bike recently featured at the Milan show, one of the most prestigious on the European show circuit.
It is a magnificent manifestation of the art of replica motorcycle building (see pictures), and yours for around £50,000. It may be worth re-mortgaging the house for, but it could never leave the confines of a centrally heated garage if so much as a grey cloud appeared in the sky. Making the number of riding days in the UK rather limited. Maybe you are supposed to just gaze at it.
The Brough stand was just the appetiser to what was a cracking display of bikes from the clubs. The organisers had assembled displays to show off their members bikes, and one off specials. My favourite, and an eccentric creation that drew a lot of admiring and quizzical looks was what might be the ultimate 'bitza'. It was a 1955 Matchless frame housing a 520cc KTM engine with a Yamaha TW200 front end, a KTM rear wheel assembly and a Jawa tank. The innovative and imaginative touches to this build really focussed attention, and Wemoto News will try and contact the builder and owner, Tim Aucott, to bring readers the more detailed story.
The Landspeed Racing Club, Pendine had brought an Indian V twin engined dragster, that they want to run at Bonneville Salt Flats next year – Pendine Sands is the famous and historic beach venue in South Wales that has hosted many speed and record events down the years.
The show flyer had announced 'Ace Cafe London Presents Flat Track Corner'. This turned out to be disappointing as there was just one flat tracker, sitting alongside the recently created Ace Cafe 1200CR cafe racer. This gorgeous lump of black, white and polished alloy has prices starting at £22,000.
The sole flat tracker was the Zaeta, a street version of a racer created in Italy and priced at £13,000 plus. If you want to turn heads next year either of these creations will set you out from the crowd.
Around lunchtime many of the auto jumblers had begun to return their wares into vans, cars, and trailers. But outside the show hall the organisers had installed a set of starter rollers and were preparing to unleash a cacophony of motorcycle noise into the Surrey air. A Morgan/JAP sprint bike, a fishtail exhaust Douglas,
the shiniest JAP speedway bike in existence, and one of the Broughs from the stand which drew a big crowd, watching as it took two of the Broughers to support the bike and kick it into life. Marvellous sounds.
In the short and darkened days that will take us into the new year it's always good to keep the motorcycle activity spirit moving, and the Kempton Park show has certainly done that for me and a good few hundred others. Enjoy the pictures.
Anyone who was there got any thoughts or photos to share let us know on:
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