Clubs corner
The beating heart of the classic bike scene pull out all the stops at Stafford.
Stafford wouldn’t be the same without the support of nearly one hundred motorcycle clubs catering from pioneer and veteran bikes through to the strokers of the 90s and 00s. With so many clubs and so many bikes, there’s always a celebration of one kind or another going on. Here are five clubs at The International Classic MotorCycle Show sponsored by Carole Nash, celebrating this April. Leading the Italian charge is the Ducati Owners Club which is marking its 50th anniversary this year. The club was founded in 1974 and so… the club is harking back to that inaugural year and bringing together an incredible collection of machines from that year. Get ready to be stunned with 250, 350 and 450 Desmos; 750SS’s and 860GTs, and a host of other stunning bikes. Find the club just off the Main Hall. www.docgb.org The MV Augusta Owners Club is focusing on race bikes this April. A bevy of 350cc racing MVs will flanked by its smaller stablemates in the form of some ex-British racing championship 125cc and 50c machines. The Club itself aims to provide technical advice and resources for F-Series and post 1990s models, as well as maintaining its support for the small-capacity 50s, 60s and 70s machines, and the 4-Cylinder Sport and America Classics. Find these guys in the Main Hall, stand M79. www.mvownersclub.co.uk Running up the flag for the Brit bikes is the Ariel Leader & Arrow Club which is focused on a 65-year anniversary of a one-year-only machine. The Ariel Arrow 200 was introduced in order to qualify for lower road tax and cheaper insurance by using a 199cc engine. It is by some distance the rarest of the Leader/Arrow family, only 844 being built between April 1964 and August 1965. Compared to its more powerful sister, it had a smaller bore and lower gearing. Make sure you call at stand P503 in the Prestwood Hall to check this display out. Triumph Owners M.C.C .is celebrating 75 years of bringing Triumph motorcycle fans together. It was founded in a post-war Britian on November 22, 1949 by a group of dedicated enthusiasts around South London. It soon grew into a major National One-Make Club catering for all owners of Triumph Motorcycles, whether they be pre-war (up until 1942), classic (the Meriden Era), or modern (the latest range of beauties designed in Hinckley). It welcomes members from around the world and are on hand to talk all things Triumph. I wonder if there’ll be birthday cake? Be sure to pay a visit on stand M46 in the Main Hall. www.tomcc.org Last but not least is British Owners Club (Essex) which will be marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and Operation Overlord. On display will be 11 allied motorcycles of various makes plus a large collection of military equipment and memorabilia. If that’s not enough, the club is also celebrating 50 years together. The club was founded in 1974 by a small group of like-minded people who, seeing that the British motorcycle industry was gradually disappearing, decided they would form a club to not only preserve and ride British motorcycles, but also where possible renovate them. Pop along to stand S8 in the Side Hall next to the Main Hall. www. britishownersclubessex.co.uk