COME ALONG AND HAVE A LOOK
As I soon discovered, there are plenty of reasons to visit the annual Biker's Classic event. There's an excellent, relaxed and very friendly atmosphere to appreciate, and so much to see and do it's unlikely you'll be able to take it all in during a single visit.
Primary attraction is the very special classic road and race machinery being raced and paraded around Spa. With unique close-range access to the extraordinary bikes and their riders in the paddock and garages, you can appreciate a host of things you'll have never seen before, or unlikely to witness again. Within minutes of arrival Isaw racers I'dconsidered my total heroes in my earlier biking life, with a regular opportunity to speak to them directly. Several factory 500 Grand Prix bikes were on display in the pitlane, as were many smaller capacity 250, 125, 80 and 50cc race machines. There's a good selection of older WSB racers, too. The paddock is crammed with very special bikes, with stuff like Honda CBXl000 and RC30s, Suzuki GS750 and 1000s being a fairly common sight. These are complemented by several rare and exotic Laverdas, Guzzis, Ducatis and MVs. I lost count of the number of times I exclaimed the words "look at that!". There are some trade exhibitors to look around in the paddock village, or if you just want to relax, you can sample famous Belgian beers, while listening to the guest band. During our visit, there was a vintage trials competition taking place, which was well worth a look.
If you wish, you can arrange to lap Spa yourself either in a parade for free, or at greater speed in one of the trackday sessions. But even if you don't, just a look at some of the iconic circuit's corners is thrilling enough. The road routes around Spa in the beautiful Ardennes region of Belgium are lovely to ride with the towns and villages along the way very attractive to view or visit, too. There's a large, well-appointed campsite at the track or several hotels and B&Bsnearby.
I absolutely loved visiting the Biker's Classic,and will make it a priority to go back this year if the race goes ahead in July (no details of cancellation or postponement due to the coronavirus given at the time of writing). It's just too good to miss!