Auckland show shines again
Report and photos Now in its third year, the Star Insurance Classic and Custom Bike Show literally roared into life on the weekend of 15th and 16th August at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland. Run as a fund raising event for charity by the Papakura Rotary Club, the show has now grown to be the largest motorbike specific event in New Zealand. Encouraged by attendances at previous shows in a smaller venue, we’d taken the punt to move to the much larger ASB Showgrounds this year. Looking at the size of the hall and the less than encouraging weather we wondered whether we’d been a bit ambitious with a bit over twice the size of hall to fill? Almost as soon as the display stands and services had started to be installed, a steady stream of trucks, trailers and brave (but damp) solo bikes began to flow into the hall. Any thoughts of being a bit empty soon disappeared and if anything we could have done with more room … especially for some of the clubs! We were up bright and early Saturday morning giving the bikes a last minute polish before the doors opened at 9am and the crowds rolled in. From there, the two days of the show went in a blur of shining chrome, gleaming paint work, stunning Customs and immaculately restored Classics. The Sky Speed show turned up early on the Saturday morning and turned a couple of the organisers into unwitting TV hosts. The broadcast itself on the Wednesday after the show was fantastic with a really good representation of bikes featured. The show incorporated the NZ Classic Bike of the Year contest for Pre-1993 bikes restored over the last 18 months. Motorcycle Trader magazine put up a $1000 award with the prize going to Dave Morley’s stunning 1982 McIntosh Suzuki racer. Dave was a bit overwhelmed with the award, commenting that it’s the biggest prize he’s ever won in all his years of racing! Peoples’ Choice was voted on by show visitors and whilst the final margin was pretty narrow, the award went to Ray Coleman’s beautifully finished 1973 Norton Commando. Ray has fitted this with a very neatly integrated Supercharger and it drew admiring looks all weekend. This was another $1000 award generously provided by the distributors of MotoBatt and Deka batteries. Star Insurance was again prime sponsor and have been involved with the show from day one. Star sponsored both the Best in Show and Best Club awards. Best in Show went to a 1974 Ducati 750 Sport prepared by George Lewis with Best Club being taken out by the Rock and Roll themed Waikato Classic Club. The show judges did an amazing job with 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes being awarded across twenty marque categories ranging from Best Veteran (a 1916 Indian) through to Best Custom (a 2007 Von Dutch Speedball). Whilst the show had many highlights, some that stand out were: John Munro (son of Burt) helped with the closing stages of the Trademe auction for the 2015 Indian Scout presented as a tribute to the Munro racing legacy. The Scout looked stunning with Burt’s 35 racing number and Spirit of Munro logo on the tank. Indian NZ donated the bike outright, with the auction raising $36,700 for charities supported by the Rotary club. The bike is expected to go on display soon in Hay’s Invercargill alongside Burt’s original bike. Hugh Anderson graced the Biketranz stand signing copies of his book and reminiscing with both the young and those old enough to remember his racing days and 4 world championships from the 1960s. Biketranz showed off two Brittens including “The Bike” and Aero-D-Zero which was one of the first bikes built by John Britten. Graeme Crosby displayed a number of his stunning restorations, signed copies of Croz-Larrikin Biker and royally entertained the baby boomers who grew up with bikes in his 1970 racing days.
The replica of the Worlds’ Fastest Indian drew big crowds with the streamliner cowling hung on the wall and the naked bike itself on display beneath. The replica is amazingly accurate with John Munro saying that you couldn’t tell the replica and original apart, even down to the brandy cork plugging the oil tank! Ken Campbell displayed his engineering skill with his handbuilt V8 engine fitted into a 1940’s Indian frame. This bike looks as if it’s a 1940s original with exposed valve gear and hand gear change – yet Ken built it in his shed on all manual machinery. Whilst the inside of the hall was busy, there was nearly as much activity going on in the car park. Parking for bikes was free and with stunning weather, especially on Sunday, the bike park outside the hall entrance was overflowing. There was a real party/picnic atmosphere with the hot dogs and chips stand doing a roaring trade and bikes rolling in and out throughout the day. Numbers wise, a bit over 4,000 visitors came through the show with 475 bikes, 25 clubs and 25 trade displays taking part. The Papakura Rotary Club raised $70,000 towards the support of charities in its community. Planning for the next show is already underway. It will be a tough ask to better 2015, but the enthusiasm generated from this show gets us off to a great start … watch this space!