Judging at Shepton Mallet

Each judge was given a series of categories. I was pleased to discover my categories would be Post-War and Post-1980, where I needed to pick out four bikes in each category, with a handful of rosettes to award, too. I also had to pick winners in Best American, Best Competition (Trials or Moto-cross), Best Competition (Other), Best Scooter and Best Non-Standard.

A splendid Velocette Thruxton, a 50cc Moto Morini Corsarino and a lovely Moto Parilla 175 were already on my radar. First stop were the club stands; there were lots of splendidly prepared machines there. A spotless Kawasaki GPZ750 turbo went on my shortlist, as did a Moto Martin CB1100R. The VMCC stand had something that looked like a BSA Gold Star, but at second glance it was a very special machine, being fitted with a Jawa speedway engine. It was the essence of a special in my eyes. The kind of machine makes you stop and think, ‘hang on a minute, that isn’t what I thought it was.’ It was selected as Best Non-Standard.

The private entries had already been scoped out, but one I’d missed. Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and as a previous owner of a 1990s Ducati the 900SS hadn’t registered. But a second look made all the difference. It was spotless, blemish-free and completely original. Every part was as it came out of the factory, except for two tiny stickers on the mirrors. It also still had the rear seat cowl, something I knew to be made of unobtanium, as I’d spent several years trying to find one for my own bike without success. Most 1990s Ducatis by now have been covered in Ducati bling – bits of carbon fibre and anodised fittings all over the place. Not this one. It might have had 20,000 miles on it, but it looked like it had come straight out of the crate... better than one straight out of the crate. That went on the list. Best American, I decided, was a splendid old Harley-Davidson Servicar trike. Best Scooter was a rare Sun Geni.

So, with a list of my picks, I found there were going to be problems that should have been obvious to me. What happens when two judges pick the same bike for a prize? In the Off-Road Competition class, I’d picked a Suzuki RL250 trail bike, but another judge had picked it as Best Two-Stroke. There was another option for me, an Ariel HT trail bike, so I went with a fellow judge to take another look and he pointed out some of the things only an expert restorer would know. It was a brilliant machine, and it was indeed all down to details. There was a Comerfords sticker on the fork leg and the rim lock on the front tyre was behind the valve on the front wheel, but in front of the valve on the rear as it would have left the factory. On such tiny details are trophies awarded.

The beautiful little Corsarino was another bike with multiple nominations, while Best Post-War was the 99.9% perfect Thruxton, with the presence of a single plastic cable tie the only blemish worthy of mention.

Finally, we needed to find a Best in Show. It turned out that all the judges had picked one particular bike for a top prize – we had all spotted John Crookes’ gorgeous little Moto Parilla 175. A wondrous, detailed restoration of a rare and genuine classic. Oh, and it runs, too.