Copdock Classic Motorcycle Show
A much-loved fixture on the events calendar, the Copdock show was, like so many, cancelled last year. But, for 2021, it came back bigger and better than ever, as Blue Miller discovered.
If you live in East Anglia, it’s impossible not to know about the Copdock Classic Motorcycle Show unless you never leave home and that home happens to be a cave (and we don’t have too many caves in the east of England). For weeks before the event, a busy crew – I like to think of them as small elves stealthily leaping out of hedgerows – ensures that virtually no roadside verge or roundabout in Suffolk is without a little placard announcing the show and the date. This year, the traditional October slot was moved forward by a few weeks, so the sign elves just started their campaign earlier!
In addition, the Copdock show folk attend all sorts of events through the year to publicise the event, which is even more remarkable as the whole show is run by the Copdock Classic Motorcycle Club volunteers. Over the last three decades, these dedicated volunteers have transformed the event from a tiny show held in the equally tiny village of Copdock, just south of Ipswich, to the modern-day show which now attracts thousands of people and has a little something of everything twowheeled (and even three-wheeled as well). Some years ago it moved from the original site to Trinity Park – still, years after the name change – known to most of us locals as the Suffolk Showground. This was a wise move, for not only has it opened up more much-needed space, but it’s also alleviated the queues which, on past October Sunday mornings, could bring the A12 to a halt in both directions, such was the growing popularity of the event.
Here I have to confess that, for my own reasons, I hadn’t visited the Copdock Classic Motorcycle Show since it was at the old site. That’s a gap of some 18 years so I realised I was bound to notice some changes. But I was quite surprised that I didn’t. Yes, the show is much bigger now. Yes, there’s an area for dealerships with modern bikes. Yes, the show bikes are now in a real bricks and mortar building.
But this really did feel like the old Copdock show, just larger. It’s quite something to be able to not only take a show to this size but to then move it while still keeping that relaxed atmosphere.
I rolled up early due to the other half having a bike on the Panther Owners Club stand, which gave me a welcome opportunity to take a look around before the gates to the public opened. A large cattle shed was home to the owners clubs’ stands with a one-way system having been put in place. I was pleased to see throughout the day that virtually everyone took notice of this and, while I would imagine it was a Covid-19 measure, it actually kept traffic moving well and meant that everyone had a chance to see the treasures on the stands.
And treasures there certainly were! The Suffolk section of the
East Anglian Cyclemotor Club had used every inch of their stand space. These might only be small bikes but they’d managed to squeeze an extraordinary number in – and on two levels as well! The Moto Rumi Club stand was a real breath of fresh air, from the brilliant yellow Formichino or ‘Little Ant’ scooter with its futuristic, sculpted styling, to the glorious little 1963 125cc Junior Production Racer, beautifully restored from a barn find. Then it was back to the Panther Owners Club stand for a cup of tea – this would become a recurring theme of the day – and to admire the collection of big cats, every one of them proudly non-standard!
Thank you to the marshals who actually believed I was who I said I was and let me into the main show hall early. This was just as well because once the gates opened, this would be a busy place all day. As it was, I had the luxury of seeing the show bikes in an empty hall and being able to see at close hand motorcycles that would later have a crowd around them all day. The pre-entries were certainly a very mixed bag, and that is meant as a compliment. They ranged from the cleanest, most pristine Suzuki GS1000S I’ve seen in a long time to one of my personal favourites, Mark Shackell’s lovely 1922 NUT V-twin, although I can’t have been the only person to be puzzled by the showcard stating the ‘country of origin’ as Germany, which would have been a surprise to Hugh Mason and a lot of folk in Newcastle-uponTyne!
It was resplendent in brownest brown and all the better for it. (I’ve resisted the temptation to say ‘nut brown’… oh damn!)
I wish I was able to tell you about every bike in the show, but time and space forbids that. Suffice to say that among the motorcycles that would be familiar to you, there were one or two little surprises. Perhaps none more so than Simon Aldred’s Lambretta scooter. Simon runs Dark Arc Engineering, just a couple of miles from my house, and this machine was a real example of a ‘sleeper.’ With all its turquoise bodywork on, it looks just like a very smart scooter, ideal for trips to the coast and complete with a large picnic hamper on the back. A bespoke badge on the front gives a little clue because behind the side panels lurks an Aprilia SXV
550cc V-twin motor. That was a truly impressive engine in the original
(and increasingly) rare Aprilia model so it must be quite a beast in the little Lambretta. Unsurprisingly, and quite rightly, it won two trophies, for Best Custom Scooter and Best Engineered.
Outside there was just as much to entertain the visitor, especially with the weather staying clement for the day. I’ve seen Toddy and Vandal of the Two Brothers stunt team perform many times, but not for a while (there’s a lot of things we haven’t done for a while, isn’t there?), and I was impressed at how much more polished their show has become. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always been entertaining, but the boys (along with their very brave third team member, Trina) have elevated it to a new level. I have absolutely no idea how they manage to commentate while throwing modern sports bikes about – I find it hard enough to walk and talk at the same time – and still seem so calm. I suspect that quite a few of the crowd didn’t realise that the gentlemen giving a measured live commentary were the same chaps out there doing wheelies, stoppies and leaping on and off moving motorcycles.
The main arena saw displays by the Imps Motorcycle Display Team, the world-leading team which features youngsters between five and 16, in an impressive exhibition of discipline, timing and skill. Seeing them from a distance, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team, the much-missed White Helmets which was shamefully disbanded four years ago. The White Helmets were a regular fixture at the Copdock show and, like the Wall of Death, one of those attractions you just couldn’t miss. But time moves on, and the Imps, along with the Motoball, kept visitors happy, especially those who seemed to have staked their place at the side of the arena early and looked settled in for the day.
Meanwhile the siren call of the autojumble was luring me. There must have been around a hundred pitches, purveying everything from elderly nuts and bolts to complete motorcycles. A suitably scabby mudguard was procured for the Grumph, making it a successful day out in itself. Okay, it didn’t fit but it was only a fiver and there will be something for which it’s used in the future. This new-fangled online auction site business is all very well, but there is absolutely nothing like having a real rummage around in a box, hunting down that elusive part and then having a good haggle over it, and there never will be.
Then it was time for food, seeing as the good people of the Panther Owners Club were probably getting a bit fed up with me eating all their biscuits. Of course, deciding to be hungry at lunchtime is never a wise move and, although there was a good amount of catering wagons, each was accompanied by queues of people who’d had the same idea as me, but 10 minutes earlier than I had. That’s how I ended up paying £8 for a currywurst. Now, I know things are difficult all round for everyone, but eight quid for a (not that) glorified hot dog seemed a little excessive. Then again, I was hungry!
I then took a turn around the dealership area and looked at new motorcycles but, if I’m truthful, there wasn’t anything that really grabbed my attention, although I was quite taken with the Maverick scrambler from Cambridgeshire company, Herald. It might only be a 125cc, but it’s a proper, purposeful little machine, it looks a lot of fun and it’s learner legal although I reckon many riders with years under their belt would like it, too.
With classic bikes, new bikes, stunt and display teams, autojumble and the ever-popular Wall of Death, the Copdock Classic Motorcycle Show provided a full day’s worth of entertainment for just a tenner and it’s estimated that this year around 15,000 people took advantage of just that. That’s really good news because the show is run completely for charity and over the years – this was the
29th show – it has raised over half a million pounds for local causes such as the East Anglian Air Ambulance, Ipswich Hospital and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, a quite remarkable achievement. Here’s looking forward to next year’s 30th Copdock Classic Motorcycle Show and another most excellent day out.