It was great popping down to the Manawatu Classic Motor Cycle Club show at Barber Hall over the weekend to view the nearly 300 bikes on display. It was only a few weeks ago the crew were concerned that the 100 entries they had in hand wasn't going to be enough! It sounds like the last week saw a rush of exhibitors turn up. The variety of bikes was wonderful to see and it certainly makes one appreciate how many different genres of motorcycling their are. The variations certainly attracted the punters in and great to see a range of demographics supporting and appreciating the show. It must have been a difficult task for the judges but pleasing to see a prize come our way with Barry's Pointer picking up a trophy. The Blue Haze Manawatu/VJMC certainly contributed some interesting bikes to the show and pleasing to see a whole lot of other 'unfamiliar' Japanese bikes come out of local garages and maybe living rooms! One comment from one of the punters was the noticeably larger numbers of Japanese bikes one now sees in these types of shows compared to five years ago. To be expected I suppose, and a reflection of the number of baby boomers taking an interest in heritage hobbies. During my youth motorcycles were still the primary transport for a lot of us growing up in the sixties, seventies and early eighties. The deregulation of the economy by Roger Douglas and company mid eighties certainly released a tsunami of cheap Japanese import cars and motorcycles very quickly became solely recreation vehicles for many.
Prize winners amongst our group were;
PC: Best 1980s for his Honda CX650 Turbo.
Bruce C: Best Japanese for his Suzuki GT750K.
Barry: Best Unique Motorcycle for his Pointer.
A big shout out to the Classic Club who put on such a great event.
Great job Gazza. The video was brilliant too, huge number of bikes.
ReplyDeleteNo bites on my Honda CL350, everyone seemed to want project bikes to work on, not one already refreshed.