BMF SHOW - SIGNING IN THE RAIN!
22 May 2006 - BMF

BMF Show, 20 – 21 May, East of England Showground, Peterborough.

Dave Myers and Si King of Hairy Bikers TV fame proved a hit with the wet and bedraggled crowds at the British Motorcyclists Federation’s annual BMF Show over the weekend as the rain did its best to wash away the East of England Showground and the thousands of visitors who braved the elements to attend this annual favourite.

Signing autographs and copies of their book, ‘The Hairy Bikers Cookbook’, Dave and Si as motorcyclists first, celebrities second, also signed up as members of the BMF and signed up to the BMF’s petition opposing the latest European legislation on driving licences.

But despite their culinary skills, they couldn’t cook up any better weather and it’s the weather that really hit attendance, down by over 8,000 on last year’s figure at 73,134, although, with bad weather forecast for several days beforehand, the BMF Show was not alone at being badly hit. Clutching at an admittedly damp straw, BMF spokesman Jeff Stone said: “The British Superbikes round at Mondello Park was actually cancelled due to the appalling weather, as was the Irish Golf Open, so in comparison you could say we did rather well in getting the attendance we did!”

Certainly the Honda Owners Club, one of 97 BMF clubs attending did very well, scooping the Best Club Display as did John Hook who picked up the Carole Nash sponsored ‘Best In Show’ and ‘Special of The Year’ awards with his stunning Hook Flash special, a wild S&S powered 2000cc custom that took him over twelve months to build.

The Bennetts Insurance sponsored Yamaha R6 prize draw proved very popular and was won by Karen Walker from Swinton Manchester who unfortunately was not there to paddle through to receive her prize so will be notified separately.

Arena events suffered from the rain with the Moped Enduro truly living up to its name while the Vintage speedway gave a whole new meaning to mudslide. The 3rd Round of Short Track UK went ahead later in the day and although delayed and the track still wet, the racing proved close and spectacular with a thrilling battle between Italian Marco Belli and Pete Boast in the Thunderbikes division final. The 1000cc Harley-Davidson of Marco’s in particular sounding fantastic and bringing a little bit of stateside glamour to a wet Peterborough!

The event attracted a truly international field of both riders and machines with flying Dutchman Sytze Hillega the eventual winner on his KTM. Organiser Pete Boast, who also raced on the day, said: “ Despite the weather and this being our first appearance at the BMF Show, we had a fantastic day in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Can’t wait to come back for Tail End in September!”

The stunt display by Bolldog Lings proved a star attraction too and packed the grandstand as riders performed aerial stunts and acrobatics despite the rain and more to the point, despite mud covered take-off and landing ramps!

The chance to find a real bargain is of course what the BMF is all about for many and the bargain hunters were really spoilt for choice amongst the 532 exhibitors. Some showgoers got completely carried away, like Alastair Church from Milton Keynes buying himself two new leather jackets with faulty zips but then taking them to another stall to have new zips fitted! ''Never mind the rain, never mind the zips, they''re a real bargain!'' he said happily.

Summing up after a busy weekend, BMF Event Manager and show organiser Paul Moreton said: “No doubt about it, this has been a difficult one for us. Months of preparation go into the BMF Show but with forecasts of bad weather for the whole of the build-up week we were bound to suffer, still, such is the draw of the Show that over 73,000 people still made the effort and I’d like to say thank you to them and pay tribute to the whole BMF team and marshals for making it go as well as it did.”

www.betterbiking.co.uk

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