Category: Events and Shows

1. 6 Weeks Until the Manchester Bike Show 2017

   Posted on 5:00pm Friday 10th Feb 2017

   Your weekly update about the Manchester Bike Show, brought to you from the team at Instantfocus Ltd...
   

   Steve "Stunt Man" Colley  

   Steve was a big hit when he was with us at our very first Manchester Bike Show at EventCity in 2012. Our policy has always been to rotate the stunt displays each year to keep this part of the event fresh but Steve was so good when we used him for the first show we thought it was time to bring him over from the Isle of Man for a return visit. The last time we spoke Steve was talking about winding down although when I contacted him recently he was doing a series of shows in France so it looks like his idea of winding down is going about as well as mine.

   Les Clayton

   Our man with the microphone, Les Clayton is just back from 6 weeks in New Zealand and will be bringing together the events on the main stage which will be situated in the catering area at the top of Hall 3.

   Advance tickets

   Advance tickets continue to sell incredibly well, and are holding steady at 95% up on the same time last year, so we are confident of a record attendance at this year’s event.

   Exhibitors List

   The exhibitors list is now up on the website and shows 46 clubs who have already confirmed their stands bringing 575 display bikes, along with 35 private entries and exactly 100 trade exhibitors.

   Clubs

   This week we have welcomed the Warrington Motorcycle Club who have booked two stands, the Ducati Owners Club who have booked four stands and are attending EventCity in preference to the show they usually attend in April.
   
   Representing the off-road fraternity are the Manchester Trail Riders and Brian Gray Powerbiking who are bringing the two sidecar outfits that created so much interest last year in the ACU section.
   
   Previous club display winners, the Manchester Lyons Scooter Club, will be with us once again and, just to top off this eclectic mix of clubs, the Bimota Forum have over 30 display bikes due to attend and we have moved them from a four stand block to stand 300 on the plan in order to accommodate all their bikes.

   Private Enthusiasts

   Eight or so cracking bikes booked in this week including a previous bike of show winner, the Honda CBX belonging to Martin Bevan from Newbury, Berkshire.
   
   Steven Hughes from Cannock is bringing his amazing custom-painted Honda Goldwing and trailer and we are delighted to welcome Terry Seagraves who is bringing a 1977 Yamaha RD 700 Kenny Roberts Replica along with a Suzuki GT250 of the same Vintage in showroom condition.

   We are about 60% of the way there with 35 private entries booked in so far so again get your space booked with us.

   Trade Exhibitors

   Always an excellent sign when we hit the 100 individual trade exhibitors with a good eclectic mix of large and small companies. Trade exhibitors who have confirmed this week include LCW wholesale on stands 560 & 561, Hunter Class will be coming up from London on stands 351 & 352, Bike Seal who were very popular with the public at the recent Trade Expo at Stoneleigh and at the NEC in November will be on site 404 just inside the main entrance.
   
   Advanced Nano Coating (Hybrid X) will be up near the stunt show on 513 and in the same section Steve Brown with his classic motorcycle manuals will be on 549. It is also good to welcome back Steve Batley of Light Commercials who I see at all the shows but the last time they traded with us was at Donington Park over 10 years ago. Many more hovering in the wings, including a couple of big names, so more to follow next week.

   So there we are, adverts gone off this week to MCN and 100% Biker. I have just received an email inviting us to put digital adverts around the Trafford Centre in addition to the ones we place on the big screen so we will see what becomes of these. I also had a meeting at EventCity yesterday with a potential headline sponsor and hope to confirm in next week’s newsletter. On the way into the building from the car park I was talking to a builder from Liverpool who was there to attend the Screwfix Trade Show. I thought it was all a bit quiet in the car park for a show going on and sure enough the show was due to take place on 9th March not 9th February, please don’t make the same mistake with us! We are looking forward to seeing what next week brings as the event moves closer still.

   Andrew Greenwood 
   #MancBikeShow

   MANCHESTER BIKE SHOW

   SATURDAY 25TH & SUNDAY 26TH MARCH
   9:30AM-5:00PM
   EVENTCITY

    

   

2. 2017 National Championships for Customised Motorcycles

   Posted on 8:06am Friday 10th Feb 2017

   Sneak preview: some of the Finalists for the 2017 National Championships

   KICKBACK Motorcycle Show is hosting, once again, the Finals of The 2017 National Championships for Customised Motorcycles. There are six categories in this compelling competition featuring some of the finest fabricators, engineers and designers. The categories are: Freestyle, Cafe Racer, Young Builder, Performance Street Custom, Old School Chopper/Bobber and Best Brat/Tracker Style.
   
   The awards ceremony for the National Champs will take place at 3pm on Sunday 2nd April at KICKBACK at the Stoneleigh Park Expo Centre in Warwickshire. Judging takes place on Saturday 1st April by our distinguished panel.
   
   

   

3. The You’ve Been Nabbed rally is moving to a new venue for 2017

   Posted on 9:00am Wednesday 8th Feb 2017

   The 26th You’ve Been Nabbed rally will be held at The Royal Cheshire Showground, Flittogate Lane, Tabley, Knutsford, WA16 0HJ.

   The entrance to the showground is on Pickmere Lane adjacent to the junction with Flittogate Lane. Less than 1.5 miles from Junction 19 of the M6 motorway (turn right at the Windmill Pub 100 yards from the M6 roundabout and follow Pickmere Lane (B5391) to the showground entrance on the left just after Flittogate Lane).

   Tickets can be purchased by Credit/Debit card via: 0844 415 4849 or the on-line shop at www.thenabd.co.uk

   Cheques for ticket orders should be made out to ‘NABD’ and sent with a stamped, addressed, envelope to:
   NABD
   Unit 20, The Bridgewater Centre
   Robson Avenue, Urmston
   Manchester
   M41 7TE

   Support the Leading Disabled Biker's Support Group in the World and Party with a Purpose!

   For further information see www.nabd.org.uk and/or www.facebook.com/YouveBeenNabbed26/
   
   
   

4. Prescott Bike Festival - update and Chinese Whispers...

   Posted on 10:00am Tuesday 7th Feb 2017

   There seems to be a little confusion out there about what we're up to, so here it is from the horse's mouth as they say.

   Prescott Bike Festival is going like a dream, Run the Hills entries are almost sold out, Paddock Specials are full, new exhibitors are signing up, exciting stuff for everyone and we have some ambitious plans that take us out to 2020 and beyond. All good stuff. Hope you'll be able to join us on April 9th 2017.

   Shelsley Bike Festival, unfortunately, didn't work out as well as we'd hoped. We just didn't get enough visitors to make the Festival's proceeds reflect all the hard work our volunteers put in to organise the day. Lots of reasons for this (and believe me we've talked about them a lot) but none we can do much about. The 2016 Festival made just under £3k 'profit' - a nice amount but I'm afraid just not enough for all the effort required. So we will not be running an event at Shelsley this year.

   So - as an old boss of mine used to say, "do what you do well and do it better" and that's just what we're going to do. Build our successful Prescott Bike Fest into something even bigger and better and I look forward to sharing our exciting plans with you in due course.

   In the meantime, I hope to see you at Prescott on April 9th and I thank you for your support.

   Best wishes
   Gordon
   Festival Organiser

   

5. 7 Weeks Until the Manchester Bike Show 2017

   Posted on 12:00pm Saturday 4th Feb 2017

   Your weekly update about the Manchester Bike Show, brought to you from the team at Instantfocus Ltd...

   Zoe Cano – Biker, Adventurer and Photographer

   Zoe was a big hit last year both on the stage being interviewed by Les Clayton about her latest book “Bonneville, Go or Bust – on the roads less travelled” and signing her book on Phil Youles Triumph stand.  Since we last met Zoe has had built an affordable custom bike by Ben at Vale Speed in Worcestershire. Both Zoe and Ben will be at the show along with the bike in the photo although where in the halls exactly we are not quite sure but what we are sure about is that Zoe will be on stage again talking to Les Clayton throughout the weekend. Well worth a listen, makes you wonder what worthwhile you have done with your life!

   Exhibitors List

   The exhibitors list is now up on the website and shows 41 clubs who have already confirmed their stands along with 27 private entries and 93 trade exhibitors.

   Clubs

   This week we have welcomed the Preston and District Motorcycle Club to the ACU display although we know that several forms are in the post as I write so more news next week. We are now up to 510 bikes on display in the club section.

   Private Enthusiasts

   A couple of cracking bikes booked in this week, a Honda Dream 50 TT road racing bike belonging to Raymond Dennerley of Stockport and John Cook for Stoke on Trent will be bringing his extremely rare 1957 Sun Hornet.  We are about half way there with 27 private entries so again get your space booked with us.

   Trade Exhibitors

   An impressive 93 individual trade exhibitors have booked in with us so far including nine alone since last week.
   
   Trade exhibitors who have confirmed this week include North West Customs (stands 566 & 567) who have been with us for four years, CCM Motorcycles (Stand 453b) from Bolton who will be bringing their race bikes as they did last year, Gorgeous Bikes are coming up from London on stand 328 and it will be good to see Colin again as he used to support us nearer home at Ally Pally. 
   
   Also appearing will be Arcadia Guitars who come to our Classic Car & Bike Events at Capesthorne Hall and reliably inform us that many show attendees also play musical instruments although I am not one of them!  A couple of touring holiday companies have booked in this week, MCI tours who attended last year although Paul Myers is now fully in charge and you can meet him on stand 461, John Johnston of Hadrian V Twin Tours will be with us once again on stand 404 and will be giving a talk on the stage “Myths and Magic of Route 66” finally a couple of charity stands, firstly The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust on stand 572 and finally the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service will be offering their “Biker Down” courses on stand 587. 

   Advance tickets

   Advance tickets continue to sell incredibly well, and are holding steady at 95% up on the same time last year, so we are confident of a record attendance at this year’s event.

   So there we are, I have just received an email from XS Manchester asking for the copy for the radio & big screen adverts in the Trafford Centre plus photos for their website. We had a meeting earlier today with a view to putting up a Twitter Wall (brave new world!) up in the catering area in Hall 3 so we will see how that progresses. We are looking forward to seeing what next week brings as the event moves closer still.
   
   Andrew Greenwood
   #MancBikeShow

   

   MANCHESTER BIKE SHOW
   SATURDAY 25TH & SUNDAY 26TH MARCH
   9:30AM-5:00PM
   EVENTCITY