Bristol Bike Show 2002

Thanks to MaxTorquer for the write up and pics

What a weekend – everything just came together for Bristol Motorcycle Action Group’s annual bike show
and bash. The sun shone and bikes and their riders arrived in droves. There were literally hundreds of
individual show bikes and plenty of club and trade stands to boot.

 
Busy or what??

The whole of the St Nicholas Market and Corn Street area of the city had been formally closed off. Even this
was not enough and hundreds more bikes had to be directed to overflow parking.

 Overflow parking – can you spot the V Max?

I arrived at the check-in point at 9.30am with my Harley riding mate, Tom, who had ridden down from Surrey for
 the weekend. I registered the Bristol Cybermaxers club stand, along with the Tiger Max, and was promptly
propositioned by a very nice young lady, who was with the TV film crew covering the event. I had to fire up the
Max and make some noise pulling away while they filmed my fat rear end  - that’s the 190, OK?

Found Del guarding a slopy downhill spot at the end of the main show – arghh! Cambers, lowered Maxes and 17
inchers all in a heap sprung to mind. In the midst of the dilemma, I was again propositioned, but this time by the
 £15 a time photo studio two stands up who wanted to use the Max to set up and do their demo pictures for the
show. Result – one nice photo of the Max for me and a little deal on jointly promoting each others’ stands.

Back to the sloppy and cramped kerbside pitch, which was not going to work very well, when suddenly, as if by
magic, a MAG marshal in the form of the lovely Claire appeared. Claire, we owe you – thanks for getting our stand
moved to a pitch right next to the outdoor market stalls, by the famous Nails.

The MAG Marshals – and our heroine Claire second from left

In the next couple of hours, the Bristol Cybermaxers’ ranks had swollen to seven bikes, which filled the pitch just
right. The stand generated plenty of interest – big thanks to Del, Gareth, Mark, Martin, Steve and Griff for bringing
their bikes for the show. Others who came down and supported the stand included fellow Maxers from the area,
Shane, Mike and Ron. All day long, coverts, sceptics and would be Maxers alike visited the stand along with a fair
few professional photographers and film crews. We even had a camera buff from the Police stand pay us a visit…..

And during the course of the day, we made sure that every V Max at the show’s owner would come back to his or
her machine to find a Vmaxchat calling card stuck in the seat

Our pitch – innit lovely?

The hairiest moment was Gareth’s Max deciding to go for a ride all on its own when it rolled off the stand. Luckily
 I saw it go at the same time as another guy on the other side of the bike and we managed to grab a handlebar each
before it hit the deck.

 The fashion police give the Tiger Max a suspicious look

And there were many more Maxes in and around the show…

It was one solidly amazing day of renewing old friendships with people we hadn’t seen for ages and meeting new faces
to put to web contacts. One minute I was taking a breather from helping out, the next I heard a voice saying  ‘Hi Andy’
- whose accent indicated that Jai had come down all the way from Kent, along with his good lady. We hadn’t met face to
face before but I guess the Tiger Max was a bit of a giveaway, as we’d literally had our bikes within 20 feet of each
other at the Rock and Blues Show Arena but missed each other! Later, it turned out that Jon’s son Matt was running a
stall nearby with his girlfriend – and we finally bumped into each other towards the end of the show.

 Shiny happy people…

And then, at 4.30pm, it was time for the prizes to be awarded. We didn’t get Best in Show, we didn’t get Best Stand
but - yes indeedy – Mark took Best Streetfighter with his Taylormade equipped Nitrous Max! Total result and a
well-deserved accolade for a superbly presented Max – nice one, Mark, you did us proud.

Best Streetfighter – Mark’s V Max

A big party, with barbecue, band and cheap bar at Saltford Rugby Club, rounded off the day. It had been a brilliant
day for us, a massive success for Bristol MAG and proof that biking – and Maxing – was alive and well in the West!
Here’s to Cheddar!

Maxtorquer