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

You’ve seen the teaser and now Honda Racing is pleased to bring you the full version of new team-mates John McGuinness and Guy Martin; available on Facebook or by visiting YouTube.

What happens when two TT legends talk about being team-mates, tea, running and who is fastest over the mountain? Well, this is the result.

John McGuinness and Guy Martin – team-mates talk business is available now. 

Twelve of the greatest names in motorcycle history have been shortlisted for this year’s Motor Sport Hall of Fame Awards. The prestigious event takes place on 7th June in the spectacular surroundings of the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Park in Surrey, and its down to motorcycle fans to vote who will be the next to join legends such as John Surtees, Giacomo Agostini, John McGuinness and last year’s inductee Valentino Rossi.

The nominees for 2017 are…

• Soichiro Honda: as founder and president of the eponymous marque, Honda had a seismic impact on the world of motorcycling.
• Casey Stoner: the Australian star dominated the 2007 season with Ducati, then switched to Honda for 2011 to become a two-time MotoGP champion by the age of 26.
• Barry Sheene: motorcycling’s answer to the swashbuckling James Hunt during the 1970s, Sheene won consecutive 500cc titles in ’76 and ’77.
• Wayne Rainey: a fierce rivalry with fellow nominee Kevin Schwantz lit up the top division of Grand Prix racing, and inspired him to take a hat-trick of championships in 1990, ’91 and ’92.
• Mike Hailwood: few could forget the victorious late-1970s TT return of ‘Mike the Bike’, a fabulous encore for a peerless career that resulted in 14 Isle of Man wins and nine Grand Prix world championships. 
• Geoff Duke: the Isle of Man legend was a household name in the 1950s, winning three world titles for Norton before repeating that success with Gilera.
• Kevin Schwantz: 25 times a Grand Prix winner and the 1993 500cc world champion, the hard-charging Schwantz was part of a golden era for motorcycle racing.
• Freddie Spencer: the versatile ‘Fast Freddie’ scored a historic double in 1985, claiming both the 250cc and 500cc world titles.
• Kenny Roberts: America’s first world champion and a fierce safety campaigner, Roberts secured his third and final title in 1983 after a memorable season-long battle with Freddie Spencer.
• Joey Dunlop: a genuine icon of road-racing, ‘Yer Maun’ still holds the record for the most TT wins – a remarkable 26 victories over the course of 23 years.
• Eddie Lawson: as part of an incredible group of American racers who starred during the 1980s and ‘90s, Lawson won four 500c world championships.
• Mick Doohan: the dominant force during the 1990s, Aussie Doohan won five consecutive 500cc titles from ’94. 

Motorcycle enthusiasts can choose who among those great names will inducted into the Hall of Fame by going to www.motorsportmagazine.com/hall-of-fame. You can also vote by visiting the Motor Sport stand at Race Retro on 24-26 February, where Freddie Spencer will be taking part in autograph sessions and interviews on the Live Stage. The latter will host an unmissable blend of motoring heroes and industry experts over the course of the show, which takes place at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.

You can hear Spencer discussing the 11 other nominees on a special Motor Sport podcast (www.motorsportmagazine.com/hall-of-fame/hall-fame-2017-motorcycling-podcast-and-voting), while everyone who casts a vote will be entered into a free prize draw for the opportunity to win tickets to the exclusive Hall of Fame Awards Dinner – where you will able to rub shoulders with famous faces from the worlds of two- and four-wheeled motor racing – plus Motor Sport books, luxury luggage and much more.

To cast your vote or to buy tickets, visit: www.motorsportmagazine.com/hall-of-fame

BikeSafe

We have had the BikeSafe unit from the police forces in Lancashire, North Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside with us for the last couple of years and each year their display gets better and better. This year we have just arranged for their fully liveried BikeSafe trailer and van be at the show on stand 369 along with the Ducati Multistrada’s provided by Highways England.  You can’t miss the stand, just through into Hall 3.

Exhibitors List

The exhibitors list is now up on the website (see here) and shows 40 clubs who have already confirmed their stands.

Advance tickets

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

Clubs

This week we have welcomed the following club stands Marshalls NW, The Trotter Collection, LCM racing, Early Stocks Racing Club all of whom will be in the ACU area plus The Manchester Eagle MCC who have been with us each year displaying a fabulous array of classic bikes. We are around two thirds there with regard to club entries so if you are intending to come get your forms back to us.

Private Enthusiasts

So last week we had two private entries from Oxon but we can eclipse that this week as David Hooper will be bringing his 1996 Honda CB500 all the way from Plymouth, a round trip of 600 miles! Trevor Bostock will be showing his 1936 Calthorpe Ivory Major that won bike of the show last year and Wilf Vokes will be bringing a 1959 Sun Overlander so we have a wide spectrum as always. We are about half way there with private entries so again get your space booked with us.

Trade Exhibitors

An impressive 84 individual trade exhibitors have booked in with us so far including nine alone since last week. Trade exhibitors who have confirmed this week including KCS Honda who will be bringing the Honda race truck with all the new 2017 models and you can meet the staff of the local Honda dealer, Hunts Honda who will be manning the stand along with staff from  KCS. Bike Torque Ltd are coming up from Frome to exhibit performance parts and will be on site 403 just inside the main doors. A special mention for Jaws Motorcycles of Warrington who will be with us for the first time this year on stand 321. Returning exhibitors include Leather Genie, Birmingham (stand 455) Biker Tidy, Northampton (435 & 436), VMax bitz (420), Motus Bikewear, London (335 & 336) plus Bretton Motorcycles from Chester. A special mention for Boom Trikes from Chorley who always bring half a dozen top quality trikes which always attract a good deal of interest.

So there we are... I have just done an interview with Classic Bike Magazine to go on their diary pages for the next issue.  We are looking forward to seeing what next week brings as the event moves closer.

Andrew Greenwood - Instantfocus Ltd

MANCHESTER BIKE SHOW 2017

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

www.manchesterbikeshow.com