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The 2005 BMF Show - Oli Rhys gives a flavour of the annual trip to Peterborough (well there isn't much reason to visit otherwise…)

Anticipation is a great feeling. I have been looking forward to this weekend for months. Where were we going? The BMF show, at the East of England Showground, the largest motorcycle show in Europe.

This would be my second trip and lessons had been learned first time round; You can't carry many bargains on a bike, camping is a cold affair, the toilets are best used out of the rush hour and don't think you will get any decent sleep. So we turned up in a Vauxhall Cavalier, towing a caravan, bought for £30!

Hundreds of tents filled with hundreds of bikers... We arrived at 5pm and saw the most amazing sight. Hundreds upon hundreds of tents with the wildest variety of bikes you have ever seen. There were CBR's, ZZR's, BMW's, old and new. There were rat bikes, trikes, Harleys. Some fella had even turned up on his TDR250.

In the tenting area there were a few interesting stalls. The first aid, the Breakfast bar - a huge canteen tent - and a corner shop. Entertainment was a border crossing away (your entry is controlled by wristband), so we headed for a pint, as time was getting on…

Three bar trailers were overwhelmed with tired, thirsty bikers. There was a great cross section of people, all with one interest in common. There were old timers, old tourers, Belgians, Patch gang members, wannabe racers and racing winners, biker groupies, Sunday specials and all weather bikers. It was possibly the best way of demonstrating what the BMF stood for; everyone who own or rode a bike.

The BMF show attracts all kinds of bikes, both old... Away from the bar was the rock tent, where a bunch of girls, known as the playgirls were doing some very interesting covers of some of the best classics known to man. Tunes by AC/DC, Metallica and Nirvana were blasted out to a capacity crowd. It seemed like each member of the band specialised in certain band covers. The Bass player sang AC/DC, the drummer sang Led Zeppelin. It was a great show, but eventually, it had to end.

We decided it would be fun to have a go at the dodgems. We were right, it was fun. I wasn't brave or stupid enough to go on the reverse bungee machine. This was a big metal ball which was flung into the lower part of the Earth atmosphere at the speed of sound - or so it seemed! Others were braver, stupider or drunker than me and got some well deserved air!

... and not so old The BMF also serves up a fine spread of food; Burgers, pasties, Chinese, Pizza, Indian and even a Mexican stall were open for business. It wasn't cheap but it was very tasty. Talking about tasty, my friend got the autograph of the lead singer of the Playgirls (editorial note; so how come no photograph? 0/10 and report to the headmaster's room).

There is also a dance tent - but possibly the less said about that the better…

Saturday morning saw us hitting the autojumble as we were looking for parts to fix up a GPZ500s on a budget. There was a whole GPZ for £125, but it was rusty in all the wrong places (ed's next note, welcome to the wonderful world of the autojumble). Then we found it, a rear shock for only £20. There was also a pair of mirrors for a £10 and great looking front tyre also for a £10. I was happy!

The autojumble - one man's old junk is another man's gem? With the parts sourced, it was time to visit the sheds, where the smaller traders could be found. There were people selling hippy wear, wonder polishes and every tool known in the western world.

One stall that caught my eye was a charity that was planning to tour India on Royal Enfields. They wanted me to raise £3200 and I could go with them. After the 16 days, the bikes would be given to charities in India.

As we left the sheds, it started to rain (ed's next note - why does it always seem to rain at bike shows?), quickly increasing in intensity until it was of storm proportions and the lightning began to flash. Luckily, as soon as it had come, it was gone, but some of the traders were having problems and their stock was in danger of becoming damaged.

Madness, or marvellous? The 'Run Wot You Brung' speedway is hugely popular Before going spending, we visited the grandstand and saw a wonderful sight. 63 mad mopeds. This was a tradition. Take a 50cc bike and race it. You can either be serious, like some of the dirt bike riders, or you can be daft, like the Mexicans or the big burly blokes with their monkey bike! It was nice to see motor sport that isn't all about big money. It was still exciting, just not quite as glitzy!

Of course, the BMF is also about bargain hunting and I managed to buy a BOX Motocross helmet for £20, some goggles for £7.50 and various funny stickers and t-shirts from the Ogri stand.

Sunday saw more of the same. Three stalls got our attention. Frank Thomas Clearance, Hein Gericke and Oxford Products. This was where you needed your haggling head on.

I found a nice Dynamic leather jacket in Frank Thomas. Shop soiled price, £25. Oxford had a Thatcham approved padlock for only £10 when I spent another £10 on a bum bag. So £20 spent on £65 of items! The greatest bargains are always in the Hein Gericke stand. Helmets had been £40 each at the beginning of the weekend. Now down to £5 for the last few open face models. The slightly damaged boots were down to £20. I found the bargain of the day in a pair of racing leather trousers (RRP £199), with no visible damage, an over suit and some overshoes that I picked up for £30!

This V-Max hasn't been mentioned anywhere, so why show a photo? Just look at it! Despite spending three days at the show, we found we were still worried how much we hadn't seen. The show is just so big that you are never too sure if you have seen everything. One thing, however, we were agreed; we would be back, along with at least another 85,000 people!

For more information on the BMF, membership, and their shows throughout the year,visit the BMF's website

Been to a show? Want to tell everyone what it was like? Then click here to find out how



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