The Beaulieu Motorcycle World Show - 22nd/23rd July 2000
Full story and pictures...
What a bloody brilliant weekend!
Great people, great show and a top laugh to boot.
The sun shone and so did our stand - 13 gleaming Hornets including Dennis Hobbs' race bike.
A massive thank you to the following people, who's efforts culminated in a fantastic weekend:
Rose Clarke for organising the weekend, to Dennis and John Hobbs for driving down from near Middlesborough to join us on the stand and being such top blokes and to all the Hornet riders that turned up - Sue, Wun Tun, Porky, Trevor, Mark, Rita, Keith, Peter, Neil, Dave, Simon and Tom who came all the way from Belgium!
Also thanks to the non-Hornet owners for their help with the stand - My wife Claire - who went out and bought the tent, gazebo and all the other bits we needed and also to Mike (Buell), Maddie (SV650), Dick (ZX9R) and Pascal (CBR) who came all the way from Belgium with Tom.
This is also a good opportunity to thank the Honda dealer ROGER BARRETTS for supplying us with Honda brochures, Rider magazines and Honda leaflets. Thanks guys.
On Friday afternoon we arrived an began pitching tents (Cheers for the help Dennis!)
Dennis and his Dad John were already there and had set up an area for everyone to pitch.
We paid a visit to The Monty pub in the village then sat around the tents drinking and talking all things Hornet until at just gone midnight Mark turned up!
Fortunately Dennis was on hand to help him pitch his tent after a weary treck down from Manchester.
After the inevitable night on the falling down water we got up early on Saturday morning and set up the stand.
13 Hornets, one gazebo, banners, bunting and all.
To top it all it was a scorcher of a day.
At 10am the gates opened to the public and we got our first customers within minutes!
Rose and myself with Dennis Hobbs's racebike - soaking up the sun and pretending we're old hands at this show lark.
Sue Tym and Dick stand minding whilst everyone else is off doghnut hunting.
Our Hornet Cup hero Dennis Hobbs and his Dad John centre stage on the Club stand.
In the background is Porky and his daughter Annabel keep guard on Dennis's race kit.
Nice turnout from the blues!
Me re-arranging the stand - again!
The wind got up a bit and we spent a lot of the time collecting our Hornet clobber from the stand next door.
After a brilliant day of selling T-shirts and getting new club members the Stunt show was put on again in the evening for the exhibitors.
So we got to see the likes of Gary Rothwell up close, without having six layers of the general public between you an the action!
Gary doing a two's up stoppie.
Gary hangs his legs over the bars and does a rolling burnout.
Finally, after 10 minutes of burnouts, stoppies and wheelies he sets about popping the tyre - and succeeds!
Saturday night saw another venture down to the local pub for some amber refreshment.
After being turfed out at 11.30pm we sat round under Dennis's race transporter awning and carried on supping 'til the early hours.
Sunday morning came and we set up again, a little groggy and definitely a little muckier!
Sunday, 9.50 am, just before the gates opened.
Sunday saw 10 Hornets on our stand, rising up to 12 by the end of the day.
Claire and Dennis with his race bike.
An MV Augusta on the stand next door - yum!
Rose's Hornet with the Vermillion wheels got a lot of interest.
Towards the end of the day Dennis's Dad suggested laser aligning a couple of the Hornets rear wheels...
40 minutes later he'd done every single Hornet on the stand - Cheers John!
Two more happy customers.
A moody shot of Me with the wind in my hair whilst Sue Tym fiddles with something.
Can't remember what the joke was, but it was bloody funny!
After the event closed we took to doing burnouts and rolling burnouts on the campsite -
top fun!
At about 6.00pm on the Sunday we packed up the stand and made tracks for home - a little knackered, but beaming from ear to ear.
I'm looking forward to next year already!
Quote of the weekend was from Porky - sitting in the blackness of the Carl Fogarty superbike simulator he shouts out excitedly at a really tight 180 bend "Ooooh, I think I got me knee down!"
Thanks again to everyone and see you all next year!
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