Organisation for the show started months ago, a letter to the Council and attendance at one of their meetings confirmed their support and permission to use the car park at Brookland Lake was granted. Unfortunately, since the closure of the café we had no dedicated source of refreshments however, we asked Snodland Scouts to cover the event  as they are raising money for a new building.

Since our first show, a number of clubs had expressed interest in attending and a few emails resulted in positive responses. The first task was to update the show flyer for promotion of the event and get it round as many clubs and motorcycle outlets as possible. Many of the local shops, outlets and café's were approached to display show details, our main aim this year was to get as many Snodland residents as possible to attend. In addition, Rod arranged for an article in Town Talk magazine and JV's contact at KMFM resulted in raising awareness.

Many months of preparation, numerous meetings and many Club members became involved, with tasks being allocated and materials sought for the big day. It came around far too quickly! The set-up commenced on Saturday afternoon. Vans, lorries, cars and bikes duly arrived and the establishment of many of the stalls and exhibits was undertaken, with repeat journeys to ferry kit, equipment and bikes back and forth to the showground. An early evening downpour of torrential rain, with lightning and thunder, didn't dampen the spirits and a well deserved barbecue, with a few beers, was enjoyed that evening.

An early start on Sunday, in glorious sunshine, saw many Club members arriving at 8am and helping to finish preparations. Visiting clubs turned up with their stands and bikes and the Scouts duly arrived to provide refreshments. The stage was set. A number of Club members rode off to KMFM for the ride-in and others waited in anticipation. At 10am the KMFM Cruiser arrived with half a dozen bikes and scooters in tow. More bikes arrived and many local people walked over to see what we were up to and the attending visitors enjoyed a superb day with lovely summer weather. By 11am there were over 200 people at the show, many bikers taking the opportunity to show their bikes, and judging of the show entries continued all day. During the day a continual stream of bikers and other visitors arrived and the showground buzzed with chatter, music and the occasional bike being started.

Overall we estimate that some 400 people visited and enjoyed the show, many of whom stayed all day to chat, drink coffee and enjoy the sunshine. The Legends cars proved popular with many trying the cars for size. Quite a few bikers had photographs taken of their bikes, BikeSafe and the Fire & Rescue bikes were enjoying the attention and all the show bikes drew favourable comments. At 2.30pm the results of the judging was announced and winners declared, following which the raffle was drawn. Many of the twenty raffle prizes were donated by local motorcycle outlets and visiting clubs. Thanks to all those that donated prizes and supported the event.

Show winners;

Custom/Cruiser category: Yamaha Wildstar custom
Pre 1980's category: 1949 BSA C11
Sports category: a white Suzuki GSXR1300 Hayabusa
Overall Show Winner: an orange Suzuki GSXR1300 Hayabusa
Thanks to:D.G. Autos, for sponsoring the event and providing trophies

Special thanks to:

21st moto, Barney's Bikes, Kent Motorcycle, The Bike Shop, Chambers Maidstone,  L&M Racing, URALMOTO (UK) LTD, ADUK for sponsoring the KMFM Cruiser,StitchyDays and Stanford Photography

And all the other people that made donations to the raffle

Thanks to:

Snodland Town Council, for use of the facility
Snodland Scouts, for superb refreshments
Any Waste Solutions, for the waste bin
The Beat Project, for providing the PA and music
KMFM, for promoting the event and attending with the Cruiser
Town Talk, for promoting the event
RBR Racing, for providing the Legends cars
Yamaha Cruiser Owners Club
Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club
Medway Triumph Owners Club
Sittingbourne Speedway
Honda CX and GL Owners Club
Kent Fire & Rescue Service
London BikeSafe
Mrs Doig and friends for running the white elephant stall
StitchyDays
Stanford Photography
Jane Wallace, for providing casual ladies clothing
Kent Motorcycles, for providing leathers and clothing display

To all FAB Club members, partners and kids for helping on the day.

Funds Raised

Having counted all the money donated at the show we can proudly announce that £1,023.70 has been raised for Kent Air Ambulance.

The Scouts managed to raise approximately £600.00 towards their building project fund.

All in all the show managed to raise over £1,600.00 for two very worthy causes.

During the week before the show our photographer, Rick Stephenson, suffered a motorcycle accident and is still seriously ill in hospital. All FAB members extend best wishes to Rick for a speedy recovery and our thoughts are with his wife, Angela, during this difficult time.

A big thanks for all the hard work throughout the year by John (JV) and Rod.

Article by Mr Kevin Bush