TOMCC Meriden Branch stand at Classic Vehicle Show

N.E.C. November 2019

  For the past several years one of the main events on the Triumph Meriden Calendar has been the Classic Car and Bike show at the NEC. This year after many months of preparation mainly by the organiser for our  branch Dennis O’Neill we took our bikes to the Birmingham exhibition site on the Thursday prior to the show opening on Friday the 6th of November. There were 27 bikes booked in to appear in our designated area. They were mainly from our branch but one or two from other parts of the country. They covered a range of years and models and styles from a 1946 speed twin to a 2019 Speed twin one of the latest models from triumph. As well as all the shiny restored bikes on show there was my 1962 Triumph Tina scooter project which was sat in one corner of the stand and attracted a fair bit of Interest during the three days of the show. As well as the bikes we had also on display our cutaway 1968 Bonneville engine plus, with the racing sidecar combo on our stand there was the original engine from that bike which was a 650cc. it currently has a 900cc engine although it has not been raced yet with the bigger engine. it was however last raced in 2001 with the 650cc engine which was first raced in a 500 cc form. Over the three days we took it in turns fairly informally to ensure that there was always a few members on the stand to talk to the many visitors we had. Although it was mainly a classic car show there was a lot of interest shown in our bikes with many people reminiscing on how they had these various models in their younger days and were amazed at the condition of the bikes on display. Several visitors expressed an interest in joining the club.

 The Milton Keynes branch of the Triumph Owners Club supplied two bikes one of which was the Windrick Triumph race sidecar which I’ve mentioned above This was brought by Mark Todd. The other was a 1965 tiger 90 displayed by Gordon Sparshott whose family had owned the bike since it was first registered brand new.  it was a one-time raced in production races and had been languishing in various sheds for many years before being resurrected and brought back To life by Terry Potter of Precision Motorcycle Paintwork in 2016.

Scott McAllister displayed a yellow Daytona from the 1990s which was formerly owned by well-known Triumph Triple enthusiastic John Young who covered 100000 miles on it. Since owning it Scott has added a mere 8000 miles to this total.

Amongst all the shiny bikes on the stand was Clive Humphrey’s TR6 which was certainly not in a shiny condition having travelled round most of South America and the major part of Africa during excursions over the past few years.

Meriden branch member Derek Crutchlow, who’s son Cal. is a well-known MotoGP race bike rider, displayed two bikes. One was a 1961 trophy TR6 which is his regular ride the other being a 1972 Hurricane X75 which has recently been imported from Switzerland with just 3800 km on the clock.

Roy Keegan From West Middlesex displayed a rare 1974 Daytona 500D which was one of only a handful to be factory fitted with a disc brake.  Also on show was an equally rare 8 valve TSS Bonneville from 1980’s.

Most of the bikes on display had a story to tell but space does not allow me to mention all of them. I will however mention my own 1963 tiger 90 which I bought recently in a rebuilt state. It was not even run in when I bought it but it will get some miles on the clock next year when I intend to ride it from John O’Groats to Land’s End and raise sponsorship for ‘Save the Children’.  I have added what I consider to be fairly essential items to the bike which include LED indicators and a pair of bar end mirrors. During the rebuild the bike was fitted with a 12-volt electrics and a solid state ignition system.

. We will hopefully exhibit at the show next year although the motorcycle section of the show seems to shrink each year as the organisers do not seem to encourage the bike clubs to attend.  I hope to have the Tina rebuilt by then and on display to show the that it can be restored to its former glory from its present rather sorry state.

Page edited 26 November2019