1940 Royal Enfield 350cc, OHV, Restored 2006 - Colours of the Provost Company 43rd Wessex June 1945
Vintage military vehicles they said, including motorcycles they said. Who are they? The ‘They’ are the organisers of the annual ‘Air Day’ held at the airbase in Yeovilton. I had received a couple of free tickets and decided that as the Events website and brochure both mentioned vintage bikes, plus the fact I got all misty eyed whilst recalling airshows when I was a nipper. I remember the Concord being displayed high above the show held at ringway near Manchester. She had to flypast as she couldn’t land as the runway was too short.
I digress, so off I went with other half in tow and headed eastwards. Thousands had gathered, planes and helicopters dominated the sky. Some idiots were doing a spot of wing walking and others were showing off doing loops…Ok it was very entertaining.
1942 Norton 490cc Side Valve, Restored 2007
Still, I’d come to see the huge collection of military motorcycles that would make up part of the vintage show.
Having spotted the show of vintage and more recent vehicles I looked around the site and found the vintage bikes…all three of them. THREE, only three, just three. Whilst I admit the three were excellent restorations, beautifully displayed (see pics) I felt very let down. I felt the print and web publications for the event were misleading. THREE…hell I could have seen more interesting examples down the front of any beach town in the South West on most weekends. Alright they probably wouldn’t have the pedigree of the three beauties on display at the show.
1941 Ariel 350cc OHV, Restored 1998 - Despatch Rider Motorcycle 1944 colour
Filed under: Observation, Rallies, Uncategorized | Tagged: air show, military bikes, vintage motorbikes
