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As an experiment the Club decided to have a stand at this years main BMF Show to see if such an event was worth all of the hard work that would go into putting it all together and manning it over a full weekend in order to show ourselves to other BMW riders.

The weather was kind to us with little rain and a lot of wind on the very quiet Saturday and a very warm Sunday and a fair few of our Members dropped by to say hello and scrounge the ever welcome cuppa amongst friend (and a good excuse to sit down during the heat wave Sunday afternoon) - many thanks to those who did take the trouble come by and introduce themselves - it's always good to meet you all.

Saturday evening also gave us the opportunity to socialise with the BMW Club helpers in their marquee, and very welcome it was, too. Lisa Parker invited us all down to their place to share their barbeque and although we didn't do that as Lindsey had a pre-prepared meal for us, we did go down later with a few bottles and partied till about midnight. A social evening like this also gave us the chance to show that the two Clubs aren't in competition but just see some things differently and there was some talk of a possible joint major event for next year.

So, was this trial attendance a success? And will be be going again next year? Difficult questions to answer clearly. We signed up eight new Members and caught a couple of Membership renewals which, I guess made the weekend worthwhile and we all felt that the venture had been worth the trouble as we learned an awful lot about these events and what is needed. The general consensus was that we will go back again next year and, if funds permit, hire a small marquee for the purpose.

I do suspect that some of the Clubs may have been unhappy about the positioning of the Club stands though as we were little more than an add on in a corner of the field where there was virtually no passing trade to catch. I think that our Club probably had the most isolated spot on the site with, maybe ten people an hour walking past and neither the GS Club nor the BMW Club were much better placed (all were quiet). While we did, more or less, decide that we would attend again next year, a similar positioning then would likely make it our last visit as I see little point in going to all that effort to prepare for a large show only to be tucked in a corner where no-one goes. My personal impressions were that the Clubs (the very basis of the BMF) play a very definite second fiddle to the money earning trade stands and whilst I understand that the BMF needs make money from these shows I do think that unless they make it worthwhile for the Clubs to attend by placing them sensibly then they will lose support even further.

All in all it was a worthwhile experience for the team but it would have been better had a few motorcyclists walked past........