Report on the National BikeSafe Motorcycle Show 2008 held at the Metropolitan Police Training School (Peel Centre), Hendon, London on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th March.

By David Carter
(BikeSafe-London)

First, we would like to express a few thanks.

Thank-you to both The London Safety Camera Partnership (LSCP) & The London Road Safety Unit (LRSU) who sponsored the event, to all the Police Officers and Police Staff in London and across the UK who were involved, the Estate Management of Peel Centre and Property Services Department, to all the motorcycle manufacturers, dealers, clubs, organisations and individual exhibitors and to everyone who attended to help make the whole event a success.

The manufacturers and dealers expressed their satisfaction overall with one stating, “Superb event, well organised and was amazed at the investment put into it.”

Clubs and organisations benefited by signing up several new members with large numbers of people taking away their details and most of the trade stands in the tented village reported doing well, particularly on Sunday.    

Having alluded to our contentment with regard to one of the biggest motorcycle events in London for many years at a unique venue perhaps we should get some of the figures out of the way now.

We had 17000 attendees - 5000 Saturday and 12000 Sunday.
 
There were 310 observed ride outs - 135 Saturday and 175 Sunday.

27 Forces took part in the event which was hosted by the Metropolitan Police - including City of London Police, Metropolitan Police Special Constabulary and Fire Officers
 
73 Officers from forces around the UK conducted ride outs.

The overall theme of the event, organised by the Motorcycle Tasking Team who run BikeSafe-London, was safety, with observed rides for members of the public wishing to improve their motorcycle handling skills on their own bikes and also giving them the opportunity to try out new machines from the manufacturers and dealers. However, it engaged a community much wider than motorcycling and showcased many of the strengths of the Metropolitan Police Service. It was nice to see many families coming through the gate arriving for just a good old fashioned fun day out.

A large number of people who attended did register their interest about participating in a BikeSafe Rider Skills Day, but if you did not and would like to, it is not too late. All the details are on this website!

The weather on Friday set-up day was atrocious, with wind and rain. In fact it was so windy we lost our colleagues from Cumbria Constabulary who had to call the journey off, as it was just too dangerous for them to continue on bikes. Four (4) exhibitor's gazebos were lost to the wind, ripped beyond repair and we had to manhandle the IAM trailer as it made a bid for freedom across the field. It was wet and cold, but everything was eventually put in place all ready for the grand opening at 10am on Saturday. Guess what, it rained on Saturday too unfortunately, but thank goodness it was lovely on the Sunday, warm and sunny!

In terms of the weather though it could have been much, much worse because several inches of snow fell and settled on London and the South East the following Sunday!!

The Wall of Death, although being a road safety event we like to call them the ' Wall of Skilled Riding ', was a huge hit playing to packed houses all through the weekend.

The White Helmets were also fantastic as was a late entry to the Show, Mattie Griffin (MG Stunt Riding), Ireland’s No.1 stunt riding champion.

The arena was a good size and had plenty of areas allowing the public to see what was going on. Air Raid FMX freestyle motocross team managed to get themselves stuck in the mud and the Fire Brigade helped to get them out. Unfortunately in doing so, they ripped off the back of the truck which put them out of action for the last show on Sunday, but they put on some exciting displays throughout the show, had great fun and promised to come back if we want them to.

The police dog section was outstanding and had a great family orientated show. We received great feedback from visitors and we were very happy to have them on board.

Officers from the world famous Met Police Driving School put on some exciting demonstrations of car control on the skid pans.

Although not in the arena, the London Fire Brigade/London Ambulance Service extraction displays drew a massive crowd, even in the wet. They were professional and informative and put on a great show.

India 99, one of the Met police Air Support Unit helicopters and also HEMS, London’s Air Ambulance helicopter made appearances on both days with some spectacular flyovers.

Two lucky winners of our FREE prize draw went away from the show extremely happy as the proud owners of new motorcycles provided with the assistance of Kawasaki Motors UK.

The winners were:
Kawasaki ER-6n
David Kendall from Essex
Kawasaki Ninja 250R
Suzanne Ferris also from Essex  


We hope that everyone who attended enjoyed the whole experience of the Show and were pleased with what we had to offer. We are sorry if you missed out and were unable to make it this year, but perhaps we may see you at the National BikeSafe Motorcycle Show 2009? Watch this space!  

Once again, thanks for all your assistance and support with this event.

And finally, to sum up, here is a brief and to the point testimonial that we received after the show that best describes the whole extravaganza in but a few short words –

 “Just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed the show today. From the moment we arrived at ten this morning, we did not stop. There was so much to do and see. I cannot imagine the work you had to do to make it such a successful day, but we could see the results and they were great. Well done you guys. Better than any bike show I have ever been to and it didn't cost me the earth. A good pat on the back all round.”  SERENA