The Motorcycle News (MCN) Festival is the largest event of its kind in the UK with over 20000 bikers attending over the weekend. I've been an on / off biker all of my adult life. At present I'm back on two wheels so decided to grab my camera and check it out and see what, if anything, had changed since my last visit.

When I last went to this show it was run by the British Motorcycle Federation at the Peterborough showground but faded away to be replaced buy the MCN Festival. Back in its heyday the BMF Rally was an annual pilgrimage for me, my mates and 90,000 other bikers. It was a rough and ready event back then which was ironic as it was setup by the BMF to project a positive images of the leather clad bikers of the 60s when it all first started.

These days with the cost of motorcycling ever increasing and the average age of the motorcyclist rising it's less The Sons of Anarchy and more The Sons of Arthritis attending the show. 

The main attraction for me back then was the biking bargains to be picked up in the massive clearance tents and this is probably what led to the demise of the BMF Rally. With the march of the online retailers there is not much point in travelling miles to scrabble around in damp carboard boxes to find you have pulled out two left hand gloves one of which has six fingers, even if they are less than half price.

The bargains are still to be had, but these days the show is so much more. As you enter the show ground you will find the retail tents and motorcycle club stands. The variety of motorcycles on the club stands is as eclectic as you can imagine. Everything from classic to modern is on display. So if you are in the market for a second hand bike and want to find out more about it you will be able to track it down at the show. And with a bit of luck the owner will be close by to tell you all about it.

I wasn’t in the market for a 1200cc supercharged Harley Davidson hillclimb and drag bike but I got chatting to the owner anyway. Nick Bottings' RCF/Harley 1200 Supercharged 'Caliburn' stood out amongst the other Milwaukee Iron. This thing is long, as you would expect of a 11 second ex-drag bike. Nick was telling me how he had built the most of the bike himself including the frame. He is a dab hand at CAD, not Computer Aided Design but the old school Cardboard Aided Design.   

Nick mainly runs his monster at hillclimb events these days. He will be a Kop later this year where we at Pistonclick should be able to catch up with him as it's an event we are keen to cover. Another bike that took my eye was this well used Suzuki RG 500 owned by Peter Coombs for over 30 years. These bikes are getting rare these days and are increasing in value, so it was great to hear that Peter takes this iconic bike out and abuses it once in a while. 

The lure of the two stroke is strong for me even though I haven't had one for years. It must be the memories of all the good times laying down a blue haze and the smell of Silkolene oil. The two stroke club had some fine examples on show and I wasted a few hours looking at secondhand powervalves and RGVs online when I got home.

It's not all about static bikes at the MCN festival. There was plenty of live entertainment. Steve Colley the British and World Champion trials rider was putting his Hondas through their paces, sometimes with a front wheel sometimes without. 

The Two Brothers Stunt Team were up next and put on a great show for the crowd in a very restricted area. I was really pleased with the way the organizers had laid out the crowd barriers. I managed to get some nice unobstructed shots of the show using a Nikon 80-200mm f2.8.  

There were other live events taking place all day - the wall of death, quad bikes and MX but I didn’t have time to get them all in. The show is on for two days and you probably need that time to see everything.

The main arena was holding the Dirt Track Riders Association National Round 2 and the Hooligans Round 3 and 4 over the two days. Leah Tokelove riding her Indian Motorcycle Scout Sixty Hooligan bike in the DTRA Hooligan Championship. She is the only female in the class and looked fast on the day. In the Hooligan final Gary Birtwistle took first place, Max Hunt second and Leah third.

This guy's unique skill set is more suited to the tarmac than shale. The Former four times world superbike champion Carl "Foggy" Fogarty and King of the Jungle from I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here fame was doing some demo laps on the CCM machine. He was joined on track by Dougie Lampkin, the World Indoor and Outdoor trials Champion as they are both ambassadors for the Bolton company.  

Taking part in the 'Inappropriate Road Bike' class Chris 'The Stalker' Walker the four-time British Superbike championship runner-up taking his Indian Scout round the 337m shale track.

The award for best dressed rider has to go to this guy in the Dirt Quake Class. I managed to get this shot of him and all of the other shots in this report using my Nikon 2DX with the 80-200mm f2.8. That’s some old school camera kit but like the vintage bikes on show, still able to perform when required. 

Bellow are a few images that didn’t make the cut but worth a look. If you have enjoyed the article please hit the buttons below and like and share the link, I thank you.