Bike Shed Festival - October 05th to 06th Lydden Hill nr Dover

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Bit more detail..

BIKE SHED FESTIVAL - NEW RACES!
We've had such a huge response to this year's Bike Shed Festival race classes that we've had to go back to the Race Organisers to create more race categories and open up more classes.

As a result we've created two new classes; the Street Class and the Easy Rider Class, while Custom Bike racers can now go onto whichever class that suits the configuration of their bike, whether it's a custom cafe, scrambler, street-bike bobber or whatever.

This means that we pretty much have something for everyone, except sports bikes and super-nakeds - which are already catered for by normal track days. (...which is is the point of this event).

Please note if you already submitted on the old system, please submit again. You have been emailed about this separately.


ENTER BIKE SHED FESTIVAL HERE
THE NEW RACES
Café Racer Cup - You’ll need a bike with clip-ons/ace bars, rearsets, a single seat, bikini fairing or no fairing etc. Perhaps not all of these criteria but bikes with regular handlebars and a bench seat won’t get on the grid. Think Guzzi Le Mans, Triumph Thruxton/Street Cup, Café’d BMW R80/R nineT Racer, Honda CB550, Yamaha TRX850, Caféd Honda CG125 even.

The Easy Rider Cup – Feet forward, laid-back racing. Think Bobbers, Sportsters, Cruisers, American style V-Twins, British Twins in custom trim, Japanese Bobbers and Choppers, etc. …This class is is Not for your Ducati Diavel.

The Street Cup – A chance for owners of neo retro, new wave blah blah type machinery – think BMW RnineT, Yamaha XSR700, or Ducati Monster – alongside regular bikes like Bandits, Street Triples, SV650, Buells etc. THIS IS NOT FOR SPORTSBIKES OR ULTRAFAST SUPERNAKEDS. You can enjoy a normal trackday.

The Retro Racer Cup – Carbed sports bikes. Think ZXR750s, 900SS, TZR250, Slabside GSX-R… you get the idea. This will perhaps be the hardest class to police as we’d like to maintain the fun spectacle element, rather than have a bunch of trackway prepped weapons on track piloted by glory hunters. If you have a dedicated track bike then you’re incredibly unlikely to get a spot. Go book a normal day at Brands and let the circuit virgins pop their cherries. And if you have a 2-stroke, enter it, before they’re banned forever.

The Herald Cup – This will be limited to 125cc machines, and ideally for novices new to riding. But we’re also expecting fast folk to want to show that tiddlers can put in a credible lap time.

The Journo Cup – Calling all journalists and ex-champions… Race what you blag from the Modern Retro bike manufacturers’ models and press fleet. We’re expecting this to be hotly contended as there are plenty who want to dethrone last year’s Café Racer Cup king, Adam ‘Chad’ Child.

The Electric Cup – Shhh, Go fast on the quiet. This will be an interesting one as obviously EVs are still in their infancy.

The Vintage Cup – If you’ve got an old Triton in the shed gathering dust this is your chance for nostalgic TT glory. Open to more or less anything without an OHC engine. Ideally 1960s and earlier. And the earlier the better… Pre-War board track racers, suicide shift H-D 45s, Vincent Black Shadow or a Brough Superior perhaps…. but nothing with total loss lubrication systems please. Track maintenance needs to be kept to a minimum in order to fit all the racing into a tight schedule.

The Dirt Bike Cup – Tarmac and dirt racing, on old SM, trackers and dirt bikes or retro/twin-shock supermotos. If you’ve built a Honda Dominator custom street tracker or have an a old CCM604 then this is your chance to let rip. The course is part of the Lydden Hill rally-cross circuit, but not challenging so don’t be frightened, there are no massive jumps.

The Commuter Cup – Panniers, Top-boxes and Hi-Viz, and indicate when you overtake, or lose the pass on your ‘Dad-bike’. Want to prove that you’re the bees knees on your fully laden BMW GS, panniered Kawasaki GT550 or old VFR800? Then this is for you. Ride to the circuit, race, then ride home. This is not for sports-bikes with panniers.

Malle Trials – The Dash, The Malle Cross and the Derby (winners of the Dash and Cross go head to head). …in Novice, Lightweight and Scrambler Classes… Here are the details….

Malle Trial: The Dash
Join ‘the dash’ – a head to head 1/8th mile slalom drag race for two very inappropriate motorcycles & riders.
Open to all riders from first time novice riders to experienced off-road riders.

Malle Trial: The Malle-Cross
Join the ‘malle-cross’ our 1 mile off-road grass track race. with multiple hairpin bends and 5 riders in each heat….plus the obligatory Le Mans style running start! Open to all riders from first-time novice riders to experienced off-road riders.
 
I did a few track days at Lydden, one of the highlights of which was a friend of mine at the time, saving (feck only knows how) his then brand new Urban Tiger FireBlade in a most impressive high side. Happy days.
 
Get your GS loaded up and enter the "Commuter Cup".. Should be a doddle for a well ridden GS.
 
I wonder if I can get my Montjuic fired up and capable of being ragged rotten in time? The battery is flatter than a roadkill hedgehog and I’m not sure how perished the tyres are but I’ll have a look in the morning :D
 
Just back from being away in sunnier climes, then the Lake District... how did this go then?
 
I had a great weekend there. Quick report.
i think that some spectators were put off by the forecasts, but Saturday was OK and Sunday was spent dodging short sharp showers, but otherwise the weather was well .. typically English.

the racing was really entertaining, and as always with Bike Shed events, it was a family spectacle, with little kids riding around the paddock area and an small off road bike track for them.

what made the weekend interesting for me was not only the eclectic mix of machines racing each other, watching Africa twins racing GSAs both with panniers, electric bikes in the mix with old airheads.

There were a lot of ordinary first time folks racing, and a sprinkling of experienced racers- journos etc.

A highlight for me was a full dressed Harley with the sound of it scraping its foot boards nearly being drowned out by its music speakers!

As usual with Bike Shed events, the Losers Motorcycle club had their tea stand open selling a cuppa and a biscuit for a quid.. kinda opposite to the ‘hipster expensive latte’ stereotype usually aimed at BikeShed.

The Malle uphill event event was entertaining as it was pretty muddy.

Would I go again, too right, it was a laugh.

I only have a few pics
 

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A few more
 

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