Bike shows How to prepare your bike for the judges

FOR YEARS I’VE BEEN GOING TO BIKE SHOWS AND looking at the machines with trophies and rosettes and wondered about how those prizes are awarded, and why. For the Bristol show I was asked, to my surprise, to judge. I write about old bikes but I don’t have the precise knowledge or attention to detail an experienced judge might possess, or the skills to spot the things that make a classic motorcycle worthy of an award. Those who restore classic motorcycles and ensure their originality are important. These bikes aren’t just great restorations; they’re a vital record of motorcycling history.

I was concerned that I wouldn’t know what I was looking for, but I was told by our head judge that as a concours competition, accuracy and attention to detail were important. The tiniest things had to be considered. Were the