Bikers Classics

Now in its sixth year, the three day event at the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium is almost a sensory overload for fans of classic racing machinery. Not only does the machinery appear from an era where bikes had few electronics and two-strokes still ruled the world, but also so do the riders from the same age, household names that used to be on the posters most of us had on our bedroom walls! 

It is fair to say that in the course of the last five meetings that the ‘Classics’ event has grown to unprecedented levels not perhaps envisaged when it was first started. Despite the somewhat changeable weather in the Ardennes forest, nobody went home disappointed during the weekend of 19th-21st June, especially given the almost paltry admission charge of 30 euros for the weekend, or 20 euros for Sunday only. Real value for money to say the least!

As usual there were demo rides for the owners of many classic machines and parades honouring champions from the old days such as the legendary Luigi Taveri who was singled out this year for special attention.  

A look around the paddock also found many GP legends such as Agostini, Phil Read, Ralph Bryans, Kork Ballington, and Steve Baker to name just a few. Boet Van Dulmen, who was one of the most competitive GP 500 racers of the late 70’s also put in an appearance as did the always immaculate Wil Hartog.

However, many top Brits like Paul Smart, Charlie Williams, John Hackett, Chas Mortimer, and Rod Gould were also out on superbly restored machines. 

Another theme this year was the `The Return of the 750s’ which was a real treat for those who like the sound of a two-stroke on full song and there were plenty around Spa. Arguably the four-cylinder TZ750 Yamaha was the most successful of the Formula 750 machines of the 70s, and French rider Patrick Pons and Steve Baker showed why.  

Not only were these bikes from the Yamaha collection out, but so too were its rivals of the time such as the Suzuki 750 and Kawasaki triples, as well as four-stroke 750 racers like the famous Triumph/BSA triples. As one would expect there were also quite few classic Ducati’s out in many of the various parades as well.

If all of that was not enough, there was also a four hour endurance race run over the Saturday and Sunday, featuring the UK’s top lady racer Maria Costello, plus the return of the famous Team Bike/Howard Lees endurance race outfit. Valentino Rossi’s mechanic was also taking part although there was no sign of the Italian to help out with riding tips!