Kawasaki Triples Club

I would just like to give my thoughts about the club having a stand at the april and october classic bike shows.Many of us attend both shows every year and i support the thought that the clubs efforts would be better targetted towards the volume of numbers that attend both stafford shows as opposed to the so so attendance at the andrew greenwood shows.This is progressive thinking in my opinion and i applaud it.

OK! Who paid you?

In case anyone was wondering, if we go down this route, it will be from next year's April show, not this year's!

If there is anyone bursting to show their bike at the April Stafford Show this year, it's probably too late for a private entry, but the Kwaks and Triples boys were touting for support. I don't have a contact name to hand, but I know Sweet Angel & Harvs have displayed their H2B on their stand and won a trophy on one occasion!

I didn't want to reply before Gerald as he was the one that had already suggested it to the committee members.
I think you will find we will be doing both shows from 2012

Good decision

good idea

Gary T

Malcolm wrote:Good decision

+1 :smt023 they are both good shows.

S2Gerald wrote:OK! Who paid you?

In case anyone was wondering, if we go down this route, it will be from next year's April show, not this year's!

If there is anyone bursting to show their bike at the April Stafford Show this year, it's probably too late for a private entry, but the Kwaks and Triples boys were touting for support. I don't have a contact name to hand, but I know Sweet Angel & Harvs have displayed their H2B on their stand and won a trophy on one occasion!

The Kettles n Kwaks stand is in the end hall same as last year. We are more Kettles than Kwaks this year with there only being our H2B and a mates 71 H2 supporting the Kawasaki side. There is to be 6 Kettles, 4 standard and 2 specials, but all the bikes on the stand are at least 2 strokes this year.
I shall be on the stand with KTC club membership forms and details to hand out to prospective members.

Do pop and say hello to us if you are going to the show.

Angel n Harv

sounds like the incentive to show yer bike needs to be brought back too,

I have to ask.......which incentive are you referring to?

I was wondering about that too Gerald

We have done the Kettles n Kwaks stand for the last 3 years at the Classic Bikes Stafford show in April. It is local to us being Staffordshire. We are not a club, it is done with friends we have known for many years who have Kettles and we do it because we like to and want to

Back in 2009 our H2B won a highly commended (god knows why tbh), and last year we won best local club stand

It is purely something we locals started in 2008 and continue to do each year, and regardless of how much we ride the bikes they will still be there for people to look at and admire.

We are down to 2 this year on the Kwak side but I shall be there telling folk that the slugs are 2 a penny and the best bikes are in the minority.

how do you not know ?
the Kawa club used to pay some £30 odd, to show a bike, thats all' then kyboshed it, it helped with fuel cost from afar, the hotel and the rest is down to owner, so a split cost or even, for love of bikes or the cliub,
give a little back again,

the180kid wrote:how do you not know ?
the Kawa club used to pay some £30 odd, to show a bike, thats all' then kyboshed it, it helped with fuel cost from afar, the hotel and the rest is down to owner, so a split cost or even, for love of bikes or the cliub,
give a little back again,

The reason the club stopped doing it Brian was it nearly put us out of business
we were paying £50 expenses and 10p per mile traveled for fuel for any club member who was showing abike.

At the end of 2006 or 2007 not sure which year it was ,by december we had no money left in the kitty to do that magazine because we were paying expenses.
our magazine publisher did the mag and let us delay payment till January till we had got some of the next years subs in which we then used to pay the December magazine.
we survived on a shoestring that next year but for obvious reasons it was kept quiet by the committee as we expected if it was common knowledge that the triples club were struggling it would put off new members joining.
Since then we have run a tighter ship
There is a lot of work done behind the scenes by all the committee members and it is a fairly thankless task. The decision had to be made by us to stop paying expenses but that is why we are the elected commitee acting on behalf of the club members

totally agree with the decision on that pretext Malc,

although i think £50+ was on the high side

now the club is back on its feet
a token payment now would be better idea, just to help with costs of showing, not that i have a bike to show now, but might help with those on a tight budget and nice bikes, and you might get more responses for the shows, its a very expensive wkend away nowadays. just a thought anyway as response to this Stafford is very poor,.

say £25 pays for mosts' petrol to and from the show,
10 bikes is only £250 out the coffers per show,

as would think most of the new-comers sign for the club at shows anyway its only fitting to put on a good display of bikes,

We arnt actually showing at this Stafford and never have.
plans are in place to start showing at the April Stafford from next year.

tailiftchris wrote:
Surely members would be willing to put something back into the club for the benefits they get ?

We Are and Do

The payment system is no longer in operation

tailiftchris wrote:You pay people to show their bikes ?

Surely members would be willing to put something back into the club for the benefits they get ?

The cost of a weekend showing a bike(s) is very expensive, having done it on many occasions myself over a number of years, both in this country and in Northern Ireland. Ask any member on here or elsewhere who has done it, and they will confirm what I'm saying. Also it is often those members who help to erect, man, control and dissassemble display stands.

The 'assistance' paid to those showing bikes has been a token consideration towards costs and is obviously very greatfully received, as it provides a small offset to the total costs incurred.

Not all club members, either within this club, or elsewhere are interested in showing their bikes, many members prefering to visit a show and appreciate the spectacle of the bikes on display, and that's what a show is all about.

In the current climate where costs are higher than ever, (as much as £600+ per weekend, and often even more) taking bikes to shows has, for many, become one of the luxuries that is difficult to justify.

Members who do, and have presented bikes at shows have always felt that they do so for the benefit of others.

I hope that clarifies the position for you tailiftchris.

tailiftchris wrote:
.

Had a great laugh though much more so than just going up for the day.

think that sums it up Chris

the180kid wrote:how do you not know ?
the Kawa club used to pay some £30 odd, to show a bike, thats all' then kyboshed it, it helped with fuel cost from afar, the hotel and the rest is down to owner, so a split cost or even, for love of bikes or the cliub,
give a little back again,

I did know Brian; I was just checking that's what you were referring to and Malc Anderson has explained the detail. Since that attempt to offer an incentive, things aren't really any different in terms of club membership and available funds, so I've not suggested re-introducing it. For sure, we could not run it at the same level, as you have already said; we typically have 12 bikes at Stafford, so it soon mounts up. We shouldn't forget that both Stafford (Morton's) and the Stoneleigh/Donington (Andrew Greenwood) shows provide a small token amount which we pass on to those showing their bikes, but it is only £7.50-£10 and as Old Coney says, taking a bike to a show is expensive - I know having done it myself many times, both sharing hire of a van and accommodation and on my own. The last time we did it, we had a vote at one of the rallies before introducing it. I would add, we are not the only club to not provide any "incentives" for showing bikes - I speak from bitter experience. At the end of the day, people have to want to show their bikes as well as being able to afford to do it and money is generally tight for most people at the moment. But obviously, any amount would be better than none. It would have to come down to what the club could afford once all the key costs are covered (magazine, regalia, public liabilities insurance, etc.) and a consensus.

I also concur with the others saying that taking your bike to a show and doing the whole weekend is much more enjoyable than going for the day