The Manchester Bike Show will be back in 2013 - 16th/17th March - Join us!

• What exhibitors & visitors had to say about the 2012 show:
• • "Your show had what others seem to forget these days - THE BIKES. This is what a lot of people come to see. We thought the venue was great, easy to get to and the show was well laid out. For the public it was competitively priced and we'll be back next year!" - Jon Pullara / Digital Speedos
• • "Many thanks for putting on a good show at the weekend at EventCity, looking forward to working with you again." - Keith Martin Photography
• • "We had a really successful show and managed to hit our target for competition entries. All the members of the public we spoke to said they had enjoyed it and had a good time!"
  - Sarah Griffiths / Carole Nash Insurance
• • "First proper Manchester Bike Show for a few years !!!" - John Whelan
• • "Great show, miles better than G-Mex! More going on." - Colin Seymour
• • "Thanks for the show we had a great time visiting this year and thoroughly enjoyed the good mixture of old/new/bikes/parts that it offered." - Nigel Trant
• • "It was far superior to the GMEX shows I have been to . All my friends that I talked to said it was good and they would go again. A nice mix of custom and classic. I think it can only get bigger and better." - Bob Towler
• • "I went today, great show, lots to see fab atmosphere. If you are in the area tomorrow do yourselves a favour and pop in!"
  - Louise Heaton
• • "We went to this show on the Saturday. Superb venue, easy to get to (& away from!!) good entrance price and excellent parking. We hope you can continue to build on this success at this venue and hold this event annually. So nice to have something “Up North” instead of always having to travel to London or Birmingham." - Sandra
• • "What a brilliant show the Manchester Bike Show was - I had two great says and to cap it off won a prize for my bike!" - Iain Houghton
• • "I thought I would drop you a line to say how much my partner and I enjoyed the bike show at EventCity. We came on Saturday and were impressed at how well organised it was, with free marshalled car parking and a helmet park. The venue was easy to get to and a good size; there was plenty of variety and the stands were well laid out. We stayed a good three and a half hours and enjoyed every minute of it. See you next year." - Wendy Pickford

Custom Bike Of The Show: Leathal Weapon / Classic Bike Of The Show: 1923 James Model 10

See all the winners here >>

The Show - Manchester Bike Show

Over the last 27 years ClassicShows have organised over 750 events and in our experience the one factor that has remained constant throughout this time is that the biking community like two things above all else, firstly looking at bikes, new bikes, classic bikes, custom bikes, off road bikes in fact any kind of bikes, the more the better and secondly meeting and talking to fellow bikers. There are literally hundreds of bike events in the summer which serve the biking community very well but in the winter there are a mere handful of events at large indoor venues and they all seem to follow the same format which is to try and copy the International Motorcycle show at the NEC. The truth is that there is only one NEC and as the economy has become more difficult over the last five years these other regional events have become smaller with fewer exhibitors and offered the biking community who have attended them less value for money. With The Manchester bike Show at EventCity we have tried to address this in two major ways, both of which seem to be working from our list of exhibitors. Firstly we have invited the local bike enthusiasts and boy have they responded, we have over 25 clubs booked in for display plus 60 private individuals bringing some very rare and exotic machinery and totalling over 300 display bikes in halls 1 & 2. Secondly we have made the price of the stands more affordable a and guess what? The trade exhibitors have booked them, in fact we have over 100 individual exhibitors booked in with more reserving space each day, more than twice as many as the last bike show held in Manchester. Naturally as you would expect for a show of this importance in Hall 4 we will have representation from the major motorcycle dealers in the north west such as Robinsons of Rochdale, Manchester Ducati, Chester Harley Davidson, Hunts Honda etc all with the latest 2012 models on display. In fact with every single square centimetre of three halls and 12,000 sq m crammed with all things biking we have created an all round event the motorcycling community in the north of England can be proud to call their own and certainly not one you can walk around in 20 minutes!

The Venue - EventCity - easy access, free car parking & dedicated bike park, it’s a no brainer!

At last the North of England has a top quality exhibition centre to rival those in London and Birmingham, EventCity opened a year ago and all the major public events have migrated there from Manchester City Centre. Why? Simple because it is right next to the Trafford Centre, 2 minutes drive from J9 & J10 of the M60, with almost unlimited free parking. No wonder then that The Caravan, Motorhome and Leisure Show held in mid January attracted 31,000 visitors, almost 60% up the last time the event was held in the centre of Manchester. So what about the Manchester Bike Show, we are reliably informed by the event manager at EventCity that there has been a greater buzz at the venue for the Manchester Bike Show than for any other event in the year the venue has been open, this has also been the case in our own office. We are confident that this will translate to visitor numbers on the day to match the overwhelming response of the exhibitors and enthusiasts.

PLUS PLUS PLUS..

• • There will be a FREE stunt show in hall one three times each day commencing at 11.30am.
• • Classic and modern TT racers as special guests, Jenny Tinmouth, Charlie Williams and Peter Fleming will be appearing on Sunday only.
• • A range of top quality bands and music including Stevie Simpson "one man and a mandolin" playing on both days plus DJ's in all the halls.




Click here or call 01749813899 to book your advance ticket and save 20% on your admission price.



See you at EventCity,



Andrew Greenwood and all at Classicshows




March 06, 2012 at 13:37

The Show - Manchester Bike Show

For many years Manchester hosted a dedicated indoor Motorcycle show at Manchester Central (formerly GMEX) normally in January each year. Had this event not been postponed due to the severe weather conditions in January 2010 and the subsequent financial implications of this cancellation on the organising company, this event would probably still be going strong today. There is no doubt that the unfortunate demise of this show left a sizeable hole in the show calendar and there is an appetite, from both the motorcycle trade and visitors alike, for a show of this type in the north of England as it is now the only significant region in the UK without a major indoor motorcycle show.

The Venue - EventCity

So why not simply return to the old venue? Since the last Manchester Motorcycle Show at GMEX a new venue has opened in the city and has had a major impact on the events industry in the north of England. At last our region has a venue to rival the best Exhibition venues in the UK, EventCity is literally two minutes drive from J9 & J10 of the M60, right next to the Trafford Centre, and is therefore far more accessible by road to all the major conurbations in the north of England than any venue in the centre of Manchester. In addition the EventCity has 3,000 dedicated, FREE, parking spaces and almost unlimited FREE parking at the adjacent Trafford Centre. The ease of access for exhibitors building up and breaking down is a major selling point for the venue and it's location on the outskirts of the city means that the hotels are much more affordable than in the city centre. It really is a no brainer!

Don't just take our word for it, log onto the venue website www.eventcity.co.uk and you will see that almost every major public show in Manchester has now moved there including Clarion Events Caravan and Motorhome Show, Destinations Holiday and Travel Show not to mention the fact that the Manchester round of X Factor auditions were held at EventCity (and Simon Cowell is not exactly slow on the uptake!). If you are still not convinced that this is the right venue for the Manchester Bike Show there is one additional piece of information of which you should be aware. That is that the organiser of the original GMEX show had meetings with the team at EventCity with a view of taking the Manchester Bike Show there and had the snow not fallen in 2010 the event would probably have been held at EventCity in 2011!

The Date and Concept

Having organised over 700 events since the launch of our company in 1985 we are keenly aware of the key dates in the exhibition calendar that are the best dates for running a successful event. Along with many exhibitors we could never understand why the old show at Gmex was held in January, a month when the post-christmas credit card bills land on all our doormats and the spending power of visitors is traditionally at an all time low. Having made an early booking at EventCity we were able to secure the third weekend in March, which is a key date when hopefully the weather has started to improve and everyone is in better spirits with the lighter nights and the anticipation of a good summer to come, but crucially before the racing and outdoor season of events has begun.

We have booked three halls to run this multi disciplined event:

Hall Four:

The new bike hall including local dealers, clothing and helmets, touring holidays and all the other exhibitors you would expect to see at a new bike show.

Hall One:

The Northern Classic Bike Show - As organisers of the leading enthusiast led events in the north west we have already taken lots of bookings from clubs and private individuals wishing to display their pride and joy. We still have space for more but expect this area to be fully allocated well before the show opens in March.

Hall Two:

The Rainy City Custom Show - Classic Shows organise the number one custom show in the UK, the London International Custom Show, held at Alexandra Palace in London on the last weekend in February each year. In 2012 we are launching this sister show to serve the custom market in the north of England and have already received substantial backing from the leading players in the custom bike market. If you are wondering about the title, when we first started organising events in 1985 there was a club in Manchester called the Rainy City Custom Club that catered for custom cars, bikes and American cars.

We have no idea what happened to the club but we loved the tongue in cheek name and having run events in and around Manchester for over a quarter of a century we have grown to appreciate how accurately this title reflects the default weather setting for the region, which is light drizzle interspersed with heavy showers!

Plus:

adjacent hardstanding space outside for stunt shows and other motorcycle related entertainment, not to mention the extensive programme of special guests, music and indoor entertainment taking place throughout the weekend inside the halls.

In summary the response we have received so far to EventCity has been overwhelmingly positive and the team at ClassicShows are all excited at the prospect of creating a show of which the motorcycle enthusiasts in the north of England can be proud to call their own.

See you at EventCity,

Andrew Greenwood