Get ready for a packed day of motorcycle action at Shelsley Walsh as the famous hill climb welcomes the return of Bike Bonanza on 29 June.
The high-octane event features everything from classic motorcycles to hotly contested roadgoing classes, all taking on the narrow, fast and challenging 1000-yard course. Be sure to stick around and watch the thrilling end-of-day run-offs as the fastest 10 riders go head-to-head for overall honours.
Not only does the day features a full programme of exciting hill climb competition, there are star bike demonstrations to enjoy, as well as plenty of off-track entertainment with live music, interviews and more! Event ambassador Steve ‘Stavros’ Parrish will be joining the action by doing demonstration runs on an evocative Texaco Heron Suzuki RG500, a model that achieved huge success in period thanks to riders such as Wil Hartog and Barry Sheene.
Parrish is a former team-mate of the legendary Sheene, who will be celebrated at Shelsley Walsh thanks to the presence of the last factory Suzuki that he ever raced – the XR45 on which he won the 1984 Scarborough Gold Cup. The same bike was also used by two other great names from motorcycle-racing history: Randy Mamola, who rode it in 1983; and Kevin Schwantz, who rode it at Mallory Park in 1986 after Sheene had helped the young American to get a ride with the Suzuki team. It will be on display throughout the day and is sure to draw the crowds.
Other Bike Bonanza highlights will include a 2003 Suzuki GSXR1000 that was raced by TT legend David Jefferies. This was the last bike that Jefferies – one of the most popular characters in British road-racing – rode before he died in an accident during practice for that year’s TT. The Yorkshireman was the first person to lap the Isle of Man circuit at more than 125mph, and the first to win three races at the TT in three consecutive years. The bike on display at Shelsley Walsh is a production-class machine on which he set the fastest practice lap in 2003 at 122mph. Plus, motorbike engineering genius Allen Millyard with the ‘Flying Millyard’ 5 litre V-twin; a bike designed around two cylinders from a Pratt and Whitney radial aero engine!
There will be plenty of entertainment on offer at Bike Bonanza, including actor, rider, mechanic and all-round motorcycle enthusiast Graeme Hardy, who will be starring as ‘George Formby’. Inspired by the 1935 film No Limit, in which Formby played a Wigan chimney sweep who entered the Isle of Man TT on a bike called ‘The Shuttleworth Snap’, Hardy will be in full character throughout the day – complete with his very own replica of the Shuttleworth Snap, which is based on a 1926 Triumph.
No doubt Hardy will have his ukelele with him, but there will also be live music in The Courtyard from the Rhythm Slingers, who are armed with a foot-stomping repertoire of songs evoking a golden era – from Mississippi Mud to The House of Blue Lights. Add club displays, trade stands and more, and Bike Bonanza is a ‘must’ for motorcycle enthusiasts everywhere.
WANT TO TAKE PART? Experience the ‘thrill of the hill’: day licences available upon request. For further details, please contact annie@shelsleywalsh.com
COMPETITION CLASSES
Open to all motorcycles, including sidecars and Morgan 3 Wheelers, with classes up to 250cc, 350cc, 750cc and 1400cc. The National Hill Climb Association will be showcasing its four main championships, crammed with the speed kings and queens of the hill climb world, but who will lift the crown?
- Open Class Championship This is overall championship in which riders have to be really fast in order to get into the points. The quickest riders have beaten world-class bike-racing names – and not by a small margin!
- Classic Class Championship (Post-War to 1970s) Classic machines with that evocative sound and beautiful looks – pure nostalgia for motorcycle enthusiasts.
- Forgotten Era Class Championship (1970 to 1989) Open to two- and three-wheeled motorcycles of all types, from a period that falls between ‘classic’ and ‘modern’.
- Road-Legal Class Championship A hotly contested class for roadgoing machines, giving both beginners and experienced riders a chance to compete on equal grounds.
ALL MOTORCYCLE CLUBS WELCOME!
- All registered motorcycle clubs located right in the heart of the event.
- Discounted tickets for motorcycle club members!
- Excellent opportunity to showcase and publicise your club.
Simply register your club and members can book direct. Please contact: rebecca@eventspr.co.uk
SPECTATOR INFORMATION
Date: Saturday 29 June 2024
Event address: Shelsley Walsh, Worcester, WR6 6RP
Ticket price:
- Advanced ticket: £18. Gate price: £20
- Weekend advanced ticket: £30 (inc the Vintage Meeting on Sunday 30 June)
- Motorcycle club early: £15
- Spectator camping: £10 per person, per night (Fri and/or Sat nights)
Times: 8am each day, until approx 5pm
Please note: general admission includes access to the hill, race paddock, displays and entertainment. Children under 16 free (no ticket required and to be accompanied by a full paying adult). No dogs are permitted.
Bike Bonanza will be actively supporting the Midlands Air Ambulance charity.
Original post on modernclassicbikes.co.uk and published by Frank Duggan. Frank is the Founder and Editor of Modern Classic Motorcycle News, an independent motorcycle publication covering modern classic motorcycles, roadsters, scramblers, cruisers, electric motorcycles and the wider motorcycle industry.
