The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club is a private members club in Shoreditch,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

with a branch in

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. Described as a " social club for motorcycle enthusiasts", it was founded by Anthony "Dutch" van Someren. The Bike Shed is best known for hosting an annual exhibition of custom motorcycles in

Tobacco Dock Tobacco Dock is a Grade I listed warehouse located in the East London district of Wapping, and thereby the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Part of the London Docks designed by Scottish civil engineer and architect John Rennie, the warehouse w ...

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

London Club

Prior to founding the Shoreditch-based Club, founder, Van Someren ran a motorcycle news blog aggregator under the domain name BikeShedMotorcycleClub.com. The Bike Shed shows were founded in response to the perceived poor quality of British motorcycle exhibitions. Van Someren developed the concept of the private member's club after their second show was well received. The founders envisaged Bike Shed as a "

Soho House Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and his contribution to the Midlands Enlightenment and the Ind ...

for Bikers", attracting a younger demographic than traditional motorcycle-friendly venues. Proposals to open the facility were initially opposed by the Shoreditch Community Association and the

Shoreditch Town Hall Shoreditch Town Hall is a municipal building in Shoreditch, London. It is a Grade II listed building. History In the mid-20th century, the vestry board decided to procure a vestry hall for the Parish of St. Leonard's; the site they selected h ...

Trust. The club in Shoreditch was opened in November 2015 in three railway arches adjacent to Old Street. The

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...

venue was opened with the support of British TV presenter Charley Boorman, and is now considered to be one of the UK's best motorcycling social venues. Despite objections, Hackney Council granted the club a license to serve alcoholic drinks to members until midnight. In 2019 the club installed the UK's first motorcycle-only recharging points.

Bike Shed community response

During the 2020 Coronavirus lock-down, Bikeshed organized a volunteer courier-style service in which its members helped deliver food and medical supplies to patients at home.

Los Angeles Club

The Los Angeles facility, originally due to open in Autumn 2020 will be based in the city's Arts District. When finally open, the new facility will include a restaurant, cafe, bar and lounge, a barbershop, tattoo studio, events and retails space.

Exhibitions

The annual Bike Shed Motorcycle Show takes place at

. It is considered to be the UK's largest exhibition of custom motorcycles. In 2018 the exhibition featured 230 motorcycles including track-bikes and custom-built machines.

Festival

The first Bike Shed Festival took place in October 2019, at

Lydden Hill Race Circuit Lydden Hill Race Circuit (formerly known as Lydden Circuit) is a motorsport venue in Denton with Wootton, about half-way between Canterbury and Dover in Kent, England. The mile-long circuit is mainly used for Rallycross, Drift, Saloon and Spo ...

, billed as a day to introduce new motorcyclists to track riding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bike Shed Motorcycle Club Clubs and societies in London Motorcycle clubs in the United Kingdom Shoreditch