I got to wear my Joe Punter hat exactly twice this year, and had a spiffy time at both events. Perhaps I'm easily pleased… or perhaps I enjoy the outings more, because I also know just how fraught organising these events can be.

We - that is, RealClassic.co.uk and RealClassic the magazine - are well acquainted with the perils of event organisation, and we support in various ways several of the UK's independent shows, jumbles, ride-ins and rallies. We officially 'sponsor' half a dozen or so. We do not organise any events ourselves, nor do we have any wish to (tried that when I was in my teens. Grew out of it at 21. After the ghastly events involving Indiana Skidmore and the Toilets of Doom I have no desire to return to that particular business), although many people seem to think that we do - or that we should.

'Why don't you book a field next to XYZ' say the traders, 'and put on an event to challenge ABC.' We get this comment maybe twice a week. It's normally accompanied by a 20 minute preamble about how our shared hobby / industry shouldn't be dominated by one or two big players and how someone should give them some competition, and how we should be that someone, and why aren't we organising events every weekend, eh?

So, we say to those folks, sorry. We have our hands full with RC. But there are plenty of independent jumbles and shows and events. All you have to do is to support them. Look, next weekend we are at Malvern, and then it's Kempton, and then Newbury. We've been to 30 independent events this year. You can too. All you have to do is pay around 20 notes for your stall, and you can directly contribute towards keeping these events independent.

And some traders listen, and understand, and attend. And some don't. When you next go to an event which is full of people but light on jumble or automotive trade stands, don't automatically blame the organiser. He or she doesn't keep them at home in a cupboard. They come (or not) of their own volition, and sometimes, while they talk the talk, they don't walk the walk.

Next: that thorny subject of awards. Some event organisers don't bother with awards at all. Some let the show-goers sort them out between themselves (which is what happens at the National Clubs' Show). At others, the organisers are trying to reward those people who bring their bikes at 9am and stay until 3pm by giving them a little bit of extra. At least - that's what I interpret awards as.

How to choose the winners? Much depends upon the category and the flavour of the event. Each judge chooses bikes by his or her own criteria, and it is never easy. I prefer events like Ardingly, where at least there is time to see and consider the vast majority of the entered bikes - unlike the arena-led events where one has to make a snap decision from a roving line-up. Our judge last weekend was Frank Westworth of this parish, and he took over three hours to assemble his short-list.

We could bicker forever about mudguards, authenticity, hours of application, ridden, trailered, and so on - but you should know two things. The never-ridden 1975 Commando won the Bike of the Show (not Best Restored, not even Best In Show, but Bike of the Show) award. Of course it wasn't really the Bike of the Show - the machine which attracted the most attention was Tony Curzon's Norton Unified Twin. But we couldn't choose that 'cos it was on our stand, and we'd invited Tony to bring it. Yet the UT definitely received the most attention…

And finally. To ride, or not to ride? It is very fashionable to deride those who bring their bikes to a show in a van or on a trailer. Next time you feel like your lip curling into a sneer - have a little care for your fellow enthusiast. We are not all young, fit and healthy. Some of us can't ride bikes at all any more, and we get our motorcycling pleasure from sharing our enthusiasm in any way we can. For some folk, rebuilding and fettling is all the motorcycling they have.

The light at this time of year is so poor that I, for one, would have been very unhappy riding my Dragonfly home at 3pm. My eyesight isn't good enough for me to feel safe in those conditions. If I'd been Josephine Punter, I'd probably have chosen to come to Ardingly by car. I would have been leaving it up to everyone else to bring their bikes, and put them on display, and so entertain me for a day.

The last word goes to Karl B, who pretty much summed up what would be my ideal outing. 'A good bimble to a bike show, a natter and a pint, that's what Sundays should be like.'

2005 Autumn South of England RealClassic Bike Show

CONCOURS AWARDS

Our RC thanks to: Tony Curzon for bringing the UT and supplying expert hybrid advice; everyone else who brought a bike for us all to enjoy; PaulG80 without whose help the RC stand would have been over-run; Les the commentator who works damn hard to entertain people; (A) for the timely bottle of water; Andrew for organising it all; all the jolly people who said hello at the stand; Colin for the honey delivery, and my sister for scaring the bejasus out of me.

What makes a Good Show?