Head to the Shed: Bike Shed celebrate past, present and future with upcoming Moto Show

London’s Bike Shed are gearing up to celebrate the past, present, and future of custom motorcycling with their 13th annual Moto Show event, which will take place at the capital’s Tobacco Dock on Saturday, May 27 and Sunday, May 28, 2023.

• Last year’s show as it happened

“In terms of the physical manifestation of it, this year we’ll have a bit of room for vintage, which we don’t normally do because there are plenty of proper vintage festivals out there, but we’re not necessarily looking for pure thoroughbred vintage bikes,” said Bike Shed founder Dutch van Someren. 

But it’s not just about history… “We’re definitely going to be working with the brands over some of the innovative tech that they have coming up in tyres, rider integration and helmet communication. There’s an awful lot of stuff going on that people talk about in terms of rider aids and powertrains, hydrogen versus electric bikes.

“So, we have a whole area dedicated to future innovation.” He added: “I don’t want to give away too much because some of these things are brand new and they’re proprietary and some of them will be revealed at the show.” 

There will of course be plenty of bikes although no demo rides will be available, part by limitations of the venue and part by design as van Someren says the idea is to put on a “show like no other” and steer away from the tried and tested trade show model.

Van Someren said: “We’ve really tried to create a motorcycle show that, as well as being great for aficionados, is also great for people that just think motorcycles are cool.

“One of the main functions that we have at the company is bringing new people into biking and making biking more acceptable to the masses,” he continued. “So, we create a show that’s family friendly. It’s great for your kids and your other half. We’re going to have great food, great music, there are going to be screenings. We have great pop-up bars and loads of places to sit.”

Additionally, this year’s show will feature Shed Talks, panel discussions on an array of topics integral to motorcycling’s future and sustainability.

“Basically we’ve always had these informal discussions amongst ourselves and our peers in the community about what’s going on and what’s happening and we thought it might be a good idea to formalise those,” the Bike Shed boss explained. 

“We were planning to do them as some podcasts and we thought, well, why not do them live at the show? There are going to be guest speakers supplied by and through the manufacturers and through our own network over the weekend.”

Away from the motorcycles themselves, the show will feature art, photography, a traditional barbershop, retail outlets, a whisky bar and live tattooists where walk-ins are welcome.

Van Someren added: “What people appreciate is that it’s a show that you can go to and discover biking and take your non-biking friends too, because they’re going to enjoy all these great things, watch great tattoo artists or drink an espresso martini and enjoy really some good food.”

Visitors will also get to see the Suzuki Slabshot custom superbike in the metal at the show, a special build that merges 90s looks with 00s performance.