The West Kent Run has become well established at The Friars, the Aylesford Priory just a few miles from the county town of Maidstone. As this year was the 37th such occasion, it is a test of memory to recall the other locations around the county that have served as previous bases for this event, organised as usual by the West Kent Section of the Vintage MCC.
The rolling 30-year cut off entry qualification brings changes, but it’s a slow process. This year, there were 325 programmed entries, but there were fewer visitors from the continent. Largest contingent, seemingly as traditional as the run itself, was a group from France, members of the APAPA club, who support the event wholeheartedly by getting involved at just about every opportunity.
The mainstream British industry was fast vanishing 50 years ago, and this was reflected in the event programme with some 60 motorcycles supplied originally by Japanese manufacturers. The earliest entry was Steve Swain’s Suzuki Hustler 250. When this was built, in 1968, who would have thought it would be around, five-and-a-half decades later? And merited the class award that was bestowed later.
So many motorcycles,
