Where can you drool over shiny restored road classics; bid for anything from a historic collection of books and magazines to multi thousand pound motorcycles; purchase every possible supply or tool for your garage or workshop; browse the bits and bobs and multifarious components; peruse bikes and parts of bikes at the autojumble; bag a boot bargain or any other item to enhance your motorcycling wardrobe? At the Stafford Classic Motorcycle Show, which is where the Wemoto crew took their promotion marquee over the weekend of of 19th and 20th of October.

This show takes place at the Stafford County Show Ground twice a year. In April, when the motorcycle fraternity looks forward to the warmer dryer riding months, and in October when we look for end of season bargains and weigh up the winter workshop options.

This is the show for people who don't like shows, because it's full of practical possibilities, experiences, and ideas. It boasts: the Grand Prix Paddock where they bring out a brace of race bikes at intervals and start them up so the sensory delights of highly tuned motors fill the air and the classic off road hall with everything from little TY80 trials bikes through to big scary moto cross sidecar outfits. There is stall after stall of motorcycling usefulness that will hold your interest, get you reaching for the plastic, or in some cases baffle you as to how that array of parts can possibly be identified.

The Bonham's auction competes for attention and fills a large part of the main hall. Lines and lines of desirable machinery, and some quite ordinary two wheelery too. But where does all this expensive exotica come from? Is there an internal market whereby bikes are constantly traded round and round in a spiral of increasing prices? Or are there still hordes of bikes hidden in the proverbial sheds and barns just waiting to be restored? Entrance was restricted by the purchase of the auction catalogue, twenty pounds. Fortunately my Wemoto business card got me through to snap a few pictures of the auction in action.

Browse, browse, browse. There are bargains to be had if you look carefully, but most of the traders selling bikes either restored or needing degrees of attention are very aware of their market value, and price them accordingly. I was very tempted by a VFR400 Honda in beautiful condition, but good sense won the debate in my head, so I went for utility and bought a lovely wax cotton jacket to satisfy my consumer instincts.

At Wemoto they displayed two very contrasting machines on their pitch. A splendid Fred Walmsley AJS 7R replica racer; a snip at £30,000. Sitting alongside Coccinella (Ladybird), the funky 50cc moped conceived by Jerry a member of the staff team at the Brighton base – read all about the build at http://wemoto-news.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/i-love-mopeds-so-i-built-my-own.html

Located in the middle of the main hall the team were doing brisk business signing people up for the free prize draw, handing out goodies and answering questions about parts and stock. As one of the team remarked, the people who go to this show are very knowledgeable and are the backbone of motorcycling. I'd even stick my neck out and predict that more people attend the Stafford classic shows than the Birmingham NEC Motorcycle Live shindig in November.

We hope the pictures we've selected capture the essence and atmosphere. If you want to experience a similar event in the not too distant future put a note in your 2014 diary that the same people organise the Bristol Classic Show on 8th/9th February. Not as large as Stafford, but worth dipping into to whet your appetite for spring and the motorcycling year.