Last lap for Ballymoney Motorcycle Show organiser Davy Louden after 25 years

Louden will bring the curtain down on his quarter-of-a-century involvement with the popular annual event at the end of this month, taking charge of his final show from February 28-29.

However, he revealed the show will continue in the future, with the Mid Antrim 150 Club taking over the responsibility of staging the event in 2021.

Louden, who first ran the Ballymoney Motorcycle Show in 1995 to raise funds towards Paul Robinson’s racing career, told the News Letter: “It’s time to call it a day and I’ve decided to step down and hand it over to the Mid Antrim Club, who have kindly helped me out with the show for the past two years.

“My health hasn’t been great and it’s becoming harder to get sponsors on board to bring everything together, plus I was unable to obtain a council grant towards it this year as well, so after 25 years I just felt this was the right time.

“I’ll still be involved in a small way but not with the overall organisation of the show,” he added.

“I only started the show 25 years ago to raise a pound or two for Paul (Robinson) to help finance his racing and it kind of just went from there.

“I kept it going each year and it grew bigger and bigger. We brought in racing bikes because that’s what the racing fraternity wanted to see and it became very popular.

“The show was always held at the leisure centre in Ballymoney until about three years ago when we had to look for a new venue after the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council was formed.

“Thankfully, Gary and Donna McCloy offered us the Ballybrakes Bowling Club free of charge for the first year as a trial and it has been held there ever since. I’m very grateful for their support and I want to thank everyone who has helped me with the show over these past 25 years.”

A large display of racing motorcycles will again take centre stage at the show this month with upwards of 100 bikes and over 24 trade stands.

There will also be a special tribute to Colin Seeley, who passed away recently, and Davy hopes to have some of the late Wilson Craig’s famous racing machines on display.

George McCann, who has retired from his role as a commentator at the Irish road races, will interview a number of past and present riders , including Alan Irwin, Con Law, Darryl Tweed, Jim Dunlop, Paul Robinson and Jason Lynn.

Admission remains at only £5 and the chosen charity of the event this year is The Samaritans.

Opening hours are: Friday, February 28 – 5pm-10pm and Saturday, February 29 – 10am-5pm.