Motorcycle Live
With my wingman not around, I wasn’t sure I would make the bike show this year. But
decided it had to be done the week before, found a hotel not too far away at a great
price
and headed off on the Sunday to reduce driving, I also prebooked disabled parking
and a
mobility scooter which made the event possible for me.
Arriving early, I had to wait awhile but gave me rest time before the chaos. I have
not seen
the show as busy on a Monday as the crowds came flooding in. I had several stands
I
wanted to see and set off with no idea, why didn’t I pick up the map.
With no specific custom area this year, it was nice to see Krazy Horse there with
a few
customs, and then there were a few manufacturers’ which had some customs, loved the
carbon fibre Royal Enfield which reminded me of a Silk. Sadly, I missed a few of
the new
300s and the new Honda 750 but stands were heaving by then.
Having seen photos of the new Nortons I headed there, I have to saw they are quite
nice,
but a personal thought, we shall pass over the front of the Manx, which to me looked
like
the front of a scooter stuck on. Also, I am not sure why when doing a major revamp,
they
are using older model names, when they could be something totally new. There was
a big
buzz around them which is positive.
On the Moto GB stand was the Benda cruiser and I have to say it looked very nice.
I loved
the Royal Alloy and sidecar too. I then had a great chat on the Mental Health Motorcycle
stand.
There were some impressive sized clothing and helmet stands but I never saw many
people
carrying bags etc maybe they were on hold at the stands, but brought back memories
of
shows at Earls Court and carrying exhausts and carriers’ home on the tube.
Loved the National Motorcycle Museum stand with Army bikes. I also loved the Honda
Dax
which looked fun. And the café race on the BMW stand was a fab colour orange, the
history
of Suzuki sports bikes was also a nice touch.
After several hours scooting around I found myself back at the entrance, so before
I pushed
myself too far I headed off.
A great trip and hopefully next year my wingman will be back
Albulm of photos and a video
