NEC- mini review

Yesterdays visit

Today's visit...

tried to swap my father and his twin brother for the twins on the Bike
Trader stand. Failed.

The women on the Suzuki stand wanted to adopt them though (the
wrinklies, not the Bike Trader girls).

HD clutches are lighter, that's about all.

I was selling teddy bears at the NEC MPH show last week. The adjoining
classsic car show was far more interesting than the shiny new stuff where
I was though. Oldest was the 1897 daimler with the pram hood. Some great
wheels on show. Nice early Jensen with a BMW engine in, and many
intrigueing V8's.

Made Ł1101 with the teddy's too.

Suzuki sales staff - gotta love em
When questioned about the GXR-1000 K7 switch to reduce bhp

I heard about that and really don't understand the reasoning behind it,
unless it's a marketing one.

their selling points were... (I kid you not)
1. People who buy the K7 and find it too much to handle can reduce its power
and keep the bike, rather than sell it
2. If your a long way from home and low on fuel, you can switch it down on
power and this should conserve fuel
Flummoxed I was.....

No Ducati stand

Nope, and did you notice the number of Chinese manufacturers with
stands there?

yes, and they had a quite reasonable [1] 600 that would have given an early
CBR a run for its money
[2] for Ł 3,600

[1] if you forget the tiny swing arm
[2] performance etc excluded, just the looks

Really? I'm jolly surprised. That's not a good sign for the
industry.

The reason behind this is, apparently, that the unveiling of the
new 1098 is being done at the Milan show in two weeks, so
they have nothing to display other than what you can see in
the showrooms.

I'd have liked to see them there anyway. I'm not sure where my nearest
Ducati dealer is. Evesham, perhaps? Or down in Bristol. So it's not the
sort of thing I have a chance to poke at every day.

Dunno where your nearest dealer is, check the Ducati.com website
as they have a list on there.

I agree that it's a shame they didn't go, but I think its really
because
sales have suffered badly this year and spending money on buying
a pitch at the show and manning it for the week really isn't worth
the money given the target audience - people who buy Ducatis
do so because they already know about the bikes rather than
buying it because it is this year's Must Have model.

Globally, I think Ducati want to launch the new bike at Milan and
make a big fuss about it, then let it loose into the wild from that
point on.

Good to see you Verdi.

Likewise.

The way the weather's been the last couple of days I wish I'd bought a
heated waistcoat. I didn't get an exhaust in the end, either. If I get
everything else I want done this year I might treat myself at the Ally
Pally, (or wherever it turns out to be).

I thought the Triumph stand was excellent, excellent bike range and the
best clothing. The 2007 Tiger looks excellent, the Speed Triple with
Arrow stubby exhaust is utterly perfect and the Sprint/T100 ranges have
seat heights accessible to shorties and females.

I spent some time on the Victory stand, 100cu/inch, machined from
billiet, they seem to be everything HD isn't. If I wanted a cruiser,
that would be it.

Carole Nash excelled themselves with an amazing display of jaw dropping
customs, notable was a GT750 kettle based Streetfighter. They also had
an achingly sweet and minted Indian 4.

Shame they couldn't rustle up a 'sedici RR to display though,
or maybe even a Hypermotard. Those two alone would be
worth going to look at.

Any sign of Guzzi breaking their duck and actually showing up for once?

Suzuki stand was last years as was Carole Nash and Yamaha
No SV1000 confirming the end of production as suspected, however sales staff
denyed this
A lot of indian stalls selling leathers, it looked more like a sunday market
that a bike show in some areas

Agreed

There always seem to be the same bunch of Pikey cheap leather sellers at
shows, there was also a lot of good stuff though.

the tottie was thin on the ground and most were minging

Oh I dunno. There wasn't much but I thought those there were rather
lovely.

Agreed

I think they take their minging girlfriends and dress them up at a party
shop. *Hideous* and completely outdated.

I always say "I'm not going next year" but I still do.

I'm not.
real waste of money. It seemed less than half the size of previous years I

Sorry to miss you there, of course I was rushing and didn't get your
number onto my phone

have gone.