Motorcycle Show, NEC, Birmingham 2007

First day of December and we are still out and about on our motorcycles! Andy (SV650S) and I (Roadking) were off to the Motorcycle show at the NEC, Birmingham. We were joined by Neil, (Heritage), and newcomers Jess and Ryan, who, having just passed their motorcycle tests, were coming as pillion passengers on the back of the Harleys.

The weather was fantastic, being cold but sunny. We made excellent time as far as exit 9 on the M42 when the forecast congestion kicked in. Filtering was the name of the game, so we were soon parking up in the bike park, secure (wrist and bike bands), under cover and close to the main entrance. Well done NEC! A million times more considerate than anything Donington does for bikers!! If ever proof was needed to show the advantage of bikes over cars, this was it. A trader later told me it had taken him over 2 hours to get in!!

Into the show and the first stand we arrived at was Harley Davidson (no surprise there then!) We had our first look at the new XR 1200 Sportster and the two versions of the Rocker. We like the look of both, but as single seaters as there is no way Yvonne would contemplate that pull-out rear seat on the Rocker C. At just over £9,100 the Fat Bob also looks good value for money. Moving on, we checked out the new Buell, before visiting the other manufacturer’s stands, including the big four, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda. We saw race bikes from Rossi, Haga, Pedrosa and Toseland, and many super custom bikes of all shapes, sizes and ages. There were stalls for everything you could wish for, riding gear, accessories and customising ‘bits’. There were many club stands, and here was the one disappointment. The HOG stand was awful! It was tiny and simply had patches as examples over the walls. The guy sat there looked bored out of his mind. It was little wonder that nobody visited, although other club stands were buzzing! If that had been in the States, they would have had special attendance pins and all kinds of things going on. What a missed opportunity!!!!!

In the end, I bought a pair of JTS textile trousers from Infinity, (just what I was after and failed to get at the BMF show), Andy bought a Fuel exhaust, Neil bought a Shoei helmet and Jess and Ryan will have a much better idea of the sort of bikes they would like to own in the future.

After an uneventful ride home, we arrived tired but pleased with an excellent day out.