Motorcycle Live organisers announce first phase of major overhaul in a bid to attract more biking fans
- Thread starter Noobie
- Start date
HootOwl
Well-known member
After 40 odd years working in the motorcycle industry for major distributors - my thoughts.
Maybe do something about the rip off pricing for everyone from exhibitors down. They are charged a fortune to be there, literally £thousands so pass on the costs. The biggest rip offs are the car park fees and the cost of food, although I understand the latter somewhat as they are charged fortunes to sell.
After that - well its just a shit hole in general, not even second place to the European shows, more like 20th. No manufacturer really takes it seriously, nothing of note is ever launched there.
It's become an ever shrinking but glorified car boot sale, except that the only stuff that is actually cheap is old and out of range, at best it is end of season.
Nothing of note is cheap as stands pay massive fees to be there (there is that OTT charging again) plus staff costs
I should go there every year to keep up with the trends.
I would want more than a free trade ticket to encourage me though. It's shite. with a capital F
I would way rather go to Milan, Cologne, Munich etc as they are about 5 times the size, show product only not sell anything, and where new stuff is regularly launched.
The costs of getting there are actually not much more than travelling to the NEC and parking up.
I have worked at the NEC countless times in the past for the distributors I worked for. I dunno if there is something in the water, but it does seem to attract total fucking idiots.
I have been asked for green engine oil so the oil sight window will be the same as the Kawasaki paintwork. Another guy wanting an obscure tyre size that hasn't been available since Noah, telling me how he would go to his shed and make one.
One of the better ones was a punter coming onto our Krauser luggage stand and telling me about his problems with new Givi stuff and wanting to return it.
When I pointed out they were fuck all to do with us and the Givi stand was on the next isle, he said 'yeah I know, but it's really busy on there'
You will notice that everyone working on any stand has a glazed expression for the first hour of every day after the opening one.
That's because we all needed to get shit faced at night, to shake off the complete fuckwits we had to deal with in the day
We are all hung over.
Its a never ending cycle until the 'show' finishes ... which cannot come soon enough
Maybe do something about the rip off pricing for everyone from exhibitors down. They are charged a fortune to be there, literally £thousands so pass on the costs. The biggest rip offs are the car park fees and the cost of food, although I understand the latter somewhat as they are charged fortunes to sell.
After that - well its just a shit hole in general, not even second place to the European shows, more like 20th. No manufacturer really takes it seriously, nothing of note is ever launched there.
It's become an ever shrinking but glorified car boot sale, except that the only stuff that is actually cheap is old and out of range, at best it is end of season.
Nothing of note is cheap as stands pay massive fees to be there (there is that OTT charging again) plus staff costs
I should go there every year to keep up with the trends.
I would want more than a free trade ticket to encourage me though. It's shite. with a capital F
I would way rather go to Milan, Cologne, Munich etc as they are about 5 times the size, show product only not sell anything, and where new stuff is regularly launched.
The costs of getting there are actually not much more than travelling to the NEC and parking up.
I have worked at the NEC countless times in the past for the distributors I worked for. I dunno if there is something in the water, but it does seem to attract total fucking idiots.
I have been asked for green engine oil so the oil sight window will be the same as the Kawasaki paintwork. Another guy wanting an obscure tyre size that hasn't been available since Noah, telling me how he would go to his shed and make one.
One of the better ones was a punter coming onto our Krauser luggage stand and telling me about his problems with new Givi stuff and wanting to return it.
When I pointed out they were fuck all to do with us and the Givi stand was on the next isle, he said 'yeah I know, but it's really busy on there'
You will notice that everyone working on any stand has a glazed expression for the first hour of every day after the opening one.
That's because we all needed to get shit faced at night, to shake off the complete fuckwits we had to deal with in the day
We are all hung over. Its a never ending cycle until the 'show' finishes
... which cannot come soon enough
Not a fan then?After 40 odd years working in the motorcycle industry for major distributors - my thoughts.
Maybe do something about the rip off pricing for everyone from exhibitors down. They are charged a fortune to be there, literally £thousands so pass on the costs. The biggest rip offs are the car park fees and the cost of food, although I understand the latter somewhat as they are charged fortunes to sell.
After that - well its just a shit hole in general, not even second place to the European shows, more like 20th. No manufacturer really takes it seriously, nothing of note is ever launched there.
It's become an ever shrinking but glorified car boot sale, except that the only stuff that is actually cheap is old and out of range, at best it is end of season.
Nothing of note is cheap as stands pay massive fees to be there (there is that OTT charging again) plus staff costs
I should go there every year to keep up with the trends.
I would want more than a free trade ticket to encourage me though. It's shite. with a capital F
I would way rather go to Milan, Cologne, Munich etc as they are about 5 times the size, show product only not sell anything, and where new stuff is regularly launched.
The costs of getting there are actually not much more than travelling to the NEC and parking up.
I have worked at the NEC countless times in the past for the distributors I worked for. I dunno if there is something in the water, but it does seem to attract total fucking idiots.
I have been asked for green engine oil so the oil sight window will be the same as the Kawasaki paintwork. Another guy wanting an obscure tyre size that hasn't been available since Noah, telling me how he would go to his shed and make one.
One of the better ones was a punter coming onto our Krauser luggage stand and telling me about his problems with new Givi stuff and wanting to return it.
When I pointed out they were fuck all to do with us and the Givi stand was on the next isle, he said 'yeah I know, but it's really busy on there'
You will notice that everyone working on any stand has a glazed expression for the first hour of every day after the opening one.
That's because we all needed to get shit faced at night, to shake off the complete fuckwits we had to deal with in the day
Its a never ending cycle until the 'show' finishes
You should try the Irish showsAfter 40 odd years working in the motorcycle industry for major distributors - my thoughts.
Maybe do something about the rip off pricing for everyone from exhibitors down. They are charged a fortune to be there, literally £thousands so pass on the costs. The biggest rip offs are the car park fees and the cost of food, although I understand the latter somewhat as they are charged fortunes to sell.
After that - well its just a shit hole in general, not even second place to the European shows, more like 20th. No manufacturer really takes it seriously, nothing of note is ever launched there.
It's become an ever shrinking but glorified car boot sale, except that the only stuff that is actually cheap is old and out of range, at best it is end of season.
Nothing of note is cheap as stands pay massive fees to be there (there is that OTT charging again) plus staff costs
I should go there every year to keep up with the trends.
I would want more than a free trade ticket to encourage me though. It's shite. with a capital F
I would way rather go to Milan, Cologne, Munich etc as they are about 5 times the size, show product only not sell anything, and where new stuff is regularly launched.
The costs of getting there are actually not much more than travelling to the NEC and parking up.
I have worked at the NEC countless times in the past for the distributors I worked for. I dunno if there is something in the water, but it does seem to attract total fucking idiots.
I have been asked for green engine oil so the oil sight window will be the same as the Kawasaki paintwork. Another guy wanting an obscure tyre size that hasn't been available since Noah, telling me how he would go to his shed and make one.
One of the better ones was a punter coming onto our Krauser luggage stand and telling me about his problems with new Givi stuff and wanting to return it.
When I pointed out they were fuck all to do with us and the Givi stand was on the next isle, he said 'yeah I know, but it's really busy on there'
You will notice that everyone working on any stand has a glazed expression for the first hour of every day after the opening one.
That's because we all needed to get shit faced at night, to shake off the complete fuckwits we had to deal with in the day
Its a never ending cycle until the 'show' finishes
makes the NEC look like something from the very distant future 
at least I get free entry with the paddy passport which is nice 
HootOwl
Well-known member
Honestly mate, after a few days exhibiting there, we were all zombies.
We had to keep playing games to try and keep at least some electrical activity going in the brain ..
Spot the:
70's throwback
and
Bird or Bloke
and
Fat or Pregnant ...
were the common ones. Whoever identified the most won the first beer of the evening
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