Nec Bike Show

999AWB

New member
Went to the bike show today, new Monster looked good and value for money. The new BMW HP2 Sport looked very nice. :)
 
NEC Show

I went today also. A bit on the chilly side so I bought some under gloves there. The new Monster, 848 and Hyper thingy all looked good. I wish I had a big garage. The new Fireblade and ZX10 are plain ugly in my opinion and I ride a Multi !
 
Other than Ducati, any other recomendations for stands to look out for? Me and a couple of other reprobates are heading down on Friday.
 
It was cheaper to go to Milan. So much more to see and do. NEC stands for Not Even Cheap. They rip you off, charge you large amounts of money for uncooked burgers etc and charge you extortionately for parking...
 
From what I've heard, don't bother! That's from three different sources. Spend the money on beer instead.

I think the bike show might be a break from all the beer and socialising!;) :D

Split the parking between us and take our own food..... sorted!

Post a few pics of anything interesting that we see ;)
 
I went on Monday. It was a good chance to spend a day with my brother who came up from Newbury. Ducati stand was good but away from all the others in the accessory hall. 848 looked good. always good to stand next to the desmo, even if it's as close as i'll get to one in 2007. 1098R also cool, interesting extra sensor on the front brake for the 8 position traction control system. traction control won't be offered on the desmo according to the bloke on the stand. i liked the new monster as well.

other stuff - crazy but fab street fighter style bikes from benelli. i really really liked the KTM RC8, so much I called up Keith at Avuss on the spot and ordered one. Spent most of the afternoon agonising over which colour, went for white in the end. probably be dated in 2 years, but whatever. bmw stand also interesting with megamoto and a supersports opposing twin covered in carbon. Saw Charlie Boorman's knackered GS from long way down. i liked the new fireblade, but really dull compared to the KTM. there was a cool cafe racer factory special on the triumph stand that i'm sure would sell if they made it. the rocket 3 tourer looked like a beast.

tons of stalls selling all kinds of gear and crap - always worth a couple of hours browsing.

no queues for food or bogs - so gets my vote.

mike
 
Went to the bike show today, new Monster looked good and value for money. The new BMW HP2 Sport looked very nice. :)

Also went down on Monday, sorry we didnt meet up Andy, I've not got your mobile no. Have to agree with Mike on the Benelli cafe racer, some whacky colours, but star for me was the RC8, I'd have one if I was after another sports bike. The monster looks better in the flesh, and the 1098R looks the business. I thought it was well worth the trip:)
 
Visited the show on Tuesday and thought it was pretty good overall. Definitely an advantage going midweek to avoid the worst of the scrummages around the stands at weekends.

A lot of interesting bikes besides the Jap jellymould specials - the KTM and Ducati stands were my favourites, and I even thought the Harley XR1200 looked quite good apart from the exhausts (but the original flat tracker next to it was even better ).

Oh, to have a big garage and lots of dosh......
 
other stuff - crazy but fab street fighter style bikes from benelli. i really really liked the KTM RC8, so much I called up Keith at Avuss on the spot and ordered one. Spent most of the afternoon agonising over which colour, went for white in the end. probably be dated in 2 years, but whatever.

mike

what kind of price are they estimating for an RC8?
 
I thought the Gravel Travel stand T6 in the Touring and Adventure Zone was the highlight for me, then again i'm very very biased:D

Actually i was impressed with the latest exotica or should that be erotica from both Ducati and KTM
 
Also went down on Monday, sorry we didnt meet up Andy, I've not got your mobile no. Have to agree with Mike on the Benelli cafe racer, some whacky colours, but star for me was the RC8, I'd have one if I was after another sports bike. The monster looks better in the flesh, and the 1098R looks the business. I thought it was well worth the trip:)

Hi Tony, yeh sorry I did not see you, I thought it was a good day out.:)
 
what kind of price are they estimating for an RC8?

I think it is just under 11k or thereabouts.

I kinda liked the RC8 but then i sat on it and it didn't feel 'sports' enough for my liking, was too upright and low at the back.

Mind you, after seeing some of the truly hideous bikes on display the Ducati stand stood out as having the best bikes shortly followed by KTM

there was of course one bike that deserved a bit of attention...

IMG_3052.jpg
 
I think it is just under 11k or thereabouts.

I kinda liked the RC8 but then i sat on it and it didn't feel 'sports' enough for my liking, was too upright and low at the back.

mmm, getting better all the time, so more like a 999 position then? reason I dislike the 1098 is that they went backwards with ergonomics compared to a 999 , too much of a trackbike and less road, its nice to see other companies understanding ( as Honda have with the new Blade) and that not everyone wants a head down/arse high track bike on the road
 
mmm, getting better all the time, so more like a 999 position then? reason I dislike the 1098 is that they went backwards with ergonomics compared to a 999 , too much of a trackbike and less road, its nice to see other companies understanding ( as Honda have with the new Blade) and that not everyone wants a head down/arse high track bike on the road

sorry about that mikey - must've clicked by accident :)
 
mmm, getting better all the time, so more like a 999 position then? reason I dislike the 1098 is that they went backwards with ergonomics compared to a 999 , too much of a trackbike and less road, its nice to see other companies understanding ( as Honda have with the new Blade) and that not everyone wants a head down/arse high track bike on the road


No way more relaxed than that, pegs way too low, bars too high you feel really upright probably CBR6 style position. I really liked the RC8 but there were a few things that looked really cheap the yokes were cast with no design at all obviously functional but given just how much of the rest of the bike was/is a styling exercise to overlook something the rider would be looking at all day was a mistake. My guesses would be KTM will have some bling yokes in the hard parts catalogue though ;)

As others have said the Ducati and KTM stands stole the show for me, the new Blade is as ugly as the photo's I've seen let alone the new ZX10 or other Japanese offerings.

1098R was nice but didn't seem special enough and didn't have that wow factor of previous R models, technologically I'm sure it will be fantastic though. Desmo stole the show though as it should, nice to see Nige, Debbie and Tony though from DUK.

Best part of the day was a trip over to JHP after the show (10 miles away) and spending an hour or two in John's company I even managed to keep all of my money in my pockets this time! LOL
 
No way more relaxed than that, pegs way too low, bars too high you feel really upright probably CBR6 style position. I really liked the RC8 but there were a few things that looked really cheap the yokes were cast with no design at all obviously functional but given just how much of the rest of the bike was/is a styling exercise to overlook something the rider would be looking at all day was a mistake. My guesses would be KTM will have some bling yokes in the hard parts catalogue though ;)

As others have said the Ducati and KTM stands stole the show for me, the new Blade is as ugly as the photo's I've seen let alone the new ZX10 or other Japanese offerings.

1098R was nice but didn't seem special enough and didn't have that wow factor of previous R models, technologically I'm sure it will be fantastic though. Desmo stole the show though as it should, nice to see Nige, Debbie and Tony though from DUK.

Best part of the day was a trip over to JHP after the show (10 miles away) and spending an hour or two in John's company I even managed to keep all of my money in my pockets this time! LOL

working with a mate who has just ordered a 1098 R today and he'd tried the RC8 at Milan, the bars and pegs are height adjustable, his impression was that it felt like a 999 so maybe the bike shown in UK was a different bar se-up. He still went for a 1098R though :)
 
Just to echo a few of the comments already made, and add my own.

RC8 - looked like a bag of @@@@e, seat was hanging off it by the time we got to it. Recycled aprilia tail section, F117 inspired side panels, mishmash nosecone. Fugly beyond comprehension, the worst styling seen at the show.

Fireblade - Cute? Cuddly? Crap.

GSXR - Manga cartoon on 2 wheels.

ZX10 - Great work by jobseekers on their first day.

848 - Beautiful. Especially in white.

696 Monster - Really liked it, much better in the flesh :thumbs:

1098r - Why no full carbon bodywork? Gold wheels ..... noooooooo!! Gorgeous carbon bits, loved the black swingarm.

Victory Vision Tour - Now, that's what ya call a real motasickle!
 
gordon benette, I've never seen so many pics of the same bike in one go! Looks 'orrible in white, bit uninspiring and doesn't do the gorgeous design justice! ;) :)
 
gordon benette, I've never seen so many pics of the same bike in one go! Looks 'orrible in white, bit uninspiring and doesn't do the gorgeous design justice! ;) :)

I went down to DG on Saturday to have a look and I must say it didn’t blow me away the way I wanted it to. I think it looks terrific in the pictures, especially the official Ducati promo’s, but as soon as I walked in I found myself making mental shopping lists of all the bits I’d replace or change and I promised I wasn’t going to do that this time.

As always I ended up drooling over the red 1098s instead. So unless they announce a ‘s’ in black fairly soon, it’ll be a red one for me. That black plastic cowl will have to be painted red though, mud guard replaced, levers replaced, cans, full system if available…ah sh!t!
 
Back
Top Bottom