Motorcycle Live 2012

Late November is when bikers get a boost..a shot in the arm…a shed full of spliffs…a big bag of sweeties..call it what you like! It’s the time of the motorbike show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC) It’s a most welcome leg up over the impending gloom of dark nights and freezing weather that for many of us signals the end of motorbiking for the year. I have been going to the show for years, mostly on the motorbike. Parking is free and right next to the entrance. Arriving by bike is the right thing to do at a motorbike show don’t you agree? However most people go by train coach or car, this makes things easier if one is intent of snaffling up new motorbike kit, NOBODY leaves the show empty-handed!

We took the car this year and I drove there and back. The weather promised to be shyte with blustery winds and rain, in fact it rained al the way home and cold it was too. It’s a first for me in the twenty something years that I’ve been making the journey. The car parking is an incredible £10??? What the fook for I know not. You get to park on a similar piece of tarmac down your friendly supermarket. Yes they have underpaid joe’s in dayglow outfits dotted around. £5 would cover it I’m sure Instead they demand a bloody Robin Hood £10. The motorbike parking is undercover and free, they even store your bike helmet for nothing AND they have dayglo people dotted around too. On a (rare) positive note from me the bike show organisers managed to claw a £2 redemption voucher back from the dirty thieving Brummie NEC bstards.

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We made our way to see our mate Barry, he was chained to a stand belonging to the Honda Goldwing owners along with some friendly and helpful long-established bikers eager to promote Honda Goldwings and their club. I promised Barry I wouldn’t be naughty so that’s the end of this paragraph!

We popped round to see Charli at his stand and have a glass of schnapps with him. Charli is an Austrian biker and hotelier from the Austrian Alps. We have stayed with him several times and can heap nothing but praise on the guy his 4 star hotel and his staff. The eating area is massive the food is very varied and quite fancy. The bar is just as huge with plenty quiet areas as well as plenty of open spaces to gather in large groups and swap biking stories. Every afternoon the staff lay a huge spread of cakes and tea for all the bikers as we arrive back from riding our bikes in the mountains In the basement the motorbikes enjoy being pampered too, next to the bike museum is a bike jet wash and a dry area for essential tinkering the hotel looks after skiers in the winter and bikers in the summer. Motorbikes do take preference over cars of that I can assure you, I remember one time a car had taken one of our spaces in the underground garage. Charli contacted the guest in question and asked him to move it! Charlie and his lovely wife Karin own the huge Hotel Weisseespritze near Landeck in Austria go check it out, the view of the mountains from the bedroom balcony is fantastic.

……Charlie and his             www.weisseenspitze.comlovely …….wife…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………  A new trike was on the club stand it was here thanks to Colin Appleyards of Keighley. its going to cause a stir with bikers that’s for sure. Its a Honda Goldwing 1800cc with two wheels at the front and one at the back. The more I looked at it the more it grew on me. We soon found old friends who were down for a couple of days from faraway Aberdeen, Suzy is really Chrissi Hind and Bart really is Black Bart. It was nice to see them again, only the other night we were “chatting” on FB, along with Madge in Bulgaria, then there was Barry over there in Keighley and Mark from darkest Blackburn. It was a raunchy session with plenty of blood and guts all over the ‘putor monitor as we cut and thrust at each other with verbal insults and cruel mickey taking…… Calling my ace PICOS mountain shirt a tie dye shirt indeed Bart yer wrong un!

We looked at the ass about-face trike, I asked Bart what he thought of it. “Just get your camera ready boy, I’ll show you what I think of it”!!

 

 

Aye… the trike was going to raise a few eyebrows at this years motorbike show that’s for sure!

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As you can see we don’t just take the rise on FaceBook hiding behind a keyboard we do it face to face too and we are just joking..mostly! Barry is just out of shot with some other old reprobates and are all “cat-calling” him as he posed. Thankfully there is no sound with the photographs.

Before we got carried away and turned it into a “Crabbies” afternoon we split up to look at the rest of the show andf Barry got back to work we wondered off in different directions tosoak up the atmosphere, maybe buy a bargain or two even.

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Julie grimaces as she throws a leg over a monstrosity from the U.S Victory motorbike company. A piece of unusual erotica that made everyone smile, some people actually loved these bikes. Personally I thought they were far too way out and uncomfortable to imagine in my life, made me smile though! I can imagine Geoff Smith with one…in bright orange naturally!

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I sat on a silver Victory and shook my head, the handlebars were just too far forward, I was sat so deep in the saddle it just didnt feel right and I just thought the futureistic look belonged..in the future. I wasnt ready for this kind of bike, perhaps Judge Dredd would like it back?

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Julie tries out from left to right a Moto Guzzi tourer, this was extremely comfy but we thought it was small for two people to tour with. I had a Moto Guzzi California a few years ago and the electrics left much to be desired, had they finally sorted it out? Julie also tried out a Piaggio three wheeled scooter this leaned right over with all three wheels on the ground, I saw it with my own eyes last year and didn’t belive it either, then she sat on and a natty little 125cc Kawasaki and smiled a lot!

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Dear Lord…for what we are about to recieve…..in Julie catches me apparently at prayer. This was a beauty and very comfy for me. The Yamaha stand was the best this year as far as I was concerned. just pipping the BMW stand which normally wins in my eyes most years. I really like this kind of bike as a runaround, my second bike is also a Yamaha, its a 650cc MT O3 and is bundles of fun to ride. Julie had one for a while too and used to ride the 30 miles to work in the summer. Unlike many female bike passengers my wife can ride so in my book is allowed to comment!

Sat astride a golden goose…I mean a golden BMW…This head down ass up pocket rocket was stunning but wasnt for me. Just geting into riding position for a few minutes reminded me why I went onto cruisers years ago, my back, wrists and neck soon began to painfully complain. I couldnt take this beauty very far. Squires Cafe just under an hour from me would be out of the question I’m sad to say!

 Hurry up Julie take the picture my back is killing me!!

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 If you look closely you can see this murial is actually made up of hundreds of little motorbike photographs, try to ignore the little lad in his Kawasaki coat about to pick his nose bless him!

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Yeah I could see me on one of these again but where the hell do I strap the beer?

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 It was a busy first day but not too packed, we both hate it when its packed, you can’t see much or sit on any of the bikes without constantly elbowing people out of the way and spoils that day for me. Today was just right for us.

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I think its brilliant when young kids are interested in motorbikes  they are the future of biking and should be encouraged. Its something I always try to remember but sometimes forget when about to swipe sticky little children room my bike!

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Julie captured this great shot of a great t shirt that says it all..well done wife! x

It was now late afternoon and we felt we’d seen everything so made our way back to the car sat in the £10 car park, it was a long hike around the lake, the rain was coming down and the darkness was falling already. The drive back home was about an hour and half, it rained all the way back and was tedious and boring as motorways are, even so I was glad to be in the car today because of the crap weather but  wished the show was held in Spring, being on the bike would be much better!

PS

Finally go internet connection back on Sat night and got an Email from the lottory saying my winnings had been paid into our A/C. I logged on…it took bloody AGES…. and checked the amount to find it was ANOTHER £10. Oh well, I guess it will pay for the next case of Stellas.Our boat hasn’t come in after all!