Issue 132 : December 2003 - January 2004
NEC Bike Show
KTM Adventure
Harley's V-Rod
Tigger Tribute
Harley Sportsters
| |
|
NEC Bike Show
|
The Bike Show
The launch of the show was a bit of a damp squib this year. There was no town crier ringing his bell, no Roads Minister, and no Steven Norris, the MCI President. Blessedly there were no brat bands either but what was going on ? Reading between the lines and employing informed speculation, I suspect the cheerful David Jamieson is a little wary of waving the biking banner too feverishly right now and celebrity guests cost money. The accident figures and particularly the killed and seriously injured totals are causing concern in political circles. Some in the road safety lobby are challenging the enthusiasm with which local authorities have promoted biking with bus lane access, secure parking and exemption from congestion charging. In short, I sense that we are on the receiving end of a down shift in public endorsement if not quite a policy backpeddle. Do I detect a shift in emphasis within the market also? Triumph, much to the disgust of MCN, have ditched their 200mph plus sports model and launched the mother of all monster cruisers instead. Now the nostalgically named Rocket 3 might be no slouch but its not the kind of peg scraping missile that excites the sports market which is where the focus of critical attention rests. The age of the power cruiser arrived with a bang when Harley-Davidson launched their V-Rod and Triumph's offering clearly indicates that if nothing else, no one is going to outdo them on sheer cubic capacity, well not for now anyway. The bike certainly has presence though for compact engineering the 2 litre H-D specials are more compact. Scooters there were in abundance and it was noteworthy that the organisers even called their show The Motorcycle and Scooter show this year. Sports bikes certainly aren't going away and all the latest models were on display and looking sharper than ever. With their power and handling capability as refined as they now are however, will the average rider be able to recognise let alone utilise the increments of performance enhancement that this year's model's represent ? Certainly there are others better equipped than me to comment but the chief sentiment I get from those in the know is 'not really.'
Harley- Davidson of course are perfectly placed, smugly placed you might say, with their high torque and maximum style angle. BMW have for some time spread their eggs in 'baskets' that lie outside the gunsights of reactive legislators and the promotion of their off road and transworld credentials is well served by the new GS. Perhaps the dual purpose motorcycle can satisfy a niche like the 4 X 4 market does for Sloane Rangers. 'OK I only use this to run up and down the motorway but I could do the Paris Dakar if I just kept going at Gibralter.' Maybe tufts of muddy grass and rain splashed dirt will replace scuffed knee sliders in the street cred stakes. The GS does have something. Despite being designed by someone with a malicious attitude toward short people, it really does ooze adventure from every exposed cylinder fin. Neil Hodgson opened the show. and a refreshingly articulate champion he is after the taciturn Carl Fogarty who always gave the impression that he would rather be somewhere else. Not being well up on the race track personalities I didn't realise that Fogarty had been putting his successor down but apparently he considers Hodgson the luckiest champion for years, so the privileged show launch crowd were told. Sounds a bit bitchy. While we're on the bitching front, the £3 charge for a programme seemed a bit steep considering they used to give them away and I for one managed to navigate the show on instinct. Something to do with VAT I think. The stunt show cost extra too which raised a few grumpy comments. I finally got to meet Kevin and Julia Sanders who were not long back from their victorious run from Alaska to the top of South America. Have they any more madness planned ? No, enough is enough. MAG's Foundation had its official launch at the show with Patrons Chief Superintendent David Short and Road Safety guru John Moss lending some gravitas to the event. As MAG's charitable arm The Foundation will enjoy tax advantages that will make donations to it from MAG events effectively worth more. The Foundation will not in any way obstruct of dictate MAG's political agenda. A sign of the times was the presence of training heavyweight BSM at the show. MAG had a meeting with their executives to 'swap notes' on the accident problem and the role of training which looks set to receive attention from the Government. Motorcycle training is new to BSM but given the scale of their operation they may soon become a major player in this field, watch this space. I thought the numbers seemed a bit down this year but apparently the isles of have been widened which might contribute to that impression. It was good to see the Royal Enfields enjoying such a high profile. Perhaps the company is anticipating some really draconian legislation that will be of no relevance whatsoever to its products except perhaps to make them a better option ? Watsonian Squire is actually the company that imports these classic machines which are made in India these days, but then quite a lot of people know that.
The MAG stand did a fair trade considering the over all attendance with around 200 new memberships taken, most of them on standing order forms. The impromptu deal of 5 free raffle tickets for the Daytona 600 with each standing order mandate signed worked well. Second prize in the raffle is a £750 token from Hein Gerricke while 3rd prize is £250 from the same company. Pete Walker, who ran the stand tells us there was a lot of interest in corporate membership from companies at the show and MAG Direct did well on deals also. Some happy people went away with policies a staggering £150 lower than they'd been quoted by other brokers. Go to be worth giving them a try. The MBNA credit card girls reported a fair trade also. We know that some people don't know why we have these commercial elements at the show but they do help cover the cost of the stand which means more of our members money goes on running the organisation. If you have an MBNA card please use it as MAG gets money when you activate it, ie use it for the first time, and then a tiny cut every time you use it. It all adds up, believe you me. Mutch A message from MAG stand co-ordinator Pete Walker:
Ian Moore, Peter Scott, Neil Stevenson, Anji Sewell, Joni Luntley, Dave Elrick, Chris Weir, Lucy Burgar, Gary Jonson, Vannessa Featz, Trevor Baird, Liz Neadham, Ian Mutch, Ian Churchlow, Ian Phillips, Nev Chamberlin, Vic Hawkes, Ian Jones, Joss Bourne, Derwen Hinds, Tracy Halfpenny, Sally Hayden, Julie Stevenson, Ali Sawer, Murry Webb, Andy Gledhill |
|
home | top
| |
Ian Mutch takes a look around the NEC and tries to fathom out where the market is going...
The manufacturers must be looking at the way things are panning out and making sure that they have the kind of models which can provide the acceptable face of motorcycling's future. 
BSH had the best display of customs I've ever seen with some unbelievable creations from Vic & Lynn of Destiny cycles who incidentally hail from Kirbymoorside which is Farmyard Party territory. Now I bet you didn't know that?