2008 Motorcycle show at the NEC Birmingham

Our latest outing to the Motorcycle show definitely came under the heading of ‘Therapy’, although it started off quite adventurous when I foolishly decided to take advantage of the free parking and go there on my bike. I should have realised it wasn’t a great idea when I went outside to move the car from in front of the garage and had to scrape the ice off the windscreen. The digital display inside the car happily informed me there was ‘risk of ice’ and the outside temperature was -3 degrees… hmmm, better get back inside and put another couple of layers on. The first couple of miles were OK out of the village and towards the M1 but as soon as I got to the first stretch of fast road the trip became a little cold and challenging. Trying to put some 150+ horse power through a cold tyre onto very cold and wet roads using a completely numb (from the cold) throttle hand was bordering on impossible. First gear, wheel spin, second gear, wheel spin, third gear, wheel spin plus slight forward motion and 120mph on the speedo. I knew, however, that I wasn’t actually breaking the speed limit as a cyclist managed to overtake me. This continued unit I got to the motorway and was able to stay at a constant speed.

Once at the show, I met up with Paul (Bolt-on) another Verdes biker plus Alex, Steve and Pete. Our plan was to do our own thing in the morning, meet up for lunch and then have a look around together in the afternoon.

I had two objectives in the morning 1. find some warm gloves for the trip back and 2. select a new bike to replace the R1 (Shhh, don’t tell the wife). The gloves were easy but the new bike was proving difficult. There are several new bikes for 2009 and the one I most wanted to see wasn’t at the show…doh!

After lunch (courtesy of Paul) we got together to revisit some of the show highlights. Paul took us to the Ducati stand to meet his latest acquisition. A Ducati Street Fighter, the latest lunatic bike from the Bologna factory. Basically a 1098 superbike without a fairing, it looks amazing and will probably induce involuntary bowel movements from anyone who dares to ride the thing. By coincidence the model I most wanted to ride was also on the Ducati stand and I managed to get a photo of Paul’s and mine together (below)

After a little retail therapy, I prepared myself for the freezing conditions and the madness that is M42 rush hour traffic on the way home. Fortunately the weather had improved and the temperature was a healthy 4 degrees.

Bring on the summer!

Rich S