As you are probably aware, the MCN London Motorcycle show is being held at the ExCel centre in East London this weekend. Our new roving reporter Mike Dodd went on opening day Thursday to find out what's new in biking for 2008.
With this being the second year of the MCN show being held at the ExCel it boasted more manufacturers than last year. Most of the big guys were there although Triumph were conspicuous by their absence. I found this quite surprising being a British bike manufacturer.
Observing the crowds it seemed that at least two of the stars of the show were on display in the Suzuki arena, these were the GSX-600 and 750’s. As these bikes won't be in the dealers until spring it was good to see them in the metal. Although the colour schemes are similar, the new nose really sets them apart from the older models visually. Boasting three different engine power settings, integral steering damper, three-way adjustable foot pegs and a “more aerodynamic design” I have to say the fully blacked 750 looked very sexy!
Another big crowd puller was the 2008 ZX-10R on the Kawasaki stand. Stood between the new ZX-6R and 250R, all in slime green, they looked quite an impressive line up!
One bike that was rarely without a hungry looking punter ready to jump in its seat was the KTM 1190 RC8. Although this bike looks gorgeous in pictures to see it there at he forefront of the stand in a diamond white was something else. With its high tail, apparent lack of exhaust and clean-cut lines, it was an impressive sight! Alongside were the other all-new 2008 models. The 960 Duke, 690 Supermoto R, 690 SMC and the 690 Enduro.
Another good thing to go and see is the Nick Sanders stand. For you that are not familiar with Nick, he’s the guy that has travelled around the world numerous times on his trusty R1. He unveiled his new R1 all to see for this year’s epic road trip during the afternoon. Although fully stickered up and with a nice paint job it is in fact only a stock bike, you have to take your helmet off to this guy!
What this man does is so impressive, one man alone on a stock bike, circumnavigating the globe. One of his points during a TV interview while he sat astride his machine was that he “wasn’t in competition with The Long Way Round”. After finally getting to speak to him, he showed me that in fact he’s is very down-to-earth, happy to talk to anyone type of guy. It was funny watching him spending some time looking over the bike, as this was the first time he’d seen it too.
Watch this space on londonbikers, as you’ll be able to follow his progress when he sets off in April to complete his 55,000 mile round trip, covering 45 countries, six continents and all in just 100 days! Nicks humble approach and very matter-of-fact presentation was certainly in contrast to what some might call his rivals.
The BMW stand was positively dripping with The Long Way Round/Down syndrome! There was no shortage of wannabe ‘Charlie’s’ and ‘Ewan’s’ drooling over the 650, 800 and 1200GS models.
Harley’s retro Softail Springer Cross Bones looks like it’s straight out of the 1950’s. At a glance the only thing that gives it away is the belt drive but it does have all the trappings of a modern bike. The fat front tyre really finishes off the post-war look.
With a non-show at last years MCN London Show, Ducati made an appearance this year, maybe it was something to do with their successful, year just past! They were proudly displaying – alongside many others - two of their most drooled over stars. These of course were the 1098R, which had pride of place in the centre of their stand and the new Monster 696.
On the Honda stand John McGuiness’s HM Plant bike was kept securely in a glass cage. All in black it had pride of place at the entrance, this was another shiny piece of machinery that rarely had an empty seat all day. With award winning DNA from its predecessor, it certainly looks the part and is promising the “ultimate superbike performance”.
I’d not really heard of Billets brakes before but their stand certainly attracted people with an array of very shiny metalwork. Amongst the superb glittery custom bikes was a race bike, which I recognized. On closer inspection I realized it was Rob Elsmere’s otherwise known to many of you as Reckless.
The last time I saw this bike was at Lydden circuit in Kent during a BEMSEE race travelling at quite some speed upside down! Needless to say it was looking considerably better now! The other sports bike among the customs was a very tricked up Suzuki Hayabusa complete with Nitro. With a 0-100mph of just 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 204.3mph this brain-warping machine needed two lots of Billets six-pot callipers on the front as well as their four-pot system on the back.
Although there was quite a number of accessory stands that did not seem to mean there were heaps of bargains. Certainly things were cheaper but when entry fee and parking is taken into consideration the deals seemed a little weak. Although I do have to say, on the plus side several of them did supply the show with the required glamour of scantily clad models and page-3 girls which I guess made up for it a little! I even managed to get a Gemma Massey to sign a poster of her to Londonbikers.com. This is not something for a public gallery though!
A very interesting stall and one worth visiting was the MCN Surgery; this was manned by students from Wakefield College, most of them were working through a three-year motorcycle mechanics course with a view to working for a race team. Every hour or so they would go through different aspects of bike maintenance, the students going through the action on a race bike while their tutor verbally telling the crowd what was happening and giving advice.
Did you know it’s very important to ensure you have dust caps on your air valves? The reason being if you travel at about 140mph the centrifugal force generated with drive the valves in and release the air form the tyre! A dust cap will prevent this.
At shows you always get people trying to sell random goods that have no direct relation to the subject of the show. One such stand there was called Rescue Tape. They supplied a roll of stretchy plastic tape without adhesive that fuses to itself.
You can wind it round wiring because it’s waterproof and insulates up to 8,000 volts (and not all sticky if you have to cut it off like electrical tape), tape a hole in a radiator hose or exhaust because it can withstand extreme heat, pressure and direct flame. You can even create rubber bands and fan belts with it! This is definitely something I’ll be carrying on my bike with especially on track days. Unsurprisingly their web address is www.rescuetape.com. They kindly gave me a roll to test so I’ll report on how it performs.
Out of all this though, we're left wondering what differentiates this show from all the others, most notably the NEC show up at Birmingham where manufacturers launch their models in the UK first. There seems to be a very common white-wall stall formula the big brands use, with no real innovation or genuine emotion that connections the passion of a rider with the exhibitor. Looking further afield at other shows like the auto shows in LA, where there's a plethora of stalls from smaller outfits with something novel, custom or innovative to show off. In comparison, it feels like the shows we have are for suits and other, more expressionate, stylish or more grass-root shows are for the more passionate riders amongst us. Can our shows be doing more to engage us?
Related Photo Galleries:
2008 MCN London Motorcycle Show Gallery
