MCN London Motorcycle Show 2009
Added on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
MCN London Motorcycle Show 2009
The Carole Nash sponsored MCN London Motorcycle Show mixes indoor stunt action, manufacturer stands, new model and product launches, plus classic awards and the MCN Babe Squad competition.
Alastair Walker went along to the ExCel Docklands Arena to see the best of biking for 2009. He also took the pics.
LONDON CALLING
It will come as no surprise to many readers that an estimated 25% of all new motorcycle and scooters sold every year are bought by people living in London, or the Home Counties. Pirates running car parks, cattle-class public transport, congestion charges etc all combine to make two wheels an attractive way to get around the capital, or its suburbs.
More and more London bikers have bought cruisers over the last few years and there’s no doubt that shows like American Chopper have sparked a `wannabe’ custom biker boom from Bermondsey to Brighton’s gay club scene. I think Custom bike sales will grow 5% this year, whilst sportbike sales will fall by nearly 10%.
It’s not just London where that trend will develop either. Can you ride a sportsbike in North Wales anymore without getting an ASBO? Older riders are seeking a way to have fun without being targeted by `safety’ squads.
The bike market is fragmenting, right across the UK, as groups of riders move away from high performance machines; I’ll bet there are more BMW GS Adventure riders swanning around Hampstead and Hackney than the Highlands of Scotland too - the image of the rugged, adventurous rider plays well in London. No two ways about it, the capital still has plenty of buying power in the UK motorcycle industry.
But the bike industry isn’t recession-proof, no matter what some might think and London was feeling the pinch on the opening day of the show. Visitors were thin on the ground for an hour or two, and the much trumpeted `new model launch’ turned out to be a Harley 883 Sportster, painted black and called an Iron.
OK, we need budget bikes, but this was nothing genuinely new. People know what a new machine looks like, so why pretend otherwise? That `special paint n free extras’ is the kind of marketing strategy Edward Turner and the boys in the old Brit bike industry employed in the 60s…and look what happened to them.
SHARP SUITED MAN
But let’s look on the bright side. BMW are going at 2009 guns blazing, with a new 1000cc sportbike, a WSB race effort that looks serious and revamped 1300cc fours, plus the mainstay of their range the GS adventure models, look as popular as ever with riders who want comfort, durability, decent resale values and a dealer network that gets involved in the touring/social side of biking. The Japanese have a lot to learn here - what’s someone with a Tenere or Varadero do, if they don’t join an internet owners club forum?
Triumph also have a barnstormer for 2009, the revamped 675 Daytona. A beautiful bike just got tweaked - and it looks better! Shocker or what? Well done to Triumph, but where is the 250 commuter twin Tiger Cub, in flat-tracker and cafe racer format, to compete with the baby 250 Ninja? If ever Britain - or Europe - needed a 90mpg, lightweight, versatile commuter with a dash of retro cool 60s style, now is the time.
Talking of cafe racers, there were a few at Excel that caught my eye.
Will Barber’s Saxon turbo, built for rock gods Saxon back in the early 80s, is one of only 10 examples ever made. Beautifully restored, it captures the last gasp of the Superbike Specials era, before Thatcherite economics and the improving Japanese sportbikes consigned them to history. Once, the only way to do 150mph and live to tell the tale was to have something hand-crafted, by people who had proved their ability in fierce competition - and it cost an absolute fortune. Some big bikes like the S&S Saxon, Moko, Moto Martins, Rickmans etc cost another three or four grand on top of the brand new Kawasaki Z1000, or CBX1000 - a total of around £25,000 at today’s prices I would guess.
But what’s that compared to a 30K Bimota?
Yes, that’s the price of an exotic, quirky-looking Bimota SB7R, or Tesi Mk III, if you fancy blowing your life savings before Gordon Brown takes them into public ownership by nationalising all the remaining banks by 2012. For that princely sum, you get an exquisite chassis and a fettled Ducati V-twin motor. The details on the Bimotas are breathtaking, and when you get close to them, you see exactly the same obsessive determination to make, or fit, the very best components that made Brough-Superior, Vincent, Excelsior-Henderson or others unique in their day. Three cheers for the Italians I say, they are keeping the spirit of engineering for its own sake alive in the world of motorcycling with companies like Vyrus, NCR and Bimota still kicking against the mainstream.
But Britain still has biking talent, as one famous motorbike insurance provider noted at the NEC show last November.
Independent builders like Hogbitz, with their sleek, brutal and undeniably handsome V-twin cafe racers, are typical of the breed. The philospophy is the same as the first Triton builders of the 50s - take a decent chassis, squeeze a big motor in there, add excellent brakes, work on the swinging arm and suspension to make it handle and there y’go. Motorcycle heaven.
AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY
Moving on to another V-Twin, I checked out the latest Victory cruisers, up close and personal, as the Yanks like to say. You know what, I reckon Victory have captured the rebellious, slightly sporty spirit, that Harley once had back in the 60s, before they sold their corporate soul for a shed load of Taiwanese belt buckles. The Victory Hammer is a great name for a motorcycle isn’t it? I admire them for fitting beefy brakes, making a tourer that looks like belongs in Star Trek and hell, even painting one model in their range green - even Kawasaki think twice about doing that these days.
In tough times, the bold investor sometimes wins and I hope Polaris-Victory expand on their small UK dealer network and that working with custom gurus Hawg Haven helps put them on cruiser riders’ radar.
Each time I watch stunt maestros in action, whether jumping 360 degrees in mid-air, Terry Grant chasing his empty, rev-hungry car about in circles, or Kev Carmichael balancing a 1000cc sportbike on its grabrail, I am reminded how limited by riding ability is after 34 years in the saddle.
The Carole Nash Live Action Arena was free to watch at Excel, which is a good thing. People come to shows to be amazed, and dream of owning a newer, flashier, or faster bike, and to see something utterly extraordinary. So let’s have more concept bikes, rare classics, gravity-defying action and a celebrity slow-riding contest, with Jools Holland doing the commentary as Charley Boorman tips off a monkey bike at 3mph.
It was ace to see Nick Sanders’ battered Yamaha R1 on the Yamaha stand. Manufacturers are slowly realising that not everyone wants to be Valentino Rossi. There are other adventures you can have on your motorcycle and I say live the dream baby, because biking should be all about escapism, freedom and fun. Especially in a recession.
Good shows always have a blend of the mainstream latest models, concept bikes, live action and the most iconic bikes from the past. The MCN London Show lacked stands from Piaggio/Aprilia/Guzzi, Benelli and Suzuki, but otherwise it looked and felt like a very decent event.
