Two words..... Don't bother :hammer:
£25 each to get in and yes this does include the stunt show, but if you've seen one ya seen em all.
soooo we went today as Sunday looks to be a snow fest, with a wad of cash and a big shopping list... and tbh twas a disapointment,
we got a new lid fer Smarty (my other half), sat on a few bikes, got the usual 2 5ltr bottles of bike cleaner, hugger and dust cover for the GTR and ordered some new suspension (no show discount) for Smartys bandit.
We were also looking at getting new leathers, boots and gloves, but there was a cronic lack of clothing stands, and those that were there seemed to be run by Asian gentlemen selling leathers of dubious quality, we saw a couple of suits marked up as 'Alpin Stars'.... note the lack of the 'e'... :rolleyes: at least learn to spell if you are gonna sell knock offs.
Anyway all in all i suppose it was OK as we saved a bit on the stuff we did buy, but if you are just going for a look round, it's an expensive day. parking was £10 :no:
That entrance fee is a bit steep !, i thought the brummyland one was bad at £17.
They also charge too much for the traders , which keeps the good traders away as they can find business else where.
when we do the brummy one we basically say it a £100 day out, fuel, entrance, parking and something to eat !
Well i'm not there :sad:
Was supposed to be working on the RiDE Clinic stand, but the weather has conspired against me. No intention of riding 200 miles at 5am to get stuck in London!
No way was I forking out for a train at the thick end of £200 either!
Ah well, always next year or NEC or......grrrrrrrrrrrrr weather :asshole: :censored: :censored:
thing is these places are always rammed, last time I went there was not enough room to draw breath, it was a scrum half to sit on any of the popular bikes, as long as these places are packed the entrance fee will continue to rocket above inflation,
most of the stall holders we spoke to were moaning about the entrance fee, and said that footfall was well down for the first couple of days, and it wasn't looking good for the weekend.
went last year and i really enjoyed the show,tock the mrs and my boy,we stayed near camden town and walked to the show,china town an all the touristy bits on sat night(it was the chinese new year),walked our legs off on saturday,up early sunday,buck palace,tower bridge,all the usual crap,but it was cold,,all in all we had a fab weekend.
Bet there were some large gaps of stalls,,,,george white being one,,always had a bargain with them,as said thou,the "foreign" gang,,,,i wont buy off um,they are bjust there to make a fast buck.
bit disappointing when you read that a show is not that good,mainly that its always someones first show that they will go to,and proberly wont go again,and you cant always paint all shows the same can you?
We went last year and its was very good, it seems that the cost of putting a stand up for retailers has gone up considerably, keeping a lot of them away this year, also apart from the Honda and triumph stand, the other manufacturs were a lot more low key.
I think that they missed a trick here by charging for the stunt show in with the entrance fee. A lot of people don't really want to see that. I went last year and thought the show was good, better than the NEC in fact but this is a step in the wrong :lipsrsealed:direction.
The entry fee is too high and £10 to park, rip off. The display stand / area cost is astronomical, My company exibit at Excel every 2 years, its the international food and drink exibition, on top of the floor space rent theres the cost of the stand build, hotels , corporate entertainment, travel, logistics, my company last year spent £65,000 for a 10mtr x 15mtr floor space for 3 days. ( the parking for an HGV was £60 a day )Having said that we did do quite well out of it, you have to speculate to accumilate.
jesus christ mate!!!,,,,
well thats wha i mean!,its putting the smaller dealers and the little local companys way out of there league with figures like this,then all tha happens is you have the big boys selling exactly the same items on most stands,n then its who wants to sell the most wins,,,,and after the first day or two when trade is bad,there arses are twitching like mad!!
used to love having a mooch and chat with the small firms,you always got good service,n some of um remembers you the following year too!
but i will still go to shows especially in winter time when you need a fix of two wheels! lol :smiley:
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I went on Friday by bike.
Bike parking was indoors :grin: and only paid £20 for the ticket.
More accurately my friend Steve paid £20 but I bought Lunch.
The Stunt show was not as good as I expected and the bloody seats seemed to be designed for midgets.
F***ING idiots seem to think that motorcyclists are all under 5'8".
Last time I ever go to one of those stunt shows.
Had a long chat with a very tasty young lady on the Ducati stand, sat on the ZZR1400 (drool!) and a Ducati Hypermotard.
Bought a new lid (Skark Evoline 2) for £220 which is a decent price and some winter "lobsterclaw" gloves for £20.
I have to admit I probably won't go to Excel again. It's small, over priced, and the only really enjoyable bit of the stunt show was the race with all 6 participants That was funny as the barging, cheating and dirty tricks made it a bit like the Wacky Races.
Have to agree with Boomer's comments, especially the young lady on the Ducati stand. Though the lady manning the Bike magazine stand, and the Carole Nash girls were quite easy on the eye too.
I still think it is a good day out. Yes, you are paying £20 or £25 to go and look at a big shop, but I find if you treat it as an excuse for a day out and ride up - it is good fun. The ride through the centre of London is simply magnificent outside of rush hour, and when I rode in on Thursday, the sun was shining making everywhere look stunning. Curry and a skinful in the evening, lovely.
I had forgotten the joys of a 2Bros can and tunnels, and think alas I may have a letter on the way from the local authority commending me on my 'progress' through one of these tunnels.
Bought nothing apart from two Kawasaki kites for the kids, so I understand the frustration of the stallholders paying big money pitch fees.
Martin.
Well, we went on Saturday, and after the -9oC on the display as we left it was a good trip along the M11.
However, this is our third year and we recon, the worst event. :-(
Regulars weren't there, the stands seamed packed out (not with people) but empty space, and. Clever trick of nudging the perimeter stands in by 2-3meters make it feel more packed than it really was.
Motogymkhana made my day, and I bought a cheap Open face helmet and some Kriega stuff (that was actually the same price as online).
I guess we will go again, but only to pick up the bits we need at hopefully discounted prices.
Neil