Went to the NEC show today and while glad it was not as busy as I expected, felt disappointed at the seemingly low number of visitors there. I know it is not cheap but the car park is now £12 as it is subsidised by exhibitors and the entrance for me is only £15 compared to £25 for under 65s. I must be getting strange or old or both, as very few things excited me other than meeting up with old friends at one of our annual days out.
What did catch my eye was:
KTM a great looking range of bikes but not for me.
Triumph, the only marque that could tempt me to change the GTR. (I really do like the Tiger range).
IAM track training days. Yes I fancy a run round Thruxton chasing my son on his SV.
The Kawasaki stand was very colourful but did not contain anything to tempt me to change the GTR. I like the SX and Versys but big K have nothing now that suits both me and the Mrs so will stick with the GTR ( and a nice SV650 for fun blasts until something comes up to convince me otherwise.
Highlight of the day was nattering with Ben Curry for 15 minutes. Nice lad.
I'm off to the show tomorrow, Agree that parking is a rip-off but managed to get a couple of tickets from KMUK, so not to bad overall. I keep looking at the SX hoping I might like it better than I do. It ticks all the boxes for me, but just doesn't ring the bells like the first time I sat on a GTR.
I did ride the H2SX earlier this year, but its definitely not a touring bike for me. If anything it would be a Versys, but IF I go down that route, I'll be looking into a significant power increase up to SX level and then gear up a few teeth to make it a proper long-legged tourer
I was seriously considering going as I'm off for a few days now but then I remembered how shit its been in recent years so I decided I wouldn't waste my time or money.
A few of us (5) flew in yesterday from Belfast and very much enjoyed our day, its easy to hop on a plane, step off at Birmingham airport, catch the shuttle train direct to the show, and reverse the process to get home..... I must say that passing through Belfast International was a breeze, whereas checking through Birmingham on the return was horrible with massive queues and lots of standing around like cattle in a pen..... VERY POOR BIRMINGHAM :nono:
As others have said the show simply isn't anywhere near as busy as it used to be in the 90s, when simply getting onto a stand was akin to being in a scrum.. yesterday we were able to visit every stand, climb on any amount of bikes and scooters and all round had a great day out.
The real shocker is the prices that manufacturers now attach to the bikes, it's not uncommon to see 16K start prices which when 'extras' are added soon elevates towards 20K and in some cases well into the 20K + area , it's not surprising as many manufacturers now 'sell' a huge amount of bikes on a PCP basis, therefore a couple of grand on the asking price may equate to only 20 or 30 pounds a month on the repayment.
There were some stunning bikes there and it is always surprising to see just how much the Triumph brand and range has expanded over the past few years, their bikes seem to be good quality also.
I liked the Kawasaki stand and was impressed with the bikes on display, however I'm happy with my current Versys 100 as it ticks all my required boxes.
OOI Burchy, have you test ridden the latest Versys 1000 ? it is in fact much quicker than people think and IMHO doesn't need significant gearing changes, as it is already an accomplished solo or two up Tourer, it's also bloody comfortable for both rider and pillion :yes:
:cool:
I Remember going back in the 80's and topless models used to sit on the bikes was worth going just for that ,go every 5 years now as it's got less to see all the small trade stands have got less and less, Kawasaki need to bring out a new. Gtr lighter faster and all the bits on it ,sure it would sell , :biker3:
Quote from: nightrider on November 22, 2019, 09:07:16 PM
I Remember going back in the 80's and topless models used to sit on the bikes was worth going just for that ,go every 5 years now as it's got less to see all the small trade stands have got less and less, Kawasaki need to bring out a new. Gtr lighter faster and all the bits on it ,sure it would sell , :biker3:
:agree:
Kawasaki have introduced several new models recently H2 SX SE, Ninja 1000SX, Z900 RS, Versys1000 GT SE are a few, until global demand justifies it's unlikely that a direct replacement for the GTR will be produced , which is a shame.
Quote from: O.C. on November 22, 2019, 09:49:44 PM
Kawasaki have introduced several new models recently H2 SX SE, Ninja 1000SX, Z900 RS, Versys1000 GT SE are a few, until global demand justifies it's unlikely that a direct replacement for the GTR will be produced , which is a shame.
Anyone connected to Kawasaki have always stated that the GTR will never be made in a touring format again as the market is not there for various reasons. This seems to be backed up by Yamaha ending production of the FJR next year. The only tourer left will be king of the recalls range. But, there were several mid sized tourers at the show from Honda, Benelli and more, particularly the Chinese. Perhaps the smaller bikes can provide all that is required by the masses.
On another note. king of tourers Honda had a new Gold Wing on show loaded with accessories. Shame that a £30k bike has the crappiest plastic wind deflectors nailed on the fairing. They made the whole bike look shabby and resembled something made at home in the shed.
And in any case it takes a special type of person to spend £30k on a bike! :mfr_lol:
Quote from: O.C. on November 22, 2019, 09:45:09 AM
OOI Burchy, have you test ridden the latest Versys 1000 ? it is in fact much quicker than people think and IMHO doesn't need significant gearing changes, as it is already an accomplished solo or two up Tourer, it's also bloody comfortable for both rider and pillion :yes:
Yes I have. Organised a "Do" with Bournemouth Kawasaki earlier this year when 8 of us got all the demo bikes out for the day. BK even filled all the tanks up for us. Brilliant day out, swapping rides regularly. Enjoyed the Versys 1000. As re got back to BK, I reverse parked the Versys back into the kerb. It sighed and went flat at the back. Pete Extance wasn't too impressed that it picked up a screw a 100 yards from his shop
Quote from: Burchy on November 24, 2019, 05:26:16 PM
Yes I have. Organised a "Do" with Bournemouth Kawasaki earlier this year when 8 of us got all the demo bikes out for the day. BK even filled all the tanks up for us. Brilliant day out, swapping rides regularly. Enjoyed the Versys 1000. As re got back to BK, I reverse parked the Versys back into the kerb. It sighed and went flat at the back. Pete Extance wasn't too impressed that it picked up a screw a 100 yards from his shop
It wasn't wearing PR4/5s was it :mfr_lol: