Honest! I was looking at the trike...!

Tuesday 1st December I decided to miss a day at work and skive off to the Bike Show at the NEC.

The weather was not particularly good and I didn’t fancy my usual trip down on the bike. I also didn’t relish the prospect of driving the car down so for a change I went by train from Wrexham. What a wise decision! As I was by myself on this trip I reckon that with the parking charges and the fuel cost I was actually saving money by going by train (but only just).

The 7.44 am train from Wrexham to Birmingham International Station was on time and quite efficient from what I recall of previous railway journeys. The route was very interesting as well as it was the first time for me on this route, with many new places to see on the way.

A very interesting Can-Am - luggage like a Wing!

I arrived at Birmingham International exactly on time and with a short walk along the concourse I was queueing with my ticket a minute to opening time. This is the first time I have been on a Tuesday to the Bike show and I was very surprised at how quiet the show was in visitor numbers on the day. At no time on the day was there a time when I felt it was too packed. A colleague who visited the show on the same day, and also visits on the Tuesday every year, subsequently commented to me that he thought numbers were down this year.

I actually enjoyed the opportunity to have a good look at everything without the press of others doing the same. The trade stands held one or two bargains if you looked around for them but it was also noticeable that overall prices were a lot higher this year for kit and bike bits.

Visiting my old trike on the Appys stand

Really noticeable was the lack of a Honda stand at the show, together with quite a few of the more exotic machines. This was very disappointing and does not bode well for the future, particularly if Honda sales ultimately do not suffer from not attending the show. Another big name missing was Harley Davidson, who seem to be able to still sell machines without the necessity of showing their wares at the NEC.

Appleyards had their stand at the show with Barry Walton, as usual, enticing the interested onto the stand. He worked well for GWOCGB and looked to be obtaining a few new members for them. I was able to visit my old trike which Appleyards have readied for sale and were displaying at the show. I must admit that the paintwork was looking superb.

Travelling further around the show, I took a good look at the Can-Am trike which now has extensive luggage capacity added. It was quite an interesting looking machine and I would like to give it a trial ride sometime.

Interesting ... but not as comfy as a Wing

It soon became obvious to me that the Show was not as big as previous years and it is not just one or two exhibitors were missing – there were quite a few missing and this was quite disappointing as it is the UK’s biggest showcase event for Manufacturers and I cannot see that it was purely financial reasons that the likes of Honda have not displayed their new bikes here.

I might have to consider next year where to visit to see a bike show with all the manufacturers displaying their items. This might mean travelling abroad to a Show elsewhere in Europe, but if that is what it takes then I might have to consider it. Work colleagues have already decided to do just that and when they priced out tickets off a budget airline, together with a cheap hotel deal, it actually worked out not much more than a visit to the NEC for them. Interesting!