Last Saturday (25th of
November) I visited the Motorcycle Live show at the NEC in
Birmingham. It was my first time visiting the show so I wasn’t sure
what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised at what a great time I
had.
For those of you who read my first blog
post, you will both remember I mentioned I was a bit of a novice when
it comes to motorcycles and that is mostly still the case. So I saw
this as an opportunity for a bit of education and boy did I learn a
lot.
So if you’re here for technical
information and an in-depth look at the latest models, I’m afraid
you’re in the wrong place. But what I can offer you is a few
highlights of a wonderful event.
The first booth I visited was a company
called “Get On”. Link to their website here. They are a fantastic bunch, who give non-riders
(or returning riders) an opportunity to ride a motorcycle for the
first time. This was exactly what I did. Yes, ladies and gents I have
officially now ridden a motorbike! It was an amazing way to kick off
the event and I am going to write up this experience in a separate
blog post, later this month. Let’s call it my Christmas special, so
keep an eye out for that.
Earlier this year I was at the NEC for
“The Cycle Show”. Whilst that event wasn’t all that great, on
the way back I visited the National Motorcycle Museum. And I was
pleased to see they had a presence at Motorcycle Live. Obviously this
was a particular highlight for me as I prefer the vintage stuff,
especially this green 1950 Royal Enfield in the centre.
And speaking of Royal Enfield, I also
got to sit on this amazing silver “classic”. No chance to ride
this one unfortunately.
There was a rather large Isle of Man TT
stand, with talks throughout the event from famous riders. But what
really interested me was the new Isle of Man TT game, that is being
released on consoles next year. Being an avid gamer this was pretty
exciting. The graphics look incredible, and I’m sure will stand
shoulder to shoulder with other big name racing games like Forza or
Gran Turismo. Unfortunately, the booth was so busy I didn’t get a
chance to actually play it, guess I’ll have to wait until March
2018 when it’s finally released.
One person who has really inspired me
when it comes to motorcycles is Henry Cole. It started with watching
“Shed and Buried” repeats on the Travel channel, then the
discovery of “The Motorbike Show” and “World’s Greatest
Motorcycle Rides”. These aren’t just programmes for me, they are
lessons and Henry is my new favourite teacher. So when I found out he
was going to be there, I was pretty much first in line to meet him.
We had a quick chat and he very kindly took a picture with me and
signed my programme, it was great to meet one of my heroes.
And I finished off the day with a ride
on a Harley Davidson. Their “Jumpstart” rolling road is a great
opportunity to non-riders to have a go on a bike from this legendary
company. It was loads of fun, but apparently I was a bit throttle
happy. I was told “if you did that on a real road, your front wheel
would be in the air!”
I’m still not sure if it was praise
or criticism.
All in all, it was a brilliant event
and I am definitely going back next year!
Thanks again for reading folks.
As always you can find me on all the
social media thingy’s…
Facebook: Twowheeledronin
Twitter: @twowheeledronin
Instagram: twowheeledronin
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