MCN Motorcycle show 2018: Highlights

16-18 Feb 2018

My report from the first event of the year.

Last Saturday I was at the Excel Centre in London, visiting the MCN Motorcycle show.

For regular readers, you will remember I visited the Motorcycle Live show in Birmingham back in November.

(Read here in case you missed it)

I was expecting the same kind of thing and for the most part, it was. Which is no bad thing. The centre was bursting with a variety of people all with, at least a passing interest in two wheels. It's so great to see this sort of event bringing so many people together. Men, women and children of all ages, coming together to appreciate motorcycles.

This show may not have been as big as Motorcycle live but all the big names were there with their latest models on display. Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Kawasaki to name just a few. I particularly enjoyed visiting Herald Motorcycles again.

This is me on their Classic model. I look grumpy because I couldn't take this one home.

The whole event had more of a motor-sport vibe to it. The main arena, the Michelin Thunderdome! A small track featuring famous riders from the world of motor-sports, entertaining the crowds throughout the day.

Unfortunately, that sort of thing just isn't really my bag. Obviously I prefer the older stuff, so I was very pleased to discover the “Classic Zone”. Classic bike magazine (of which I am a regular reader) was there, with their barn finds of the year. I particularly liked this Triumph with the birds nest in the headlight!

It was also great to see the National Motorcycle Museum there too. They brought along this 1906 Imperial which was one of the first bikes to use a disc brake. The sad thing is, Imperial shut up shop in 1910. Who knows what other inventive thing they would've come up with.

Anyway, since the event I have discovered that I actually missed a few things that would've been get to see. Another demo of the new TT game out next month (review coming soon) and the Coy's motorcycle auction, but that's probably for the best! So at least I've learnt a lesson, which is plan your events.

So there you have it folks, just a few highlights from a nice event. As always thanks for reading.

Don't forget to check out all the latest two wheeled action over on the facebook page and all the other social media type things.

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Motorcycle Live 2017 (18th – 26th November)

Last Saturday (25^th 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