Wednesday 15 March 2017

Post Show Depression


Another year and the Scottish Motorcycle Show continues to get smaller. Perhaps it’s timing? It is the first major show of the year, but it used to be great. Being so early in the year it was a big deal. You went and looked at all the new models, and bought all those little bits and pieces for your bike that you needed for the summer. 

You got yourself a new helmet, or a jacket, or some new boots. Mail order is all very well, but it’s nice to actually try stuff on and see what the quality is like up close. Unfortunately, most of the smaller vendors have been priced away from the show in recent years.

The Loadsamoney Stand
Anyway, this time around it was split into two main halls, with a bit of an auto-jumble (swap meet) linking the two. The first had the big retailers showing off their new machines, the usual assortment of clothing outlets, tour companies, book sellers etc. 

Royal Enfield Stand
Apparently this is still how you market bikes in the 21st Century
The second hall comprised the club stands. Shiny older machines being shown off by their proud owners, which is nice and one of the few reasons that many people still attend the show.

Ducati 500 Pantah
Norton Commandos
I arrived as it was opening and had a wander around before it got too busy so as to try out some of the newer bikes for size. All the main players were well represented either directly or by a local dealer and, my, haven’t motorcycles gotten complicated and expensive recently? Some of those on offer have more on-board computing power than the space shuttle and cost more than my first flat. Or, maybe I’m just getting old?

Triumph Tigers
Triumphs especially seem to come in two sizes these days. Huge adventure bikes and surprisingly small roadsters. If I had the money, I’d probably have myself a new Tiger, although the Street Scrambler and Street Cup versions of the standard Bonneville are nice too. There were lots of interesting machines on the trade stands, some familiar, some not so much.

Triumph Street Scrambler
As it began to fill up I made my way over to the club area and wandered around a bit before dropping by the Z1 stand and finally the MZ Riders Club stand for a bit of a sit down and to catch up with some friends (see later post). See, I told you that I was getting old.

Honda CD185 Benly
BSA X75 Hurricane
Moto Guzzi T3 California & Watsonian
Indian Junior Scout 500
I did do another couple of circuits later as I was looking for a set of decent bar-end mirrors and possibly a jacket. However, nothing caught my eye and I eventually left with a couple of freebies instead, a keyring and a plastic puck to put under my centre-stand.

AA Patrolman BSA M21 outfit
AMF Harley Davidson 125
Not sure what the shoes represent
The problem of living in a big city is that most of the new machines can be seen at leisure in one of the many bike shops scattered about within easy reach. That means that I am being asked to cough up a fair bit of money to come along and possibly buy stuff while looking at other people’s old bikes. 

Rickman Metisse
It's good to have a sense of humour
Truth be told, I could probably do the latter better just hanging about the car park taking stock of the bikes people rode up on. Actually, that’s just what I did before heading home, and an interesting cross-section it was too.

Lonely MZ ETZ250
Anyway, roll on the summer.

4 comments:

  1. Great account. Thought about going but like you mention, its has been getting less and less interesting with all the small clothing stalls etc not being present. What does the new Triumph Bobber look like in the flesh? Not my thing but the pictures of it look great!

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    1. I am going down to Peterborough later in the year. It and Stafford are better shows if you are after bits & pieces. It wasn't a total loss and I was maybe a bit more pessimistic than it warranted, but it's a shame seeing how bad it is now compared to how it used to be before MCN got their hands on it.
      The Bobber is tiny. One of the few bikes I can actually straddle and then sit down. I quite like it. I did find the solo saddle a bit short, which leaves a bit of a gap between it and the tank which might cause *ahem* a problem in the trouser department if you needed to brake sharply.

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    2. I love the single seat (reminds me of the R60) and the hidden suspension. I'm really warming to it, they have done a fine job. Once the new Triumph dealership is up and running in Glasgow I think I will go along for a test ride. Its not really a bike you could go a distance on I don't think as its capacity to carry anything looks unlikely. A rucksack would probably be in order. Not really the point of it though so not a criticism.

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    3. There is a range of accessories for it. One bike on the stand had a different seat, silencers & high bars. I think you can get dinky wee leather saddlebag things too, enough to carry your lunch about in, at least.

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