The tiger 900 after having a 1200/1250 for over 5 years is a breath of fresh air. So light and easy to throw around tight bends. Gives you loads of confidence. Love it.
I enjoyed my day out at the NEC, as I always do. I saw plenty of folk buying new helmets and riding gear - but I don't know what deals they got. I did notice a Goretex Leather Rukka jacket at half price. Yamaha were not well represented - only a clothing outlet plus a few bikes. It cost me £33.00 return train from London Euston, so no parking charges. I had an interesting chat with the folks on the Garmin stand, bought 5 litres of Autoglym motorcycle cleaner for £20 and some bits from Gerbing. I chatted to a sales guy at Triumph who could not tell me why they replaced the T120 heated grips and centre-stand for cruise-control. These shows can be boring if you don't get your bargain or don't make the effort to chat to the folk on the stands. Then you can spend the whole day without taking to anyone. One of the more interesting accessories was the heated visor on the VISIN stand.
You`re right. The new TIGER 1200 should be presented for the first time today. I´m interested in the specifications of the new Tiger (weight, HP, etc.)
Oh, that’s an interesting concept... is it a bit like the Ford front screen??? Wonder where you have the battery cells... I will have to research!
We're off to the show tomorrow and just wondering when to leave to meet friends at 10:30. I know how long it'll take me to get to the NEC, but how much time should I allow to get parked and in to the show itself? Presumably it takes a little longer if they're doing COVID checks.
Looks priced just below like for like GS at a quick configure. Thankfully I still prefer the looks of my GS over the Tiger so should save me some money. I expect these will sell well though and Im sure TMF will be having man-gasms over it.
Hi DCS900, having looked at the visor on the VISIN stand you would need a waist pack to carry the battery as it is bulky. As an aside I got chatting to Peter Hickman, gosh he was all doom and gloom regarding the Isle Of Man, he said "the island's on it's arse", and with a large amount of businesses closing in Douglas he thought it would be a death knell so to speak, personally I have to disagree, there has been huge investments in the Island, new influxes of people buying properties and re locating, and solid international banking investments. I posted the revamped TT a week ago, now that has seen huge investment and forward thinking, yes a lot has changed over the years, I first visited the IOM in 1967, however like all things in life you have to adapt and change. Like most of us on the forum I chat to all manner of people, one interesting conversation was with the NMM who had a stand at the show, they had both Robert Dunlop's and Ray Stringer's original JPS rotary Nortons, along with Steve Hislop's "white charger", I was able to recall how the team "ripped off the front mudguard" on his machine as it was overheating Yes literally ripped off", it was good to see it in it's original unrestored condition. Robert Dunlop was for me a great all round racer and a really nice funny guy to talk to.
Once parked there is a free bus service to the entrance. It only take a few minutes on the bus and there usually plenty in service.
Met up with @Octoberon and a few of his friends yesterday. Thought the show was ok. The BSA and Norton stands were very good, but for me the Triumph stand was the best on the day. This is the carbon based Norton which was drop dead gorgeous. the New BSA Gold Star also got a lot of attention. The paint job on this one caught my attention as well.
Yes it is a husband and wife team. They won a competition to show their bikes on the stand. Very talented
I managed to miss that Marvel bike, @Wessa - I'll have to do more walking and less talking next year. Good to see you there. Lots of great manufacturer stands, with a couple of notable absentees. I could be wrong but it felt like there were fewer exhibitors overall this year. I've got some pictures as well. I'll put up an album later. That Norton was particularly lovely.
Yes I agree it did seem like there were less stands, particularly the biker clothing ones. I know the manager at J&S here in Cheshire (which is their head office) and he told me a couple of years ago that they would not be putting a stand on for two reasons, 1) the cost charged and 2) because of the kit they lost through theft. They have not been there for few years now.
I thought the same about the clothing stands. I hadn't considered the pilfering problem but I suppose it would be pretty easy to lift something if you were the dishonest type.
