It's been a bit of a hectic weekend; I got a quick trip home to London, although LF wasn't there. That left me free to visit family and catch up (more later). First priority though was to drive up to Birmingham where there was a motorbike show on at the NEC. As I'd never been there, I was interested to see how it compared with the London Excel show.
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| Had to have some bare flesh to start the show with - good on you, Victory! |
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| Suzuki V-Strom 1000 |
There seems to be a few new bikes announced recently that I was keen to see and sit on, just in case I do ever manage to sell the Trumpet. Don't know why, but the two that piqued my interest before-hand were the new Indian, and the Suzuki V-strom 1000; two very different bikes of course, but there's no logic to boys toys, is there. The Suzuki looked as expected, was a nice size for me if a bit unexciting; not so the Indian, which looked really well made and put together, but useless for a long-legged chap such as myself.
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| Indian |
I then decided to sit on every bike in the show to save time later when and if I do make a change. The big BMW's were all good, size-wise. Unfortunately all those lovely café racers from the likes of Norton, Triumph and Royal Enfield looked gorgeous but were too small. I guess 6ft 3in, 15 stone arthritic pensioners (moi?) need to be more sensible with bike choices.
New RE 535cc café racer
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| BMW RnineT |
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| Some nice specials |
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| Dead cool Metisse 'Steve McQueen' replica |
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| Custom Bonnie |
Anyway, show explored it was hotfoot back down to London in double quick time to visit the kid, who has just become a Dad; guess that makes me a Grandad. Spent a nice afternoon cradling the little feller and chatting. Good to be with family for a while.
Congratulations Grandpa!
ReplyDeleteThankyou
DeleteThe Enfield had also piqued my interest last year on the German Bike Show in Cologne, I still like it a lot!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the new family member.
Sonja, its a cracking little bike, and maybe with the slightly larger engine and less weight it probably goes OK, provided the rider doesn't weigh too much!
DeleteYou got some great shots of some great bikes.
ReplyDeleteI think we could fold your 6 ft frame to fit on a cafe racer, but we'd have a hell of a time trying to pry you off once you seized in that position.
Congrats Grandpa, he's a cutie.
You're right there Trobairitz, I almost got stuck on the Norton, knees into the tank, feet on the pegs, leant forward for the clip ons and knew I'd never get off if I did!
DeleteFirst Grandkid is always the best, I guess - its a long time since I held a baby.