interesting show, loads of manufacturers present. Big stands from Honda, Ducati, KTM, Yamaha and the hipsters Harleys and customs were all there.

no real deals on kit, a few quid off here and there. Apparently the NEC charge a packet for a stand (as well as £10 to park and £19 to get in)

It was good to get a poke round the Husqvarnas and KTMs as no dealers near me. I'm not really into Ducatis though they are works of art worthy of any gallery. A bloke perched himself on their sports bike and fook it looked like a yoga position.

You could chuck a leg over most stuff, i sat on the MT07 and decided its not really for me. I think i love supermoto bikes now.

a little live stunt show, very impressive

if you like bikes i would def recommend it.

honda have created a weird version of my CRF250 called a Rally or something. Stillborne i'm 100% sure of.

The R1s and Fartbloods look satanic as ever

 

Went up on the Friday and like you, swung a leg over most things - for me ... Triumphs Tiger 800 with the low frame and seat won out. I don't get ( or fit ) the sportsbike thing, it makes my wrists hurt just sitting still on one. If i had the space in the garage spare, an MSX would sit beside it just for laffs.

 

i had two CBR600RRs many moons ago. Amazing bike but as soon as you hit traffic they are horrible
your wrists both ache and the engine gets hot and the fans blow scolding air on your legs. Plus the seat feels like some masking tape over the blade of a machete right in the nuts.

this is the bike i was on about



i feel drawn towards the road legal CRF450

CRF450RE Specifications | Off Road Motorbikes | Honda UK

but i expect it needs a service every week if i use it on the road. I must be in a minority to love agile enduro bikes which dont weigh 200kg




now if that were a 500 maybe.. but adding weight to a 250 makes no sense

 

Looks like it has Biggles googles on

I know what you mean about weight though, light = chuckable and that's fun. Navigating a 260+ Kg barge about isn't fun, especially not when it falls on you. Did you see the demonstrations of that at the show? You could navigate to it by the sounds of cheers and applause

 

I was there on Saturday.

Some really nice things there. Didn't feel comfortable with the new Blade Ergos, they have definitely made the new R6 more relaxed - does feel exactly the same as the R1.

The GSXR600/750 still feels the best which is the reason I bought one 18 months ago.

ZX10R is where it's at now.

Everyone was taking it serious so I adopted my usual biking position:

 

Horses for courses.



The white one is the one i use during the winter months.

 

i think our uses are different, so i agree, horses for courses. That is a 200kg bike i guess.

what i want is sub 140kg, 40bhp and reliable as a Honda

 

Make that 280kg... the MT09 is around 180kg.

 

I don't mind the weight so much as i mind where in the bike the weight is. As much as the F800/700GS is a boring bike for lardy people, t he weight is carried low in the bike and that makes it feel lighter than it really is.

 

Looks perfect;y normal to me.

Pat's got a point, but I think the idea is you should be going fast enough for the aero to take the weight off your wrists as much as it does your arse and ankles, so that the mass distribution is constant.

With a naked upright, your wrists can ache from trying to hold on at a decent lick. Which does at least have the advantage of making one go slightly less fast and ending up like fig.1 above.

I can sort of see why the fashion has reverted, to smaller, more upright bikes given modern conditions. I's still want one with stabilisers or gravel tyres for our local dust tracks though. At least of there were no tarmac left, enduro tyres would sink in and provide some grip.