2019 Motorcycle Live

[Kwacky]

These were taken on my phone and haven't been editted. Frankie will be along later with his proper photos.

The show seems much smaller than previous years. It's just in the one hall now. We watched a Moto Show - very impressive skills from these riders.

Frankie was moaning about a lack of eye candy, I guess those days are over. That said, the first time I lost him he had wondered off to talk to a tattoo'd fittie.

There weren't a great number of bikes I wanted to see. The Ducati V2 is very sweet. Nice and small but comfortable. Very well priced at under £15k IMO.

None of the Japs had much to show off. The Tenere 700 is very weird. It looks good but the seat is low, which is really highlighted when you go from standing on the pegs to sitting down.

The new Africa Twins look great but they've added a lot of money to pay for the tech on offer. The top of the range Africa Twin Adventure Sport is £17,500. That's taking the piss. The new Fireblade is worth looking at. Nice high seat with a low tank means you can really lay flat on it.

Yamaha







Kawasaki

Not much on offer from them in terms of new bikes. The Z-H2 looks much better and much smaller in real life. The ZX6R for 202 looks much better than the current model.

H2-SX cockpit


Z-H2


Honda













Suzuki

[Kwacky]

MV Agusta

This seemed to be a very popular stand. There's a good range of bikes on offer now. Even the Rosso bikes which are the budget MVs are still high quality.









KTM

I really want to like the 790 but I can't. It's a very weird design and there's too much plastic below you.





BMW

I'm liking their new F900XR bikes. I could be tempted to swap the Versys for one. Excellent value for money.

Ducati

I was disappointed with the Monster Hyper and Streetfighter. Not for me. The Monster looks a bit cheap. The Hyper is massively over priced and the Street is a very weird fit for me.

[Kwacky]

A mix of other bikes

[Blade]

20k for the standard FireBlade ridiculous

[duke63]

Not quite sure where all these people are who can blow £20k on a motorbike.

Its a lot of cash for a leisure pursuit.

[Kwacky]

£25k for the SP

[Blade]

£25k for the SP

robbery

[Kwacky]

Massive thanks to Frankie for providing transport and to Itchy for his company.

Disappointment of the day had to be explaining to someone how Kwacky relates to Kawasaki She was tall and sweet though so I managed to forgive her.

[Frankie]

Great pics mate, I think with the crap lighting in the place, I wont have a great deal myself, the show was so dark and glarie (spelling ?) the little camera was useless.
I wont have an Harley photos, for some reason they seemed to have turned the lights off on their stand LOL..... it was very dark, bad marketing if you ask me, people want to see the goods.

Best bikes and variety for me of the show, were Fantic, MV, and the new blade it looks awesome, miles better than the previous model.

[Frankie]

Massive thanks to Frankie for providing transport and to Itchy for his company.

Disappointment of the day had to be explaining to someone how Kwacky relates to Kawasaki She was tall and sweet though so I managed to forgive her.

ha ha ha......

[Kwacky]

When taking photos two things pissed me off: the shit light and the amount of barriers next to the bikes. It was hard to get a good shot with the phone.

[Frankie]

Same with the little camera, could not get the angles needed, could not compose a shot coz some fat bald feck would get in the way..... and yes the barriers and tape were a nightmare....

I was good to go as I have not been for a few years, but it did seem a little flat as shows go, cant put my finger on it, but it was missing something.

They really should do something about the rip off Britain food and drink costs, the fun size coffee was a joke.....I have a whole jar of coffee lasts two months cost less than that.....

[duke63]

Streetfighter always been a strange riding position.

Apparently dealers have taken quite a few deposits

[Kwacky]

They took 14 deposits for the RS660 over the weekend at the NEC, despite not having one there and it not being available until the end of summer 2020 at the earliest. More likely October.

[duke63]

You could have one of those and a Panigale V2 for the price of the SP Fireblade.

[Kwacky]

I called the RS660 and the MV Turismo Veloce for the same price.

I really can't see them staying at that price for long.

[Frankie]

Forgot to mention for a bargain, Benelli seems to be extremely competitive with their machines

[StMarks]

. not been for a few years, but it did seem a little flat as shows go, cant put my finger on it, but it was missing something.....

......Frankie was moaning about a lack of eye candy, ..]

[Frankie]

Ha ha not really that, just seemed to miss a buzz... possibly I was just spoilt last time I went when I joined Kwacky, Jack and Candice.

[duke63]

Been today and yes I agree it was a bit flat.

I do wonder if we are all becoming fatigued by new stuff all the time.

In all honesty there was not a bike there that made we want to go bike shopping. Yes there are some very nice bikes and I would love to test ride some of them but owning them? Not so sure. Maybe my Street is just too good.

I did like the Panigale V2, the Streetfighter, new version of my Street RS, Tenere 700, Scrambler Desert Sled and the KTM 790 Adventures.