Having seen a lot of the stuff in Milan it's difficult to say. But, it I had to choose from the perspective of someone who hadn't been to Milan then I guess the 1199 SL was a highlight and I actually liked the Honda Fireblade SP, but unlike Milan you couldn't sit on it! It was £15,500 for the ABS version much to the disappointment of my mate who is keen to have a new Fireblade next year. Other than that it's difficult for me to say. Oh yeah, trying to get my knee down on the demo race bike on the Honda stand. Couldn't even do it on that. lol
Queuing to sit on the only 899 Ducati would let you sit on. Then asking the guy on the stand if there was any difference in the physical size of the 1199 & 899 and coming away none the wiser. Where do they dig these people from?
As lovely as it is to me it's still not worth travelling 5 hours (there and back) and paying £32 in fuel, £8 for parking and £20 to get in. And I have stuff to do at work that's hotting up.
Didn't really need to go to the show to find that out....2014 Ducati 899 Panigale review - Road Tests: First Rides - Visordown
Think I'll save my money too, sounds like the same old shite. Think I was in there last year for no more than an hour. Looking for a new helmet but I bet the stands won't beat the 30% discount being offered on some websites.
I had this very discussion with Hellcat on the dreaded Facebook. The discounts on kit at the show can be equalled or bettered with a few mins web browsing. Saying that, Helmet City has managed to 'add' £30 to a few sale lids at the show, which I thought was a little cheeky
I still don't get the whole show thing and paying for it. Ive attended loads of shows in my industry and as always each year the cost for exhibitors goes up although I think its starting to level out due to a lot not seeing the benefits any longer and Excel and the NEC finally starting to notice less are willing to pay. They are however free for all visitors and its merely a data capture thing where by they want all details from you and this then gets shared out between all paying exhibitors. My point is with the bike show is that these are all manufacturers wanting to sell us / show us their products, why on earth are we being charged to see them? If they just cut out the MX shows and stage shite (if thats what costs extra) and charged say £7 on the door which most of which went to bike awareness programs ('Think Bike' and so on), Blood biker, Air ambulance, grass roots racing and things that actually matter to us bikers it would be a damn site more worth while. I'd actually bet they'd get twice the foot fall if not more (thus making it more attractive to the exhibitors) I appreciate that the NEC are in business to make money, but it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out if they keep creeping up prices then either the manufacturers Or public wont come, then they wont have a show. Yes charge to exhibit, but be fair with it so these company's can make it a viable promotional week and sell some product on the days. I just begrudge paying £17 and then stealth tax in the way of £10 for parking when I have no idea where my £27 is going.
Quite agree about the shows, they don't really interest me, or at least it's not what I'm going there to see. But none of the exhibitors seem that keen on flogging anything these days; there's no hard sell, no discounts, no incentives. And a distinct lack of excitement.
I had to pay a fiver to get into the Kepmton auto jumble, that stuck in the throat too: was only going to meet up with mates and have a coffee and chat
Thats probably down to the NEC charging so much and the expected foot fall. If it costs the exhibitors £?????'s then they have in effect just given away margin on the products they have there with them. If the projected foot fall isn't that high (pre sold ticket allocation) then they have two choices. Try and retain margin to maximize return on investment OR dump further margin in the hope they'll sell more items to make the same amount of profit. Either is risky and based on smaller foot fall numbers id probably go with the retain margin as your less likely to sell high enough numbers to make the lower margin work. therefore smaller numbers of people go each year, the footfall decreases, less deals to be had and the end result is there will be no show as the exhibitors wont see value in it. The NEC need to shape up IMO. Facts are if you could guarantee the footfall increased (lower entrance fee) and didn't ask as much from the exhibitors then the deals would return, that would then create success for all and the show would continue. Somebody has just taken the piss with greed and keeps trying to screw that little bit more out of it, until the whole things goes pop and then its no more.
