I went this year for the first time for probably 4 years but only as my mate wanted to chat to one of the manufacturers and also getting there was free! Parked the other side of the footbridge so free parking. The show took 2 hours to get round so compared the Milan that we have been to 4 or 5 times it wasnt great. But my friend got a Schuberth flip front £330 down from £550. I finally got to see a Givi tank bag I was after in the flesh but was a bit naffed off as the had sold out of this one but friday at 2pm so had to order online and pay postage...... Probably won't go again for another few years to be honest.....
I went on Friday, but only cos I had a complimentary ticket (and my boss paid for the parking!). Said I wouldn't bother again a couple of years ago, and this visit confirmed for me that it's a waste of time and money (as is the NEC show, too, these days). The manufacturers are very conspicuous by their absence, there's absolutely no atmosphere, and it was desperately short of clunge:frown:. Where were the Maxxis babes, ffs? Went with my bosses on Friday, and were we all in agreement, we won't be going back unless it improves dramatically. We'll be off to Intermot or Eicma instead.
The vendors used to use the shows to offload last year's products ready to stock up on the latest colours, styles, etc. But of course no-one carries any stock any more, so those bargains have dried up. It's not a case of selling to mug punters, it's a simple fact of not having spare stock to discount.
Exhibitions have had their day. They are expensive to set up and expensive to attend. And gone are the days of if getting a bargain on last seasons stock. The internet has seen off the competition. Again.
Not sure I agree with that. Nothing I like more than a good exhibition, and I'd happily pay the price for a good event. But the bike shows in Blighty aren't a good event. From the event hosts to the manufacturers reps to the stallholders, none of them are interested, none of them are making an effort. The NEC bike show, when it was at Olympia years ago, was a manic affair, everyone packed in like sardines, salesmen really pushing for a sale, birds getting their tits out all over the shop, punch-ups at the bargain bins, boiled hotdogs with the hottest mustard in christendom... Now look at it - Ikea for bikes. Health and safety and political correctness are sending it to an early grave, but the organizers and stallholders seem just as keen to see it fail. It's their fault it's failing. The organizers don't seem to realise their target audience. Motorcycling is predominantly a man thing, not a family thing. So sell it to the man using the classic combo of loud music and tits, job jobbed.
Based on the exhibitions that we do for work (as an exhibition slope supplier) they are not wgat they used to be. In fact the Metro Ski & Snowboard show last year, which used to be full of stands selling last seasons gear, and with holiday companies touting their wares, was just a series of computer terminals that the public could use.
My partner in our new start-up went and texted me a photo of the 899. As he doesn't have a bike (although he has a licence), hasn't had one for 30 years, and has no money, I took this as a good sign. He is clearly very optimistic about our chances (I am too).
If you mean you parked north of the DLR line, in the Victoria Dock Road area, well yes you can park there free. But it's rather a rough area, so the risk of your car being stolen or vandalised is considerable. I wouldn't park a bike in that area unattended for long. The ExCel parking charges might turn out to be a bargain after all.
10-15 years ago I always used to take a pocket full of cash to the shows knowing I was coming away with some bargains. Now it just seems to be old tat or new kit at new prices. The deals have all gone it seems and so has my interest. I'm not in the market for a new bike, but even when I was I'd already made my mind up from press articles and sitting on something else wouldn't change my mind so appart from seeing and occasionally hearing some nice race bikes there's not a lot of pull for me anymore. I do hope things improve though as i used to look forward to them.
Bike sales have gone down over the years, mostly because the manufacturers chased the big bucks rather than plan a future, and we've gone through 2 recessions in the last 25 years or so, so perhaps it's not surprising the shows ain't all that. I still blame the organisers and exhibitors though, they've not exactly tried hard, most just opting to spend less each time around. But it's the recession itself that will prove to be biking's saviour in Europe. Once Japan Inc ran out of wealthy old farts to sell bikes to in Surrey, they had to start looking to new markets like India, and concentrate on different types of machinery . Now the onus is on affordable small to middleweight machines - the very things that fuelled the british biking boom in the 70's and early 80's. And now we have a unified licensing system in Europe those smaller machines will be the backbone of the bike industry in Europe. The keen prices and cheaper insurance will bring younger blood, the aftermarket industry will have plenty of options to 'improve' these cheaper-manufactured machines, and sales will steadily grow. This is the future of biking and of bike shows, not us old dinosaurs.
