Manchester Motorcycle Show 2012 Review by Guest Blogger and Biker Marcus Tillbrook

We woke up to a beautiful crisp, clear morning on Saturday, which really put us in the mood for a ride out to the Manchester Motorcycle Show held at Manchester Central.  By the time I’d sorted the usual morning chores!, wheeled the bike out of the garage and warmed it up, my 15 year old lad Ben, finally appeared, plonked himself on the back of the bike and we were on our way.

We arrived after a really good, if chilly, ride and the first thing that impresses you is the extensive, bike only, free parking which was well manned all day and if the standard of the bikes in the parking was anything to go by, the show should be first class.  An amazing pair of “his and hers” Harley Davidson Street Bobs pulled up next to us as we were taking our helmets off, stunning!

Although our bike is a big street supermoto, (an Aprilia Dorsoduro) I love all things two (and three!) wheeled, so I was really looking forward to see some of the new bikes up close and as Ben turns 16 in a couple of months he was well up for researching and trying out as many scooters as he could find, so we were keen to get inside and get started.

Manchester Central isn’t huge like the NEC, but they had certainly packed in plenty for bike fans to see.  All the main manufacturers were represented, albeit mostly by their local main dealer, along with plenty of clothing and accessory stands with show only bargains.  One of the really good things about a show like this is you also get to see some of the more unusual trades associated with the bike trade, that you normally wouldn’t experience unless you were specifically looking for them. Stands like the airbrush artist (amazing work), leather worker, jewellery artist, bike holiday company, trike builders and a motorcycle funeral company!  There were also a number of non-commercial stands, such as MAG, Royal British Legion Riders Branch and Afghan Heroes.

So, onto the bikes!  It made me smile, because even though Ben isn’t as passionate about bikes as I am (yet), he still abandoned all his scooter plans the instant he saw the Ducati 1199 Panigale and we made a beeline for it.  It was perfectly positioned, almost in front of the doors as you walk in, just as you are getting your bearings in the hall.  I’ve read all sorts about it over the past couple of months and it comes across as good, they have put a lot of work into the development, but it really is stunning up close.  Viewed from behind, the whole bike barely looks wider than the rear tyre, how have Ducati managed that?!  We had to visit it three times before Ben finally got to sit on it, the stand was that busy!  I only got to sit on a really nice 999r and realised just how comfortable our bike is in comparison. I had to really search just to find the footpegs, they were in such an extreme position, still a dream bike though.

The rest of the hall was filled with an amazing assortment of machines.  From the enormous Victory and Harley Davidson bikes, that look like they could waft along all year, untroubled by anything, to the ferocious race and race-replica bikes, the John McGuiness TT legends Honda Fireblade, in particular looking like it was caged, to stop it sprinting away around the next corner and out of sight.  The Honda RC30, RC45 and amazing 50cc racer ran it a close second though.  We were also drawn to the stealthy matte black Yamaha R1 and the MV Augusta F4CC, which at £5 short of £50,000 pretty much took the prize for the most expensive production bike at the show. 

Even with all that exotica on show though, the interest around new bikes like the Honda NC700, Triumph’s Tiger and Explorer and the Ducati 848 Streetfighter, showed that what bikers dream of and what they actually want to ride day to day, can differ quite a lot.

We also managed to take in the live action zone, where we witnessed the Vertical Trix and Broke FMX shows, I never thought I’d see someone backflip a motocross bike, INDOORS, but that’s what happened.  Great shows, if a little short of bike action, the Vertical Trix show had a lot of burnouts and drifting in a car, along with some wheelies, stoppies and other bike stunts.  As it was a bike show though, we both agreed we would have rather watched another set of Broke FMX over their ramps, than being completely smoked out but the squealing burnouts (that’s when it became a bit weird having a stunt show indoors, we could hardly see a thing!).  Steve Parrish and Guy Martin also did an interview slot and then appeared at various stands for the rest of the day and Ben managed to meet TT racer Ian Hutchinson which was a bonus as we missed Guy Martin a couple of times due to the queues.

One aspect of the show that I was really impressed with was the range of scooters there, we did have an interest in them anyway, but they were really well presented and took their place proudly alongside the superbikes.  Although there were the usual Honda Visions, Gilera Runners and the like, the two stands that stood out were the Sym scooters and the Vespa and Piaggio stands.  The Sym bikes were quite impressive, they have really gone all out for the scooter market with a wide range of different styles, engines and target customers, including a scooter aimed specifically at the commercial market.  Although some of their bikes seem very familiar, the Sym Symba for example bears a close resemblance to the Honda C90, they are well executed and the dealer backup and warranties seem to be in place, one of the dealers was explaining that 2 year warranties were unheard of not too long ago on scooters but they were offering some on their bikes, testament to the improving reliability of the machines.  The Vespa’s as always, were urban chic at it’s best, beautifully crafted bikes.  Including chrome front and rear racks on the touring models, for example is a wonderful idea for the modern city dweller.  We even saw the 100mph scooter, tucked away down one side of the hall, absolutely nuts!

In all, we had a great day, there was just enough to fill the time we had at the show, the weather was great, we got to ride in on our bike (I was dreading having to bus it in!) and we got to check out some really nice bikes.