MCN Bike Show 2015 at London Excel

This weekend I went to visit the MCN Bike Show at London Excel. Another first as I’d not been to Excel before and was delighted by how easy it was to get to. I got there nice and early to make the most of it before the crowds descended. First impression was I liked it. There was plenty to see and easily fill 3 or 4 hours – more if you watch all the displays and interviews, but not as daunting as the vast expanse of the NEC. The first visual impression was good too ..

A classic Triumph will always get my attention 😀

First off, a walk round the show bikes –

This was just Amazing!

I looked across at these two and thought ‘Strawberries & Cream’ 🙂

Love the lines on this one too .. very ‘Urban Chic’

Classic cut from Rasio – I revised my opinion of Café Racers after seeing this one at the NEC last year.

Niks’ single sided Bandit sporting a rather nifty two-tone paint and a ‘For Sale’ sign.

Then I watched a demonstration of just how maoeuverable a big BMW trailie can be with a little (read: lot) of practice..

There was a huge amount of adventure holiday stands – that’s obviously a large growth area in the industry at the moment.

While the crowds were gathered round the display I went off for a bit of quiet shopping, and finally got round to buying myself some of those moulded ear plugs

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These guys at Barrear were great – explained the process thoroughly and were highly professional. They didn’t offer the variety of colours and fancy finishes that some of the other suppliers did, just red or blue, but they’re earplugs – as long as they fit properly I’m not fussed what colour they are, and they made them right there on site for me to collect an hour later. This way they were able to check the fit and show me how to put them in correctly, which I thought was much nicer than receiving them in the post a week later. And best of all – they were cheaper than all the others 🙂

While my earplugs were cooking I went off to buy an extortionately priced burger and a can of Coke, then some more self-indulgent bike photographs . . .

I chatted with a  few of the more unusual traders – The Secure Shed Company, who had the most secure shed / playpen I’ve ever seen! Realrider – who had a very clever App for your phone that triggers an alert system if it recognises indicators of an accident, and even works for off-roading! And Bike Tours for the Wounded – a non-profit company who work in conjunction with one of the adventure tour companies, and raise the money to fund places as pillions on touring trips for British Armed Forces service personnel with life changing injuries.

Principal Insurance always seem to have something on their stand that catches my eye

For a custom show the polish stand didn’t seem to be getting much interest, but the Custom Show bikes below certainly were 😀

And finally .. Cedric, the charming and enthusiastic sales man who spoke so passionately about the beautiful bikes outside the Krazy Horse trailer ..

(I didn’t like to tell him what I ride in case I made him cry).

And last but far from least, not that I ever had one or appreciated them when they were new, but now with hindsight I can appreciate the effect they had enticing young riders in to biking.. the good old Fizzy! 😀

I hope you’ve enjoyed my pictures and blog as much as I enjoyed being there 🙂

‘Blog post by FD’