This past weekend my buddy Terry and I drove over to Atlanta for the final stop in this year’s Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows. I’ve been wanting to hit the show for a couple years, and this year there seemed to be several interesting new models I wanted to see, so when business travel didn’t put me in the right city at the right time, I had to take the bull by the horns. I had hoped to *ride* to the show, but cool temperatures and the threat of tornado weather didn’t make the 7-hour distance sound very attractive. So we drove over on Friday, which at least let us talk and have music.
Saturday morning, we got to the bike show shortly after it opened, with the intent of filling the day there, followed by a hockey game at the Philips. While the show was about the largest trade show I've ever been to (on any topic), we seriously overestimated the amount of time needed to see it all. (I think we didn't spend as much time looking as the individual bikes as we expected.)
The show had just about everything I would have hoped for. Basically, every well-known US, European and Japanese manufacturer had at least one of every 2007/08 model motorcycle on display, including the Russian Urals (the ones with sidecars) and India's Royal Enfield (with miscellaneous Bandit parts). Some of the up-and-coming brands, like the Korean Hyosung and the hand-crafted Confederate or Boss Hoss lines were absent, but otherwise it was a pretty thorough showing. I was disappointed that there were no concept bikes on display (although we did see a new Toyota Tundra concept truck with a neat matte green paintjob) and no demo rides available, but that will just give me a reason to see this show again, when I can manage a trip to California.
There were also a few special exhibits: the AMA's traveling exhibit on the history of motocross, the motorcycles used in the movies HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS and MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE III (both were stock Triumphs, nothing unique), and the world's fastest motorcycle, a sort of missile-shaped thing called the Bub Streamliner, which notched almost 351 mph at Bonneville last year. There were also several customized bikes at each manufacture's exhibit, and several you could vote on for fan favorites. Finally, there was a stunt show, which featured three riders and a guy with a microphone inside a metal mesh ball zooming around like atoms, and they also did motocross stunts and wheelies. (I’ve seen something similar before, but it’s still amazing how choreographed that ball stunt is.)
We spent the most time with the bikes we were most interested in. Our first stop was our current object of lust, the soon-to-be-released Kawasaki Concours 1400 sport-tourer. (See
http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/Detail.aspx?id=220) It was on a platform and we couldn't actually sit on it to see if it feels good or how heavy it is, but it looks as great in person as it looks in the pictures. The live one was in the same “neutron silver” color as the pictures we've been seeing, so it's unclear if what we saw was more of a prototype than a true production bike.
I threw a leg over the new Suzuki Bandit 1250S. It looks a little more sporty than the old Bandit, but I am not sure it will be a hit in the US. One couple was looking at it, and the guy told his gal that it's a "girl's bike". Obviously he's uneducated in what a powerful beast the Bandit is, but later in the day, I saw women on it twice more. So it may be like the Mini and the PT Cruiser...a chickmobile due to its appearance. (Maybe that means my el bandido is about to become a chick magnet!) I really liked the new midnight blue color. (Kawasaki had a Ninja 550R in a great “pearl solar yellow” and a Vulcan 900 in a pretty “candy Caribbean blue”…it’s good to see some new and unusual colors.)
I did notice a few things that seemed different from my ’03 B1200S (other than the obvious redesigns, the radiator, etc!). I felt like I was crouching slightly more towards the handlebars, and the place where the seat and tank meet seemed more hard and uncomfortable than what I’m used to. And those are both important ergonomics, since a bike has to fit you or you just won’t enjoy it. (And the part of my body that meets the tank/seat intersection prefers a little softer environment.)
Finally, there was something odd about the shift lever, and it wasn’t until I got home that I realized what. On my ’03 B1200S, it’s attached with the footpeg, so the lever juts out from your foot towards your toes, and then there’s a linkage to back to the transmission to do the actual shifting. On the new one (if I remember correctly), the lever is attached ahead of your foot, and it just *back* toward your toes. I can see how this might produce a more direct link back to the actual mechanism, but I have to admit the old design looked a little cleaner.After checking out Suzuki's new semi-naked sport-tourer, Terry wanted to check out Kawasaki's new naked bike, the Z1000. We agreed, it is pug-ugly. The designers seem to have gone out of the way to give the bike a lot of angles, as if it were an ice carving, and a back wheel that is so distanced from the tail above and the motor ahead that it seems detached. We don't expect to be riding one soon. (See
http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/Detail.aspx?id=204)
We both bought chances on the Braveheart, a Honda 919 that has been customized with a beautiful olive, gold and red design, being raffled to fund research for pediatric brain tumor research. (See
http://www.pbtfus.org/rideforkids/ims/Register-to-win-a-bike.html) I got five chances on the bike, and the guy said he thought they had only sold about 3,500 nationally, so that's a 1/700 chance at a bike I'd be pleased to win and ride. Terry bought once chance, so there's a 1/600 chance I will still get a chance to ride it at least occasionally.
The rest of the show was full of manufacturers of trailers and mobile homes and helmets (I got to try on the new Shoei Multitech, that replaces my favorite Syncrotech helmet) and vendors selling gear, accessories, insurance, etc.
One thing we noticed is that the bikes were pretty beat up after three months of people sitting on them and kicking them and knocking them over. One poor SV had been tipped over, and was missing the windguard and the end of the clutch lever on the left grip (and oh how I know those potmetal levers that Suzi puts on their bikes are fragile!), and I kept seeing women plunk thier toddlers on bikes, with no regard for where those little feet kicked and scratched as they went by. They should have put the bikes on deep discount on Sunday and avoided having to truck them back to wherever they go.
So, again, while test rides and concept bikes and more obscure brands would have been nice, it was still a good time, even though we had time to spared.
Topic: Atlanta Cycle World International MC Show & Bandit 1250S (Read 2568 times)