NEC Show

Well the 2007 NEC international Motorcycle show has swept by for another year and in my opinion was the best for a long time. The list of attractions were almost too much to fit in in just one day.

The main reason for attending was to view the new models and there was a fair few of them.

Honda showed off their new brutish looking streetfighter the CB1000R, a compact muscle bike featuring a single sided swing arm, rakish headlight nacelle fairing assembly, very nice wheels and a functional and not bad looking box section looking angular GP stubby esque exhaust.

The new for 2008 Fireblade didn't look half as hideous as in the pictures also featuring a side slung stubby exhaust 175 horses weighing in at a relatively heavy 199kg. I'd have one!

Most of the rest of the range appeared to be the 'same but different' with updates. Honda hope to grab some of the middle price bracket sensible 600 market with the new CBF600abs.

Other Japanese notables were the all new R6 Yamaha which is a stunning looking sports bike which will no doubt be a bloody misssile and move the class forward just a little more, Yamaha also introduce the equally stunning YZF-R125 this little thing will steal sales from the the Honda CBR125 with ease if priced right, for me the best bike in its class, perfect bike for younger brothers to emulate the sports bike antics of their older siblings. Not quite sure about their new V-Max concept, you can see the lines echoing the previous seminal superbike and it is very Judge Dredd, Yamaha are a bit coy about when or if in terms of release date. Suzuki's B-King is reality of course but debatable in terms of styling cues for me, those exhausts are just hideous and in my opinion outextreme the MT-01 which is also an odd looking animal.

Kawasaki have pulled off a master Stroke I reckon with the release of their new sports 250, styled to turn heads with a 250cc parallel twin engine, cheap and reliable spec and bang on the 33bhp limit for newbies, priced right this could sell in numbers. TheZX10R has always been an awesome bike in terms of performance but the twin pipers were definitely the ugly sister in comparison to the earlier C models and the '08 model has been delivered with a facelift, the mirror/indicators look a bit odd but they showed the bike with the mini slimline accessories kit fitted which was much better. Inevitably the zorst was a bulbous neccesity and the pillion area was ....well not really there. The new Blade or this 10 would be my choice for a litre superbike, based on the assumption that I don't win many thousands of pounds so therefore will not be in a position to buy either the magnificent Desmoseidieci, 1098 or the very svelte KTM 1180 LC8.

Triumph had no real new models but their Rocket 111 in touring kit looked awesome, more purposeful looking than the equivalent Harley and less complicated in the bristling with gizmo's Goldwing which features a sat nav and a billion other buttons, it's a gizmo geek bike whereas the Triumph is a bikers bike which has soul. God knows what mind bending drugs the Victory designers were on when they created the 'Victory 'Vision' which has been introduced to this huge litre super tourer class. Marketed as the New American V - twin, on this occasion I'd rather have the old one and swap quids for a Harley if American metal was my penchant. It's a truly weird, admittedly brave and futuristic design, but I think more people were just amazed at it rather than genuinely interested.

On the American side of things, the Harley stand was naturally flash but most of the bikes just looked like tweaked former models which is really what Harley are all about, they have the essential sales ingredientsand just dress them up in different clothes it seems to me. I have to be honest at this point I have never slung a leg over one so I should reserve judgement until I have. And the day cometh. second week in January I will hopefully be riding an XL1200 Nightster so will post my thoughts when its been handed back to it's rightful owners and I've thawed out. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

The new Buells are quirky looking things and the new water cooled offering was no different, the top fairing was wider than a south London market Trader. I'm sure it is very efficient but not sure if it would fit through the garage door it seemed that wide.

I had a pew on the HP megamoto and again very quirky and highly efficient without a doubt but those sticky out pots just don't feel right to me, give me a Hypermotard Duke or preferably a KTM Supermotard R please. Their GS800 promises to further roll out the appeal of the range created almost single handedly by Boorman and McGregor. Benelli showed their entire range. I'm undecided with these beasts, the Tornado looks good but you rarely see one on the road and the rest of the range look well finished but not quite italian. I reckon you can see a Chinese influence in there somewhere especially with reference to the Tre's radiator set up, they were hideous looking, the brand has a modular approach to their very slowly expanding model range. I'm sure they are all great bikes but the proof of the pudding is the buying public.

A little gem amongst the diadem of mainstream manufacturers was the new Megelli range of chinese manufactured machines overseen by a new British engineering concern, Priced at under 2K I'm convinced you'll be seeing some of these on the road next year as they crowd the Gilera DNA sector.

Carole Nash's stand is a must most years but I was left a little disappointed, for sure all the machines displayed were lavished by pride and joy but some how I was a little disappointed, the winner of the Carole Nash award was a most bizarre, It was almost a mechanical animal rather than a bike, the oddest lowrider I have ever seen and not something I would ever want to ride.

The stalls looked busy and the crowd contained noticeably more women than previous years which reflects the touted figures of increasing amounts of female license holders.

Well done to the organizers I reckon. loads to see and plenty to do. Visitor figures I believe are up on last year and loads of new kit to ride.