Sunday 1st February 2009 London Motorcycle Show Excel

we had an early 8am start on the first day of February at the 24 hr tea hut near Whipps X hospital Leytonstone E11. The forecast was cold with expected snow flurries. They got the first part right with 2º C at the start and the flurries came later in the day. Those of us that met up were Russ and Mike Dignum (both on Deauvilles), Steve Y on Honda CB600F, Barry on Fazer 1 (the black shadow), Rob on Beemer, Keith and Mary came on the Hornet (you know what I mean), Mark A on his VTR, Phil & Thelma on a VFR, while Aryeh turned up late on the Blood wagon (Pan) and yours truly on the Red Hot VFR (you can tell who wrote this...). There was also some dodgy bloke with a wild look in his eye and a lot of even wilder facial hair - we thought it was Graham until we remembered Graham was abroad.....oops!

After hot sarnies washed down with Tea/Coffee we had a late appearance by Tony Q who'd decided to turn up at the last minute on his TDM and lead the ride down to Excel. He shot off and we didn't see him again until we got close to the exhibition center.

En-route, just before the Ilford turn off of the A406 heading east to Beckton, I got a signal from Aryeh that the offside pannier of mine was open so I had to pull over and lock it by which time everyone had sailed past me and I was at the end of the line.

Tony, in front, decided to ignore the MCN Bike Show signs and head off to City Airport. The trouble was most of the group decided to follow him but I decided to skirt past and turn round to have another go at the entrance. Everyone caught up and we all got there at the same time in the end.

Inside the usual happened and everyone split up into little groups or pairs and set off looking for things on their shopping list which is to be expected and you bump into them every so often.

At first I was with Steve Y and Barry (who surprisingly didn't get lost once). Steve was on a mission to sit on as many expensive bikes as he could and take porno pictures of every rear-end (bike) and exhaust system at the show. It's so sad to see a grown man crying when he realises he can't take the bikes home with him. He's settled on the R1, the R6 and the new Fireblade - oh yes and the New Ducati.

Barry took great delight in beating me to most of the bikes I wanted to try out for size with his unorthodox southpaw bike attack - but to give him his due he knows his bike and definitely knows what suspension forks are and how they work - still beats me...

We went along to the "Action Arena" to see some crazy stunt show and bumped into Phil W and James F. Their story was they almost got to the show and realised they'd left their tickets behind so had a slightly longer journey than originally planned - ho hum. We also caught up with Mike and Chrissie who'd gone by car as they had a few bits to buy and needed space. They were chatting with Tony and Roy who'd appeared. We couldn't see Roland anywhere but was sure he did attend.

Barry and I had a snack by the MCN stage and decided to enter the bike competition and infuriatingly we missed out by 1 point in winning a years' subscription to the paper - it's a shame Steve didn't join us sooner as he is very knowledgeable in matters related to who won what and where they did it etc., etc.,

We'd heard from others that the snow was now falling, but later - after we'd picked up Rob to tour around with us, it had stopped, but the ride home was pretty cold - time for Steve to try out the kangaroo skin gloves he'd just been fleeced for...

A fun day out and I believe everyone had a laugh. A few bargains made, a few pretty girls espied and some dreams of wonderful machines between ones legs - not a bad legacy for a day of miserable weather.. It sure beats being stuck indoors at home that's for certain.