Got any bike stands left?
By John Dickinson on 1st Nov 13
Just in case you hadnt noticed, by the time you read this with your tea and toast on Friday morning, the 2013 International Dirt Bike Show will be under way at Stoneleigh Park and a fair number of you will be mulling over a visit this weekend.
The early-birds out there will already have been there and done that. Those of you who are organised (not me then!) will have snapped up bargain-priced tickets online and made the most of half-price Thursday.
So while some of us are still to make the effort, others are sitting at home happily contemplating their Show bargains.
Shows mean different things to different people.
The main idea of course is to be able to study all those 2014 models at close quarters in the same place. You can compare them closely, which if you are contemplating spending circa £7,000 on a state-of-the-art dirt weapon has to be a good thing.
As we all know, some of the 2014 bikes are already out there and some lucky owners will be trawling the stands for the best Bling to add.
And there will be plenty to drool over.
Others are deperate to see – and buy – the 2014 riding kit of their favourite brand. MXers in particular are brand loyal and know exactly what they want to get their hands on.
Some of the stand-holders are very canny and will be ahead of the game with some possibly quirky stuff that will sell like hot cakes.
A few years ago Eurotek had got their hands on about 30 KTM toasters when they were first launched – and sold the lot before lunch on Thursday!
Then there are the genuine bargain hunters who arrive at the show first thing, visit all the stands at a trot, carefully logging the special prices of the makes and models of whatever helmets, boots and goggles they are fancying before returning to the stand with the best price, snap-up their bargain and promptly exit, stage right.
There's always the hope of a ‘universal' show bargain. You get years when some savvy standholder has arrived with world stocks of a certain make of say, tyres, at giveaway prices – and absolutely everyone is walking the isles loaded down with large black hoops.
Then there was the year the venerable Pete Eddy had metal bike stands stacked to the ceiling.
You would not have thought there were enough dirt bikes around to warrant all those stands, yet by Friday Pete was sending out for more!
You couldn't walk round without someone whacking into you with a bikestand.
So there you go, without even looking at all the extra attractions there's a whole host of excuses for an impromptu visit to Stoneleigh.
It's the Dirt Bike Show
