Live Wires
By TMX Archives on 29th Nov 13
LAST weekend saw Motorcycle Live, the motorcycle industrys own show, kick-off at the NEC, Birmingham for its monster nine-day run, with the doors not due to finally close until Sunday, December 1.It is certainly a major promotion with powered two-wheelers packing into halls two, three and four and a total crowd of around 90,000 expected by close of play. All the major manufacturers are present and correct and theres plenty to keep off-road fans interested if you are thinking of taking a look.The newly-launched 2014 Husqvarnas make their official UK debut with a dedicated stand for the motocross and enduro ranges just across the aisle from sister company KTM which mixes its impressive off-road range with the companys awesome road bikes to great effect.The KTM road range is effectively based on the off-roaders in the style department and borrow many engineering cues.Gas Gas enduro bikes are also being displayed by the companys new enduro importer Clements Moto and were drawing much interest from the mainly road-going public, which is exactly what Dean Clements was aiming for.AJP, the Portuguese brand, continues to grow in stature and sports a cool line-up of trail and enduro models in a wide variety of guises.Theres lots of ways for showgoers to get involved as well with Yamaha going great guns with their ever-popularOff-Road Experience as Barry Johnson operates a slick, well-practised operation, ensuring that no first-timer jumps over the rails into the crowd.It is for people with NO prior off-road experience and you can see that they love it.The ACU, in association with BUMPY, is again in business at its Try Trials with experienced teachers Dan Thorpe and Katy Sunter on duty in the classroom teaching raw beginners some trials technique and then putting on well-received demonstrations.And not to be outdone theres also the ArenaCross Youth MX Experience where youngsters get their very first chance to try riding a motorbike in safety on a dirt track.You can then take a spell off, walking the stands and take in the Crankd arena zone where BMXers, MTB aces and trials stars Alexz Wigg and Jonny Richardson strut their stuff over an artificial course.The head-to-head races are well staged and there are several shows per day.In short, theres lots going on and heres just a selection of hundreds of pics which were taken at Motorcycle Lives opening day last Saturday.
