It has been a year or two (2013 actually) since I have went near this show, but I ventured back today for a look with huge hopes that it had improved since my last visit.
Thankfully it has. I will address the 2 bad points firstly that I came away with today – firstly £12 entrance fee is just crazy. That is only slightly cheaper that the NEC’s Motorcycle Live which was simply outstanding. This show is more like a gathering of dealers, with a range of their bikes that they want to sell you. Nothing new, nothing revealed, just a load of nice and shiny bikes all in one place to tempt you out of a few hundred quid for the next 36 – 48 months, therefore I think it is a bit cheeky to be expected to pay such a high entrance fee to essentially enter a huge multi-manufacturer’s show room.
Secondly, on your way in you will pass by the ‘Jumble.’ Make sure you go in because there is simply some stunning vintage bikes and cars in here and a few interesting vendors. However Bad point 2 is also in here. Some of the vendors are just selling junk, and they genuinely don’t seem bothered.
My eye was taken by two quaint little signs, neither of which held any real world value, I just thought they would look rather cool in my garage. Heres’ how the conversation went….
Me completely ignored by the vendor….
Me : ‘Excuse me please?’
Vendor : ‘What?’
Me : ‘How much would you like for these two signs please?’
Vendor? ‘Eh?’
Me : ‘These two signs, what is the price please?’
Vendor : ‘Emmm, uh, oh them, them are £30 for the pair.’
Me : Thinking holy sh1t, they are just two old rusted signs, their condition is about a 2/10. All the while the vendor stares at if as if I have just insulted his wife, mother and children.
Vendor : ‘I said £30 for the pair.’
Me : ‘Mate old doesn’t mean valuable, just sometimes old means old.’
Vendor : ‘Wha!’
So thats how that went and the attitude of the other vendors in that hall didn’t leave me with an overly friendly taste in my mouth, which is very unfortunate as some of the vehicles on display here was just immaculate.
So onto the positives, the halls were well laid out and a great selection of manufacturers were present, the stands here were staffed by people with skills in communication and they seemed eager and friendly and tried to help. Here you also had the opportunity to engage with clubs, the Goldwing Club were very impressive, their machinery was outstanding and the people on their stand were friendly and easy to talk to. The Road Racing Clubs were here too, which is a massive positive, the Tandragee 100 Club and North West 200 Club both actively engaged me, they were friendly and informed, and if I wasn’t already a certainty in relation to attendance these guys would have me in attendance for sure.
All in all the show has improved, more improvement can still occur of course, more shows, events and things to engage patrons would help but things for the Belfast Motorcycle Show / Adelaide Motorcycle Festival are definitely moving in the right direction!
