The doom and gloom of the recession and the good ole British weather had a serious smile put on its face as the Carole Nash bike show opened at Britain’s N.E.C. last week. For the first time in the shows history a dirt bike and off road section was added to the show which clearly encouraged many top-line businesses to attend displaying their must have products for 2010.

Amazing Norton on display was eye-catching.

Victory Motorcycles new offering.

Traditional British bike manufacturer Norton upped the anti with a superb display of some very radical machines (Albeit four-stokes) who along with Victory motorcycles appeared to be grabbing most of the publics attention on the road bike scene. Despite this being the first attempt at an off road section, dirt bike aficionados were well catered for and more interestingly just about every off road stand had a two stroke lurking somewhere on the carpet! Apart from Suzuki……… who shouted the two stroke message loud and proud displaying an immaculate R.M. 400 on the roof of their stand.

K.T.M. Kawasaki and Yamaha all held their own with well presented products and plenty of literature available for the public.K.T.M.’s new 150 was getting plenty of attention as were the smaller end of the Yamaha range although it was interesting to see that on first impressions it appears that Yamaha and Suzuki may well be sharing the design of the rear mudguard on some of the 2010 models.

2010 KTM 150

Yamaha's YZ85

The original euphoria that had been created with the first release pictures of the all new restyled Yamaha 450f had clearly dissipated rather rapidly with very little interest being shown in the flagship model and it was somewhat of a surprise to see that although several stands displayed various Honda’s, Honda U.K. were conspicuous by their absence from the high profile event. Sticking with the H’s Husky stepped up to the plate and did the name proud taking a very bright and large piece of red carpet to show off next years bikes including the cute and purposeful C.R. 50 or should that read 50 C.R……

Husqvarna CR 50

Engine close-up.

Taking the opportunity to be associated with a wider selection of the industry and its enthusiasts, K.R.M. Motorhomes took the opportunity to release their all new sports motorhome for 2010 with the stunning new Titanium model. Based on a Mercedes sprinter chassis the all new model retains all the class and high quality finish that you would expect from K.R.M. with some innovative new features.

Anyone who went anywhere near the Dunlop stand would have been in exulted company with two of the H.M. Plant Championship winning Honda’s among their display along with a comprehensive range of rubber for all occasions and the chance to win a set of tyres.

The 7 foot tall terminator style creation that provided the inspiration for the illustration used as part of the promotion for the event, stood proudly displaying every detail of its unique carcass which was made up entirely of motorcycle parts and kept the youngster’s and adults alike intrigued by its design.

In these troubled times when everyone is looking for a cheaper deal, praise must surly be heaped on all those involved with the show, not only the organisers but to all those businesses of all sizes who committed themselves financially to support the motorcycle industry as a whole, making the show such a compulsive magnet for any two wheel devotee.