23/9/2018 MCN Supersprint @ Alexandra Palace + a rant on current motorcycle design

It's many years since I've been to a motorcycle show, but seeing as I've been a biker again for a few years and this one was virtually on my doorstep it seemed too good to miss. Also, the 'Supersprint' concept seemed like fun! It's several years since I've been to Alexandra Palace - I think the last time was an Alice Cooper show. But this time I'm here in daylight - the distant London skyline has certainly changed a lot since I last stood here...

Alexandra Palace is a spectacular venue for all sorts of events, but the MCN Supersprint is something a bit different - a motorcycle show and a sporting event. Sort of. Arriving after two in the wet afternoon on the Sunday got me in at the discount price of only £10 - great value for money! The motorcycle show side of things is pretty conventional, but the 'Supersprint' turns out to be a lot of fun! It's a very informal type of indoor motorsport, with some celebrity riders from the varied forms of motorcycle sport - from road racing to trials and including some world champions. There were no prizes - this was strictly for fun, although the various 'races' and 'trials' certainly brought out the competitive side to the riders and there was great (but good humoured) rivalry! The various competitions were designed to be fun - and they were! World Superbike Champion and I'm A Celebrity winner Carl Fogarty competed against the likes of World Trials Champion Doug Lampkin, TT ace John McGuinness, and road racers Chris Walker and Jamie Whitham.  The varied 'races' and challenges included slalom, wheelie and other tricks of skill. It was all highly entertaining!

Also appearing on the indoor 'race strip were demonstrations of various exotic machines from vintage racers to more modern sporting machines like this Triumph Speed Triple. I was particularly interested to see and hear this in action as it was very similar (although this is an earlier model) to my bike which came to grief (and me with it, although unlike the bike, I survived) last year. Unfortunately, I didn't see it run, so I guess it was demonstrated earlier in the day or on the Saturday. A shame as these Triumph triples sound fantastic!

I did see/hear some other amazing machines demonstrated though - including a vintage 6 cylinder Honda racer which sounded amazing. Many of these racing bikes have no silencers - so you can imagine how loud this all was indoors. I loved it! There was also a show of custom bikes - many old, new and amazing machines to feast the eyes on. Honda, Kawasaki, and Triumph all had stands showing off their latest machines, and it was interesting to be able to try them for size. There was also other exotic and highly desirable machinery on display - this new but very retro looking Brough Superior SS100 particularly caught my eye! This old British make favoured by Laurence of Arabia has recently been revived. This machine of more of a work of art than a motorcycle, but if you are (very) well minted you can buy a brand new one now to ride on the road. If I won the lottery....

In the background are two of the most desirable bikes of my youth: On the right the 1000cc 6 cylinder Honda CBX, and in the middle a 1000cc Laverda Jota triple. I could only dream of owning superbikes like this back in the day, but my most recent Triumphs would leave either of them for dead now!

I didn't take many pictures as the new bikes  from the major manufacturers as they are well covered in the media and you can easily find them for yourself, but if you want to know more and see some of the Supersprint action check out the MCN page on the event. However, I did have a few thoughts after trying out for size and comfort some of the latest machines.....

<rant>

I was pleased to see many of the latest bikes from some of the big manufacturers on display. I was very interested in being able to try out these machines for size and comfort, but was surprised and disappointed in what I found: My last two bikes have been a Triumph Speed Triple and a Triumph 955i Daytona so I was particularly interested in what Triumph had to offer. I was thinking one of the Triumph twins might be more suitable for me these days, as although I love the character and performance of the big triples I have to accept that my reflexes aren't as sharp as they once were for 'on the edge' riding. On examining the newest Triumph twins I noticed something odd about the exhaust pipes leading to the silencers - all was not what it seemed. Part of the 'exhaust pipe' was actually fake and merely a piece of single sided metal trim giving the appearance of a straight pipe leading to the silencer - while the actual exhaust pipes took a sharp diversion into a large metal collector box hidden under the engine before turning back onto course for the silencers. Maybe this goes some way to explaining why all the modern Triumph twins are so heavy - why does an 800cc twin weigh noticeably more than my 955cc triples? Something is wrong here! Even the apparently stripped down 'Bobber' and (ironically named) 'Speedmaster' models are surprisingly heavy for basic 2 cylinder parallel twins. Euro 4 regulations? The new Royal Enfield twins are air cooled and appear to have none of this bullshit and fakery about their exhaust systems, while still meeting Euro 4 - so what has gone wrong at Triumph?

I tried out many of the latest bikes for comfort. Again I was disappointed. Why the silly thin seats that are currently fashionable? - particularly on imitation hardtail 'Bobbers' with the less than comfortable suspension on the UK's shockingly potholed roads. Also, why the silly little petrol tanks on nearly all modern machines? My last two Triumphs both had 21 litre tanks - and even then had a range of well under 200 miles. So why have so many new bikes have tanks of only around 16 litres? The new 'Street Twin' and 'Scrambler' models from Triumph only have 12 litre tanks - absolutely pathetic for 800cc machines! ! I refuse buy a bike with a tank as small as that. Are these new machines designed just for posing round town on - quick sprints between urban petrol stations? I want to actually GO places on my bike - without have to keep stopping for unnecessary fill ups. You should be able to cover distance quicker on a bike, but you won't if you have to make all those extra stops to refuel. On my Speed Triple and Daytona I had a nice comfortable fat tank to grip between my knees. I tried all Triumph's current twins and found nothing to grip with my knees! Stupid little petrol tanks again - before visiting the bike show I really fancied several models in Triumph's twin range, but after sitting on all of them nothing felt 'right' - I just didn't feel comfortable on them at all. Their petrol tanks appear to have recesses for your knees, but these seem just for show as the tanks are so small and narrow I find it not possible to comfortably grip them between my knees - it's as if they are designed for midgets or children! I am 6' tall BTW. I left the show feeling there isn't a twin in Triumphs current range that I'd buy even if I won the lottery. I did like the new Street and Speed triples, although I think they look ugly compared to earlier models. The 1200 Tiger did actually feel comfortable, if very cumbersome and top heavy - I'm not sure I'd want to venture off road on one. I don't think many owners do - it's a two wheeled Range Rover and you never see them with mud on them either!

Sorry if these seems an anti-Triumph rant - I love the two I've owned, but I can't imagine buying any of their current range. Other big manufacturers left me disappointed too - why are most modern bikes so ugly? Kawasaki had some interesting models at the show, and I liked the new Honda Fireblade - it compared well with my 955i Daytona although obviously more modern with even better performance. However, the new Honda CB1000R just looks like a piece of crap! I'm sure it's actually a very good motorcycle underneath, but just fucking look at it! It looks like a joke bike and exhibits what to me are some fashionable but poor design features common to other new bikes: USD forks? Yes, these are basically a good feature and improvement, on the track, but on the road the difference is largely theoretical. Any reduction in unsprung weight is good for handling and roadholding, but then for road use guards have to be added to protect the exposed (now lower) sliders from grit/stones/dirt - thereby adding to unsprung weight, so any advantage is minimal. The reasons for USD forks on road bikes are more fashion/marketing than genuine improvement.Why not just fit fork gaitors instead of these stupid and ugly guards?  Which brings me from front to rear suspension. WTF is going on here? I like single sided swinging arms, but the 'fashionable' rear end on the CB1000R (and other current bikes by other makers) is just fucking stupid from an engineering point of view. Re: my point on reducing unsprung weight to improve roadholding - the effect of adding a light 'hugger' mudguard to the front end of a swinging arm is minimal. But Honda have added a bulky piece of kit on the rear end of the swinging arm that actually extends beyond it and increases unwanted pendulum effect with even more unsprung weight! Adding the totally unnecessary weight of rear lights and number plate onto the end of the swinging arm is just fucking stupid! And how well are the lights/electrics going to stand up to the long term constant hammering they will be subjected too on an unsprung part of the bike? Put the lights and number plate back in a sensible place like they used to be under or behind the seat - surely having these items at higher level increases safety and visibility. I bet the CB1000R's lights look good bouncing up and down with the wheel when you ride at night! There is no need for all this - it just total marketing bullshit as well as poor design. And Honda even describe this bike as 'Neo Sports Cafe' - what utter pretentious Hipster bollocks!

Apparently sales of new bikes are falling drastically. Maybe it's because the major manufacturers are not making the sort of machines that real bikers actually want? Too much bad design, ugly bikes, too many features people don't want or need - and too much fashion-led marketing bullshit? Even if I won the lottery there aren't many new bikes available today that would actually tempt me regardless of price. Manufacturers - if you want better sales - GIVE US THE BIKES WE ACTUALLY WANT!

</rant> Rant over.

I enjoyed my visit to the MCN Supersprint and I hope the event will return in 2019 - in spite of the lowish attendance on the day I went. Maybe the ticket price was a little on the high side for what wasn't a major event? It was a good day out as far as I was concerned though, and I would definitely go again.

PS: The 'rant' section above is an edited version of something I originally wrote for the letters page of Bike magazine, but they didn't use it as it was far too long. I had a lot to say!