beansbaxter
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posted December 16, 2002 08:50 AM
 Edited By: beansbaxter on 16 Dec 2002 08:54
MC Show in Seattle Afterthoughts
That high bandwith photo shoot of the Seattle show takes FOREVER to finish loading out, so I thought I would put my comments here.
That Rune is interesting, dont think its quite my ride just yet. I really liked what Honda has done with it, the rear brake lights are very cool looking.
I sat on the 999 and it felt about as comfortable as the RC51 I rode a while back. I couldnt see riding that square, uncomfortable seat for any long period of time. Hope your reading this Corbin.
The R6 and CBR600RR look much better in person then the mags show them off to be. The Honda undertail exhaust is very cool looking, but check out the pics of the Nicky Hayden Race bike with the undertail exhaust.
I wish the ZX-12R would come in the same shade of black as the CBR600RR, nice clean glossy black. None of that violet in it. And then the green 12 just looks gross, seriously. No offense to anyone who owns a new green 12...but I dont like it at all. In general, after seeing everything Kawi has to offer for the 03 lineup, with designs and colors not looking that great on the ZX-7 and 9, I think the only Ninja they are going to sell a lot of are the 6R and 6RR. The 6 is lighter then the R6 and the CBR600RR.
That new all black Busa looks very nice, feels good to sit on. Feels longer then the 12, sits a lot lower. Honda's 1100 XX is a joke!!!! This thing just sucks. From its looks to its feel to everything about it. This is the first new motorcycle I've seen in a long time where I've thought it sucked from the get-go. Anyone else have any thoughts on the XX?
Some of that vintage stuff was just bizarre...like that yellow Honda Goldwing with the super-sidecar lol makes me think someone won the lottery and went crazy. That Harley-Davidson V-Rod with the HUGE tire in the rear was just insane and long. Very nice though. And that orange Busa was just plain ugly, enough said.
Dino showed me his seat hinge, and its a fine looking piece! I highly recommend it to anyone who hasnt gotten one yet. But Dino...you need to make a rear seat cowl cover for the 12 that has the aggressive, new look that the 6R has cause that would be hella cool!
I didnt get to take any pics of the Aprilia stuff but I was shocked to see how low there sticker prices were on the Mille and others. The Aprilia had a nice windscreen and feel to it, I just didnt like the dashboard in general. The RS50 was a fun Aprilia to sit on, cause its so misleading on weight. I jumped on it and nearly fell over cause it was so light. I've never riden one so I dont know how fun they would be to ride.
The girl with the "Dangerous" t-shirt should be given more justice then the photo gave her. She was a hottie, and it took us three tries to get a pic there with her in it. My buddy standing next to the girl in the Ducati poster only took us one try.
Sorry for all the pics looking low-quality, but the lighting in the expo center sucked if you asked me, and I forgot to crank up the flash attachment on the ole camera so that was my fault. I thought it was a really cool show, and I learned a couple things from it. Have a high flash digital camera and dont sit on the guarded display models until your ready to leave the show with an escort of security.
What were everyone's thoughts on the show?
   
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ZHooligan
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posted December 16, 2002 09:04 AM
Did you make it to the Eastside Motorsports booth? They had about 5 rather attractive young ladies working the booth. Especially when Gobert was there for autographs.
The XX is much like the ZX7. They built it and have done nothing with it since. Theonly positive is that they made the Blackbird black this year instead of red or silvere only.
I liked the feel of the 600RR honda over the 600RR Kawi. It felt lighter and didn't have the severe stand on your head riding position.
I agree on the ZX12 color. I don't care for the black with red sparkles in it. Black is cool with out the sparkles!!
The orange busa was indeed ugly.
Missed you at dinner, we had a good time.
My only other thought was the show continues to go down hill. It looked bigger then last year at first. But in reality the major manufactures took more space to show bikes and there were less vendors and frankly I didn't see any real smokin deals. The vendor display area where they have little tiny unmanned booths was disapointing. Muzzy had one of those booths and there were a ton of people there asking questions about Muzzy products but know one was there to answer the questions. A few of us tried while we all waited in that area as a meeting point.
The organizers and venue operators need to re-evaluate what they charge for space so more people will show up. You guys going to the shows still coming make sure to bring your Arai helmets. The Orient Express display is selling Arai helmets and they are also adjusting and fixing Arais. The guy in charge is a super guy and they do a great job. It is worth it just to get the shield properly adjusted, and if you have a broken vent etc. they have the parts to fix you right there.
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beansbaxter
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posted December 16, 2002 09:07 AM
Oh...and how could I forget to mention the Benelli. This is a very nice looking Italian motorcycle. If you've ever seen one, or if you look in the pics, the gas tank protrudes much farther out then where the seat meets into it at. I dont see how this can be comfortable, and they wouldnt let me sit on it with the service stand. The rear fans just look retro. I was told the engine was moved farther ahead to the front, leaving no room for the radiator so they put it in the back where the fans are at, if that makes any sense. Beaudrys Motorsports in Post Falls, ID said they just added Benelli to their lineup.
I just read a review the other day in one of those UK magazines that had the Benelle, an MV Agusta F4 Senna, and a Ducati (999 I think). The Benelli looks much better in person, but now I want to see that F4Senna and see which one I like more. That Benelli is just beautiful, seems to be the answer to all the questions in my life.
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beansbaxter
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posted December 16, 2002 09:14 AM
Edited By: beansbaxter on 16 Dec 2002 09:15
I figured the show would have been a lot bigger.
Vanson had a nice booth setup there though.
Why no Agusta?
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Megabyte
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posted December 16, 2002 01:31 PM
I enjoyed seeing the new bikes, accessories etc, and meeting ZHooligan, SWFT, Freek & others on this board. However, my criticisms about the vendors are similar to ZH's. At the Muzzy booth, I tried in vain to get info and ETA on their new Street Turbo. At the Kawi booth, nobody could tell me if the HP on the 03 had been reduced, nobody @ the Honda booth had any info on the possible release of their V5 engine to production.. etc, etc....
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beansbaxter
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posted December 16, 2002 02:19 PM
Yeah, most of the booths were just being occupied by salesmen from local area dealers who were just wanting to sell, i.e. hand out their business card.
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DaveInDaytona
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posted December 16, 2002 03:18 PM
I still prefer the show here because you can ride most of what you're looking at, but on the other hand it seems like the vendor participation has dropped off in the past two years with the "open" show format.
You're right about the booth staff, for the most part they're the traveling circus and the people with the real info are back at the shops making things happen.
Good job on the photos !
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beansbaxter
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posted December 16, 2002 03:33 PM
Dave....they let you actually ride all the new 03 bikes at the show there?
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DaveInDaytona
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posted December 16, 2002 03:42 PM
Not all, but most.......
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beansbaxter
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posted December 16, 2002 03:50 PM
Yeah, I remember you posting all those pics, but I didnt see the demo ride sign. Must be nice. Maybe its a weather thing.
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ZHooligan
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posted December 16, 2002 09:12 PM
It is a weather issue. They do the same at Laguna. I am not certain how it works in Florida but most of the demo rides are fairly lame. Extremely controlled etc.
I have found for some thirty years now that a significant number of hundred dollar bills on the seat usually means no problem with a test ride!
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