Who is up for Saturday the 15th?

Sounds like a plan. I'm sure Duncan will be going.

Yep, it's on the list.

I checked out the website and see in the Manufacturers on Tour part that the European brands will not be including Washington in their tour. That's too bad. So would there be dealers there representing those brands? It's been a while since I went to a show like this.

That just means that the manufacturers will be represented by whoever their local dealers are. For example, Bob's or Morton's would represent BMW (assuming they're doing DC and not Towson instead--some years they do both).

I hope somebody from BMW shows because I'd like to see the new K 1600 in person.

Might be worth checking Bob's website 1) to see if they make mention of the bike or the show(s). Some years they've been at one, and others at both.

I know BMW is very focused on promoting the K16, and trying to get early builds out to key dealers.

If they don't have at least one to Bob's and Bob's doesn't show it at least at Towson next month, I'd be pretty surprised myself.

FYI I have discount coupons for the show. They are $2 off at the door or $4 off via the internet. If you get your ticket via the internet, use promo code 533392207. The code is the same on all the coupons I have.

If you want to wait and get the $2 off at the door and can't find a coupon, let me know and I will meet you there with coupons in hand.

Can't wait to see the Yamaha Tenere in person and the Kawasaki ZX-10R too!

I got my ticket. According to Google Maps there's a place right up the street called:



Why don't we meet there at noon for lunch?

Yermonator, per our phone conversation, I'll meet you at OD Brew House at 11:30.

How was the show? Anything of particular interest?

It was much busier than I had expected. I'm guessing due to current economic conditions there were less manufacturers represented.

As far as bikes went, there really wasn't much interesting to look at. The Ducati Diavel was there. It definitely looks very Ducati and only cursorly evokes the idea of "cruiser'.

Racetech, the suspension folks, were there. I talked to them for a while and after that conversation have decided to have them redo my front end. You send them your forks and they go through them, replacing springs and adding their cartridge emulators which give you adjustable dampening and rebound.

Racetech also gave a short suspension talk which was somewhat interesting.

All in all it was worth going for me because of the Racetech conversation but otherwise there really wasn't much of interest to me there.

The Diavel was definitely worth a look--it had crowds around it in both places I saw it in the show--one was red and one black.

The show actually looked bigger to me than last year's, so while not as big as some previous years, that may be a good economic indicator, since bikes are an "optional" (well, at least for some ).

I stopped by the total control booth when I saw Lee Parks there (the creator of Total Control), who I met and spoke with for a few minutes. I also picked up the Racetech Suspension Bible from the booth.

The kids were with we, so we stopped to watch the Jason Britten stunting show, and the VJMC display, where I got to see the 1970 JT-1 that I learned to ride on back in the Paleolithic era. I also picked up the Moto GP 2010 review DVD.

Meanwhile, Lance got to sit on a couple of the bikes he's been considering and *may* have settled on the Suzuki GS500 F.

All in all a good show, though I'm looking forward to Timonium (11-13 February) February now:

1

As will be there, and just maybe a K16.

So are you going to do that now, seeing as how it's January? How long is the turnaround time?

You unbolt the fork tubes and send the complete units to them. They say their turnaround time is 7 days. I'm going to give them a call and schedule it.

Bob's said that the Ohlins would change the bike, which it did but unfortunately highlighted that the front end needed to be updated to match. The Racetech guys tell me that I should experience a similar night and day difference once the front end is done.

Strangely, I can't wait to try it out with an updated front end and new brakes. The bike will be about as good as I can reasonably make it.

Excellent. May the Forks be with you.

laugh.

It'll be very interesting to see how the bike handles once the front end is updated. Rear suspension done. Stainless brake lines. Steering head bearing. New exhaust system. Fuel injection vacuum leaks repairs and the system is tuned to the new exhaust system.

Soon I'll have update from brake rotors and pads and the suspension.

So clearly it's about time to get a new bike.

Clearly! Which brings us back to the original subject - new motorcycle models on display. Just for the sake of argument, were there no new models that tickled your fancy?

Actually no. None whatsoever. The S1000RR is starting to look more attractive to me for some strange reason ...

Yermo did not sit on the Tenere because he is brand loyal. If he had, who knows...

[tongue firmly planted in cheek]

He IS brand loyal, the poor bastard.

I thought there was a small chance he'd start taking an interest in a machine that would be suitable for Third World travel. The S100RR is most certainly not.

That, of course, would be the F800GS rigged with all the Twisted Throttle gear.

I guess that was the most notable bike at the show. But I'm not focused on adventure riding quite yet ... although thoughts of the TransAmTrail have risen back to the conscious level.

My feeling is that 2011 is a rebuilding year. I doubt there will be any big bike trips, but since the world will end in 2012 maybe I should go for a big ride then.