A Damp Day At Ingliston

by
Ian Ritchie

Saturday March 11 dawned as a normal spring east of Scotland day, dull, cloudy, cold, a hint of rain in the air and fairly windy as well, as I joined the queue of hardy enthusiasts at Ingliston Showground outside Edinburgh, as they waited for the doors to open at 9.30am for the Scottish Motor Cycle Show.
  On having a quick look first, all the major manufacturers were represented with Kawasaki at their usual place with the new 1400 on show. It looked very competent with a lot of viewers but apart from the cruisers, no sign of any shaft-drive models.
  Kawasaki seem still to have a love affair with the chin-on-the- tank brigade. So not a lot there really of any interest to the club.
  KTM as usual was next to BMW and I think still a bit sore with their decision not to supply bikes after the success of The Long Way Round programme and the interest in bikes, bike sales, videos and books it generated.
  All the usual companies were trying to shift their product, whether it was insurance, holidays, gadgets or parts, some apparently with more success than others, and as usual the sideshows, Carol Nash, MCN etc, did their bit.
  Since MCN took over the show, the outside area seems to be in decline (probably by astronomically increasing the price of a pitch) as MCN seem to be trying to make it the same as the Birmingham Show which I think is a pity as a lot of the attraction of the show was the outside jumble and local (to Scotland) stands which gave it a different character from others.
  On venturing outside the cold wind was a hamper to enjoyment but there were exhibitors there with quad bikes, motocross and stunt demonstrations but it was a case of a quick walk round and then back into the
halls to get warm again.
 Having met others I know, including Alistair McK, and seeing that the weather was closing in, I decided to head home mid-afternoon before the quite large crowd made for the car park, all at the same time.
  The next day I decided to be there again at the opening, as there were stands I wanted to revisit after checks made at home, but with heavy rain overnight and the car park now waterlogged, the decision was made by the organisers to cancel the show, and everyone was turned back at the gates.
  So, on reflection, for the Saturday, I would say the show was a success but apart from the shaft models we know about, there was nothing new there. As I said earlier, the manufacturers still seem to think that all we need is more and more speed.
  After all, as someone else put it: “Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you go through it"!