International Motorcycle Show: Charlotte, North Carolina

Sunday, February 26, 2012
Charlotte, NC

We always look forward to the bike show each year. For us, it is the kick start for the riding season mentality. This year, Charlotte, NC stole the show from our hometown in Greenville, SC after a three (?) year run. Prior to that, the show was hosted by the city of Atlanta, GA.

For six or seven years, Ruth & I schlepped down to Atlanta for the show, hating every minute of the journey. The show itself was fantastic, both of us having a blast each year. But driving into and out of Atlanta just plain sucks. The last year we went there for the show, we got lost getting out of downtown due to construction re-routing. We drove through some pretty shady areas of town where I did not stop for stop signs or red lights. Finally getting onto I-85 to home, Ruth & I vowed to each other to not come down here for the show again. This would be our last time.

Well, the motorcycle gods smiled upon us and showed us pity, for the following year the show moved to our fair town. Fantastic! For three years we rode our bikes about five miles to the show and enjoyed free parking to boot! 2012 saw the show bid adieu to Greenville and roll north to Charlotte, a big city neither of us had been to before. Another Atlanta? Jeez, I hope not.

Off we went, hoping for the best, but determined to have a great time. The directions from google maps seemed straightforward. We were on our way.
The drive up was uneventful. Light traffic all the way. Upon reaching Gaffney, SC, we are greeted by this:

The image is fuzzy, as it was taken from a moving car, but it is what has become known as Gaffneys "Great ass cheek." It is actually a giant peach, and when viewed from in front, looks like a giant ass. Welcome to Gaffney, and we are all forever grateful to Bette Middler for that endearing comment and visual.

On into North Carolina and Charlotte. Off the highway, onto Freedom St. by the Panthers football stadium, and just like that, bing, bang, boom, we're at the Charlotte Convention Center. Within five minutes of exiting the highway, we're inside and checking out bikes. This was way too easy! Fantastic!



Entrance to Charlotte Convention Center



Looking downtown

Inside we went. This covention center is huge and really beautiful. Down into the bowels of the building we go and started our three hour tour of everything motorbikes. We were really excited. What follows is some, but definitely not all, of what we saw. I categorized the bikes under my own listings because that's just the way I'm wired. Commentary included. Ok. Enjoy the show, and be sure to silence your cell phones.

THE OLD STUFF

We love old bikes (and cars). The history, the mechanics, the simplicity of these old machines. We've never had the urge to own one, or restore one, but we do love looking at them. Here's some old Japanese hardware from the 70's, the Golden Age of the UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle).

Let's not leave out the Germans. This is a beautiful Puch 250 SGS, restored by Allstate. Yes, they did build more than just BMW's.

And good old American iron. I didn't include Harley Davidson in here (sorry Scott), because the brand is so common and they are still around. The Indian marque has re-surfaced again, but nothing beats the original like this '48 Chief. What a classic beauty.

This is just too cool. The Flying Squirrel. Well, maybe this I would want to own.

Anyone who is any kind of moto enthusiast would know this marque, and probably want one in his/her garage, This is probably the most recognized motorcycle tank badge ever:

THE UN-RIDEABLES

Check out these customs. I do admire the artwork and design of these machines, even if you can only ride them 100 yards before calling your orthopedist.





FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

These Urals would make the perfect Beagle Bike! We would love to have one of these with the Beags in the rig wearing scarves and doggles, ears blowing in the wind. How cool is that? It will happen!



Where are the Beagles?



THE ITALIANS

Nobody builds a sexier motorcycle than the Italians. Some build faster bikes (a little), some build bigger bikes. Some might say they build more reliable bikes. Maybe. But no one builds bikes that exude such passion, beauty and raw sex appeal as the Italians. Thousands of Guzzisti's and Ducatisti's will attest to that.

Feast your eyes on these two beautiful examples:



Ducati Diavel



Moto Guzzi V7 Racer
" Tanta belleza in cosi piccolo spazio!"
( so much beauty in so little space!)


THE KING OF COOL

 Every moto-enthuisiast knows who this is, and if not, needs to go home, do their research, park the bike and drive their car until they figure it out. Triumph built this special edition T100 to honor the King of Cool.




Is this gorgeous or what? Did you figure it out yet? Of course you did!



Look close. Right you are! Steve McQueen, the King of Cool.
McQueens signature is on the right side cover of these limited edition bikes.

Only two things were disappointing at this show. First, the market towards women riders was virtually non-existent compared to the last few years. Harley Davidson was the only manufacturer catering to this growing market, with more women than men trying on bikes and talking to factory reps! Women still make up the fastest growing market in motorcycling, and HD seems to be the only manufacturer that gets it. Also missing were the women's riding clubs that were so prevalent in the past few years; Women Riders Now, Motor Maids, Women on Wheels just to name a few. The AMA Womens Motorcycling Conference is being held this year in Carson City, NV, and they didn't even have a presence here! What up!
Second, Ducati had a miniscule booth setup here, and Moto Guzzi didn't even show up (the V7 Racer was brought in by a local dealer). Pitiful.

All in all though, we had a great time as always. The venue was great. It was beautiful, it was easy to get to and close enough to home to not make it a drag. We would have liked to explore downtown Charlotte, but the Beagles were ringing up Roo's cell to remind us of dinner. Duty calls.
This marks the beginning of our 2012 moto trip blogs. We'll keep you posted as we post. Now it's time to get the ST down to Honda for spring service and begin another great riding season. See you on the road!

BOB & RUTH