Motorcycle Live

NEC Birmingham 

4th - 12th December 2021

Like Hollywood film heroes, the Pistonclick team managed to slide under the closing door at the National Exhibition Centre last weekend before the latest COVID 19 shenanigans shut down the country's big events…….again!

As omicron gets to grips with the population we are not seeing the government close venues yet, but the organisers are.

Autosport, the next big automotive show in to be held in January at the NEC, has postponed the event due to the rising infection rates, and this weekend’s football matches were also decimated.

Not from government regulation but from the football players, and most importantly staff, testing positive. No staff, no show which is also effecting my local pub, which is more disastrous than Autosport being postponed. On the upside the zombie apocalypse hasn’t manifested itself, yet!

So with that in mind we realise it's always a risk going to an indoor venue these days, but being triple jabbed and in good health we thought it was worth the risk.

Being vaccinated doesn’t stop you catching a virus it just negates or reduces the symptoms, and it doesn’t stop you passing it on. As we didn’t want to add to the rising infection rate, lateral flow tests were taken the morning we travelled.

The results were negative, so we packed our camera gear and headed for the NEC.

We hadn’t pre-booked tickets for this event just in case it was cancelled, so we were expecting a bit of a delay as we queued for tickets. This was not the case. A quick check of our covid passport, a lateral flow test was also accepted, and we were in to the NEC.

There were no queues for tickets and at nine in the morning there weren’t that many people about. Mask wearing wasn’t mandated, just advised.

So why were we at the NEC? As a motorcycle race fan and lifetime rider of motorcycles the Motorcycle Live show is a must-do event for me.

All of the latest tech and gear is on show and the manufacturers showcase their latest bikes, which is a great opportunity for you to check out the bikes first hand, plus there are great photographic opportunities. More on that later.

Nearly all the manufacturers were at the show, although Yamaha were not, which was strange considering the success they have had in MotoGP, World Super and British Superbikes.

However, the motorcycling world is changing. Sports bike sales are declining, with more riders moving into retro and adventure bikes. Two manufactures have this area absolute nailed - Triumph and BMW, Triumph had the new for 2022 Tiger 1200 on show and look to be taking on the market leader the BMW GS. The new Tiger has been an a diet now starting at 240kg before you add all of the kit for your big adventure, it is still a big beast and depending on model cost £14,600 - £17,700. 

The Bavarians have never been a company to still on their laurels they had a great off road area set up to show case the off-road capability's of their bikes. The show was hosted by Chris Northover, ex BSB rider and now Bike World presenter and part time BMW off road instructor.

The bikes were being demonstrated by the very capable Neil Hawker and Jenny Huntley. Jenny is not the tallest lady I have ever met but made picking up the massive GS look sooo easy something my shooting buddy for the day was very interested in. Let me explain, we meet for a ride he takes off like Valentino Rossi I follow with all the riding ability of Francis Rossi, we arrive he drops his bike, I help him pick it up.

One manufacturer I was quite surprised to see was Norton as they went bust in a very public way, but they are now back having been taken over by Indian company TVS Motors.

TVS bought Norton for £16m in April 2020 and have set up a factory in the midlands, and looking at the amazing pre-production V4CR concept bike, they could be on to a winner, it looked stunning as did the V4SV. 

During the nine day show there were various flavours of two wheel motorsport showcased, but I like to go on the final Saturday as it's dedicated to British Superbikes, which is a race series I like to follow. Loads of riders can be seen on stands flogging merchandise and signing autographs, which is great if you are a spectator photographer and have printed a few hard copy prints.

As we are between seasons around about now the racers are looking to consolidate last year's rides, network with the sponsors, or get a fresh new start with another team. So you can also expect the latest news from the teams to be revealed at the event on the main stage.

John McGuinness (legend) is returning to Honda in 2022 on the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. Along side Glenn Irwin they will be competing at the North West 200 and the Isle of Man TT road races. Honda was also celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the iconic Fireblade, the very first Blade was built in 1992. A line up of the bikes including the new road going CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP and Tom Neave the British Superstock champion were all on the stand. 

The show is a great place to make those big announcements as everyone is in one place, sponsors, teams, manufacturers, the media and most importantly the fans. 

One of the big announcements, and one not many saw coming, was Ryan Vickers moving from the RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki to FHO Racing BMW team owned by Faye Ho. Joining up with Peter Hickman on the BMW M 1000 RR is going to make the FHO a force to be reckoned with.

They now have a year of data behind them from the M1000RR and we know both riders are fast, they just need to be consistent and the results will come.

Photographic Post Script

So if you are considering going to the show next year, what sort of equipment should you take? A modern camera with the ability to handle high ISO is a must. I leave my ISO on auto and select the f-stop and shutter speed I need in manual to get the shot I want.

The four halls hosting the show didn’t have the greatest lighting, and although you could take a flash gun, the ceilings are a bit high for bouncing and direct flash is a little harsh for my liking.

A good lens with vibration reduction is a good idea. I didn’t take my own advice as I like old school glass and used a 24 - 85 f2.8 D with no vibration reduction, which if I'm honest I struggled with getting my usual pin sharp pictures. 

My shooting buddy used the Nikon 24 - 120mm F4 and had no problems. As there  are many different light sources from LED, sodium and strip lighting, leaving the white balance on auto worked well.

A longer 70 - 200 f2.8 is the second lens you should pack for those unobtrusive paparazzi shots. We will be back next year and I might even break the habits of a life time and invest in a lens that wasn’t built in the 1980s!