Photographs taken November 22nd at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows Presented By Toyota Trucks
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Our view upon arrival. Wow.
That's a lot of bikes.
Here's another lot of bikes.
Look closely at the very center, my W650. A lovely display of Vintage Japanese Bikes A sweet Suzuki 250. If it wasn't behind that damned hardened plastic chain....grrr
A fuzzy Honda 175, this was a factory option. The other side of the most desirable Suzuki.
An old Triumph.
Another old Triumph. Place was lousy with them.
A fuzzy BSA.
 A club brought out their Vintage BritBikes. Sweet!
Jake trying out the New Triumph Bonneville.
 No tach, no centerstand, no kickstart, no sale. Ah, but then there's the New Triumph Thruxton. Truly an untouchable bike. See the sign? No really...
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Nice view of the backside of the Thruxton.
 Of course, one of my favorites of the show and only one picture makes it. It's the Aprilia Mojito Custom 150. Shweeeeet.
Clever comment.
Oh man, one of the stars of the show.
 The Honda Dream N50. Beautiful, and not for street use. DAMMIT! Some companies brought hot models to put on their bikes. We brought our own.
There was a lot to see.
Oh yes, I'm a baaaad man.
 My buddy Roger. Please make donations to the Johnson Mobility Fund, early and often.
Speaking of bad men on bad bikes, it's Gary on a sweet Triumph Tiger, which Gary declared was too tall, but a pretty color. Jake, however, could flat-foot it, and declared it very nice, even though he was being goofed upon by the model we brought along. Once again, make checks payable to "GetRogerABikeCo". Goofy pitchman on left will visit your house every night until you do.
Triumphs everywhere!
See? See? It's like some kind of invasion. Some kind of British Invasion. Nah, that could never happen... Note total respect shown to the model who goes by the clearly bogus name of "Penny", in the complete lack of "bunny ears".
Oh yes, another bike I must own. A 1941 WWII BMW R12. What motorcycle show would be complete without a Zundapp?
Or a DKW for that matter.
And then there was DAY 2, Sunday, when I went alone to take my time and look about.
It was 42 degrees, and it became quite apparent that 95% of Dallas Motorcyclists are only Fair Weather Bikers. The parking lots were almost empty.
So I park, and look at the bike next to me. Nice vintage bike.
Good grief, it's a ROTARY!
It's a Sachs Hercules, one of 196 made. 3 rotors, displacing over 700cc.
It took about 15 kicks (left side kicker) to start, but it ran incredibly smoothly, and seems to also burn oil with the gas. It has a little oil sight-tube. I followed the guy for a bit. It was smoooooth and made beautiful sounds.
Lovely Benelli 750 Sei. 6 lovely cylinders, beautifully restored. It was a thing of beauty.
Then it was time for the Ball of Steel stunt show. The announcer was the eldest brother of the boys, who for some reason was announced as "DJ something or other", despite his lack of DJing. For a teenager from Weatherford, Texas, he was really going for the goofy rapper look. Came off like a doofus.
They did one guy in the ball, then added number two.
They rode side by side.
Then in a complex pattern. Note that they were riding totally inverted over and over.
Why not three guys in a sphere that measures only 14 feet across on 70cc dirt bikes?
Even better, why not put the goofy older brother who can't figure out pants and hats in the ball with them? A really great show, despite "DJ Doofus".
Ah yes, the Aprilia Mojito Custom. One of the reasons I went back.
Some really lovely design-work here.
It's a 150cc beastie.
They also make some slightly faster bikes, like this Tuono RSV. Pretty!
And they make one with a front-end like a bug's face. I like.
I was trying to get a picture of black bike when the Aprilia salesperson walked in front of the camera. How rude.
And hey, who doesn't need prettily colored tires for their bike?
Some poor guy brought out three of the new Indians, who went bankrupt a month or so before the show. Ouchie.
On the CycleWorld stand, a Norton-esque bike, which unsuccessfully marries the classic look with billet bits.
A slightly older Norton cafe racer.
How about this - A not-red Ducati racing bike!
Again, the WWII BMW. I really like the old military bikes.
All the leather looked of appropriate vintage.
The most chromey Triumph I've ever seen.
Yep, there were a lot of "unique" chopper bikes. This little lad tried one on, and as you can see, his view of me would be totally blocked were I a car or moose. But he'd look SO cool being blind-sided by me.
Liked the look of this one, I like matte black. The look was groovy, but the ergos, sad to say, are just stupid.
 
 
Another shot of the lovely BMW Police bike. I like these. But I must say, some of the BMW salespeople were really unpleasant snots (in the trailer selling BMW clothing, kinda like Harley riders are supposed to all wear the same uniform, BMW is trying to go the same route).
A slightly odder BMW Police-spec motorcycle. They also has a video showing how great ABS is, using a non-ABS equipped bike with outriggers ridden by a guy who drives into a big slippery patch and slams the brakes while pitching the bike hard to the side. Suprise, it slides! Totally bogus.)
A BMW painted, quite appropriately, in American flag colors. 'cause, see, BMW is the Other Other American Motorcycle Company.
Overall look of the show. Huge hall, packed full. Lots to see!
The Biggest Scooter in America. 650cc Suzuki Burgman. I guess it's named after Hailang Burgman, the great Japanese-Jewish Scooter Designer.
STELLA! It's the Stella, from Genuine. It's an LML scooter from India, spec'd out for the US market. It's the '80s P-series Vespa, updated with Bitubo gas shocks, a Grimeca disc brake, with a 150cc five-port reed valve motor. All metal body. Very nice. It was Sunday morning, and by this time the nice lady from Genuine had ceased talking to people. Long days on the feet can do that to you. Also present was Randolph Garner from Garner's Classic Scooters who was on hand to scowl at people and prove to be as grumpy and unpleasant in person as he is on the phone.