Went to see the Motorshow at Mueang Thong Thani last week and was quite dissapointed on what was on exhibition there.
There were only Triumph, Kawasaki, Ducati, Honda and an importer of several brands present.
As for accessoiries for bikers, there was not even one shop. Only these waxier than waxed, shinier than shiny and whiter than white rubbish.
Car companies were there but I do not want to contribute to more traffic jams anyway.
I started with Ducati, only news there was the Monster 795 ABS and a special black version of this nice bike. No 820 series bikes, no Hypermotard and quite arrogant unfriendly sales people. I am considering selling the DR650 and getting a new 2 cylinder bike, just the attitude of the sales guys puts Duc now on my "no" list.
One foto of the black version 795, I personally find the red one more beautiful.
My next stop was Kawasaki, well good information and friendly staff as always but no real new bike there, so no foto.
Then as the CB500's are already on sale to Honda, found the "X" version and was a happy visitor only to be told that one is not allowed to sit on it but the guy asked me to try the naked one, told him if I buy a Honda it will be an X, he told me same-same, I replied, no not same, he might not have known it as he might have been selling PVC bags before.....so that did not help a positive decision there either. Had some 25k B in my pocket for any downpayment and reservation but this will not happen with Honda either. By the way, on closer inspection, parts of this bike are quite similar to the CBR250R we had at our place before, flimsy windscreen and not much confidence inspiring other parts and painting but you can't fault them for that price; but it's of course not the Honda-Quality we were used too from earlier days........that's already a myth now.
Some fotos of the "X":
Quite a nice bike but not test sitting on it and no reservations there, that's a skip for me too........
Finally then went to the 'import whatever we can shop' where some Kheeway, Benelli China crap and the only reliable scooter from Taiwan were displayed.
On closer look at the Benelli's one can easily see that it's nothing to do with italian craftmanship anymore but cheap quick chinese assembly. Sidecovers loose with different gaps between the fairings, bolts that will rust once first time wet,.......
Benelli something 600 "TRE" (tre should stand for 3 cylinders but actually the engine is a rip-off of the R6 with not even close to the performance the original has and of course 4 cylinders):
And the 900 with a 3 cylinder engine (that bike looked really faulty on all parts):
The only bike at this stand that caught really my attention was again the SYM Max400i scooter which was selling quite good in Europe as it uses an older generation Honda engine and is actually made in Taiwan. Would be the only product from China-Taiwan-Korea I would actually consider but right now I don't need a bigger scoot.
I was disappointed not to have BMW, MV-Agusta, KTM, Suzuki or Yamaha there and of course no small shopping either as non of the biggies in accessoiries were present. So next year I'm looking forward to the BKK-Motorbike Festival at Central World as this one is in my opinion the real bike show in town.
Neither could I get rid of my deposit money or personal copies at nothing really got me going to part with it.
Some money spent for travelling but none on any bike which was actually my intention, so that decision will have to wait.......cheers, Franz
Edited: For Ian, I've got the brochure of the ATV GOES625 with me also a namecard and price, will drop in for a brekkie in the next days, taken also some fotos but they are as above not the best quality as taken with my old Nokia........
There were only Triumph, Kawasaki, Ducati, Honda and an importer of several brands present.
As for accessoiries for bikers, there was not even one shop. Only these waxier than waxed, shinier than shiny and whiter than white rubbish.
Car companies were there but I do not want to contribute to more traffic jams anyway.
I started with Ducati, only news there was the Monster 795 ABS and a special black version of this nice bike. No 820 series bikes, no Hypermotard and quite arrogant unfriendly sales people. I am considering selling the DR650 and getting a new 2 cylinder bike, just the attitude of the sales guys puts Duc now on my "no" list.
One foto of the black version 795, I personally find the red one more beautiful.
My next stop was Kawasaki, well good information and friendly staff as always but no real new bike there, so no foto.
Then as the CB500's are already on sale to Honda, found the "X" version and was a happy visitor only to be told that one is not allowed to sit on it but the guy asked me to try the naked one, told him if I buy a Honda it will be an X, he told me same-same, I replied, no not same, he might not have known it as he might have been selling PVC bags before.....so that did not help a positive decision there either. Had some 25k B in my pocket for any downpayment and reservation but this will not happen with Honda either. By the way, on closer inspection, parts of this bike are quite similar to the CBR250R we had at our place before, flimsy windscreen and not much confidence inspiring other parts and painting but you can't fault them for that price; but it's of course not the Honda-Quality we were used too from earlier days........that's already a myth now.
Some fotos of the "X":
Quite a nice bike but not test sitting on it and no reservations there, that's a skip for me too........
Finally then went to the 'import whatever we can shop' where some Kheeway, Benelli China crap and the only reliable scooter from Taiwan were displayed.
On closer look at the Benelli's one can easily see that it's nothing to do with italian craftmanship anymore but cheap quick chinese assembly. Sidecovers loose with different gaps between the fairings, bolts that will rust once first time wet,.......
Benelli something 600 "TRE" (tre should stand for 3 cylinders but actually the engine is a rip-off of the R6 with not even close to the performance the original has and of course 4 cylinders):
And the 900 with a 3 cylinder engine (that bike looked really faulty on all parts):
The only bike at this stand that caught really my attention was again the SYM Max400i scooter which was selling quite good in Europe as it uses an older generation Honda engine and is actually made in Taiwan. Would be the only product from China-Taiwan-Korea I would actually consider but right now I don't need a bigger scoot.
I was disappointed not to have BMW, MV-Agusta, KTM, Suzuki or Yamaha there and of course no small shopping either as non of the biggies in accessoiries were present. So next year I'm looking forward to the BKK-Motorbike Festival at Central World as this one is in my opinion the real bike show in town.
Neither could I get rid of my deposit money or personal copies at nothing really got me going to part with it.
Some money spent for travelling but none on any bike which was actually my intention, so that decision will have to wait.......cheers, Franz
Edited: For Ian, I've got the brochure of the ATV GOES625 with me also a namecard and price, will drop in for a brekkie in the next days, taken also some fotos but they are as above not the best quality as taken with my old Nokia........
