Motor Expo 2015, Bangkok

The Motor Show is on!
From the 29th of November to the 10th of December 2014, the Motor Expo will open it's doors at Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok, for another year of bike goodies (and cars, but who cares about cars, right?)

Personally, I think this year there were more interesting new offerings than ever before. The bike scene has greatly changed in the past few years, with most major manufacturers offering new models at competitive prices.

Think Ducati: the new Scrambler can be ordered already and delivered in April 2015.

Or Triumph: lowering their prices by 200+ thousand Baht, really opens the British brand to a whole new segment of riders. The whole classic range looks as solid as ever and the Street Triple R is to die for...Still don't like the headlights though...

Yamaha had an average looking, modified SR to show off some of their official custom parts. R15, R6 and R1 were lined up in this order, but in my opinion the R6 easily steals the limelight of the R1 in regards to look. Also present the Bolt, Super Tenere and MT09.

 

Kawasaki was there with their amazing new creation,the supercharged H2 200hp monster and the new Versys 1000.

Suzuki had, among others, the VStrom and the Gladius, two bikes who have long ago proved their capabilities.

Honda...well Honda had some weird plastic buckets and the lovely and affordable CB650F, as well as the new retro CB1000. That bike feels massive.

KTM was there too, with their stable of cool, but frankly very overpriced bikes.

GPX, small Chinese bikes, assembled in Thailand, that actually looked quite decent.

Then there was MV. I found myself staring at the F3 and the Rivale in ecstasy for what seemed half an eternity, until Mr Benveniste (MV General Manager in Thailand) pulled me out of my dream. He told me that the new Dragster was on its way from Italy and would be there in the next few days. You can say what you want about Italian bikes, but one thing is for sure...they are miles ahead in the design department. End of.

A Custom house with some outrageously gorgeous machines...

Sadly, the BMW booth was so badly placed, that I thought they had skipped the show. Although I didn't really miss them, I did notice that Harley Davidson wasn't there. Other absentees were the Thai and Chinese bike houses: Tiger and Benelli, just to mention a few.

One more manufacturer should be mentioned: American Zero Motorcycles, very interesting electric bikes, but unfortunately still sold at a premium price, around 600k Baht. If you fancy a test ride, you can do so by contacting Mr Yingphan Anukul at 0898913290. I will go for sure.