Bangkok Motor Show 2017

This year's Motor Show in Bangkok left me with mixed feelings.
I'm always elated to be around bikes and having the opportunity to visit the show on the day before the official opening, makes the experience a little more special.

On the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed by the new bikes on display. Few very new ones and many revamped/ recycled models. As usual, I won't comment much on super sport or dual purpose bikes as I don't have much interest in those. Sorry, my blog my rules...

The Ducati Desert Sled is a nicely made bike and one of the few I would love to take out for an extensive test. At 450.000Baht quite pricey, but hey, it's a Ducati, right?

 BMW has expanded the beautiful RnineT base model (1.110k Baht), including the new Scrambler (950k Baht), the Pure (880k Baht) and the Racer (975k Baht).

Absolutely stunning engine covers! 

Triumph also has beautifully made retro bikes. I'm not biased at all, I swear :-)
The Bobber is quite comfortable I have to say, at least for the 2 minutes I sat on it.

Very nice details and very little plastic...2 big pluses in my book.

The Scrambler, also a great looking bike. I know, I repeat myself, but I can be bothered looking up all the synonyms for GORGEOUS

 

This Street Cup tank would look perfect on my Street Twin...

Scomadi, Lambretta-like scooters

With the advent of the Yamaha M-Slaz, which is selling like hot pancakes on a cold winter day, could this be the end of the mini bikes like the Honda Grom/MSX, Kawasaki Z125 and all the lesser known minis like the GPX Demon (pictured)?
No worries, knowing Honda, they will come up with a valid copy of the M-Slaz in no time. ;-)

GPX "Gentleman"

GPX "Legend"

This is a very cool interpretation of the Gentleman, build by one of my favourite custom builders in Thailand: The Sports

My favourite Kawasaki, of course the W800.

A custom take on the Vulcan

The funny facts of life...iconic bikes like the W800 are being discontinued, but monstrosities like the Hayabusa just keep on going

What to say about this rear end? Yamaha Fino? Honda Scoopyi?

Another "great" Honda creation...the Rebel. They tried their best to make it look interesting, but you know how the saying goes...the purse...the pig etc etc

Some nice touches on this one though

 Honda did it right in the design department....once upon a time

Guzzi is very new on the Thai market. Sadly it's being bogged down by ridiculously high import taxes, that increase it's normal price by almost one third.
A shame

Presenting the "new" Moto Guzzi Anniversario

 

One more Monster

Piaggio's new electric Vespa..not bad looking at all

 I can't believe I'm doing it, but here it is: Harley Davidson Street Rod (aren't there enough bikes with the word 'street' in this world??)
Apart from the horrible exhaust and the gargantuan radiator it looks like a half decent bike.

 The BMW RnineT Street Racer...oh sorry, I mean 'Racer'. The seating position on this one is indeed quite raceresque, if that's even a word, which I doubt.

 The 'Pure'

 Small but OHOOOO, the Ducati Superleggera

Dude, are you really going to let your girlfriend ride you around?? Grow some Brembos man...

Nice new bike the SuperSport, but if you gave me the choice between the 900SS from the 90s and the new SS, well I'd go with the old one in a heartbeat!

Honda came out with the X-ADV, a mix of a scooter (even if they don't want to say the "S" word) and an "off road" bike. Well, as much as a SCOOTER can go off road, that is...

Interesting solution for the spokes though

This year's concept bike, next year's M-Slaz competition...

Warning: DORNA is out to get your money!

Today I would like to tell you what happened to me yesterday and to warn people in the same situation.

Here in Thailand, the MotoGP is covered by Thai television for free. During the last 2 months my TV experienced problems with reception. To keep watching the last 2 or 3 races of the season, I subscribed to motogp.com. Each subscription would cover the race and I believe test and qualifying sessions.

Yesterday I got an email from Paypal, saying that the dear Dorna automatically charged me 139.90Euros for the 2017 MotoGP races. I was very surprised (and quite upset), since I've never asked them to automatically renew my season pass. I logged in on the website and it turns out a little box was ticked that would allow Dorna to just take my money. Problem is, I've never ticked that box, nor have I been made aware of it, much less have they asked my permission o do so. Why would I, if I can watch it for free on TV?!?

My guess is, the 'Autorenewal' box gets ticked automatically whenever you buy a 'season end' pass, which is the last race plus several weeks after that. Quite sneaky if you ask me.

Next step, I opened a case through Paypal, asking for the cancellation of the subscription and a full refund. Honestly, I expected a lengthy back and forth and had little hope to see my money again. None of that!
After not even 5 minutes, I got an (automatic, they love that shit) email from Dorna, stating that the subscription had been cancelled and that a refund would materialize in the next 7 days.

So, if that happened to you too, go through Paypal and ask for your hard earned cash back.

CX500 by Paul Sas

Today I'd like to share a most interesting bike.
In the past few years we've seen a revival of the ubiquitous CX500, that well known Honda with the transversal V2 engine. We saw it dressed in a myriad of different outfits, but only a handful of creations really stood out from the crowd.

Paul Sas created one of those bikes. At Omega Racer we're proud to have contributed (even only in a small part) to this work of art, by supplying one of our small aluminium fairings.

Check it out...

2017 Triumph T100 "An honest review"

Marlon's honest reviews are some of my favourite bike reviews on the net. His perfect mix of hilarious puns and straight up, no bullshit info make for an entertaining and most refreshing take on video bike reviews.

Next in line is the Ducati Scrambler and I for one can't wait to watch that.