It was about 1pm. 47 F and sunny. I had the day off. Wife and daughter are in NYC at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Time to RIDE !
I head out of town and the next thing you know I'm on the NJ Turnpike heading into Manhattan to catch the bike show at the Javits center. I was already planning on going Sunday with sjbmw (Herb) but I thought what the hell, why not also go today. Great excuse to ride, and with the bike I can park for free on the sidewalk in front of the Javits.
As I enter the toll plaza to get on the TP, I see a single round headlight coming up behind me. I think, hmm, an HD rider, probably also going to the bike show. Anyway, the guy catches up to me and it's a beautiful R1100R. Black with pinstripes, wire wheels, chrome valve covers. We fall into formation and make our way in via the Lincoln Tunnel.
We park and say hello. Bill seems like a good guy and as it turns out he lives in the next town over, just a couple of miles away. I'll point him to this site, seems like he's always looking for people to ride with.
The bike show was ok, smaller than usual. The National Boat Show was also setting up but all the major players were there. Very good vendor area this year. I stopped by Roadgear to say hi to Whaycock but he wasn't there, just Mansoor and a woman working the booth. I'll look for him on Sunday.
The BMW booth was as usual, very well done. Lots of new hardware including a wacky looking K1200R with a metallic lime green paint job.
The new F800 GS was getting a lot of attention. It looks great in person.
One bike which really caught my attention was the new Suzuki B King. WOW. If I were in the market for a naked streetfighter, I would give this bike (the naked cousin of the Hayabusa) a hard look:
That's it for now, I'll post some pics after I go the the show on Sunday (I forgot my camera today).
Thanks for listening.
