2009 Long Beach motorcycle show report

My brother and I arrived at the Long Beach Convention Center for the motorcycle show at around 3:40 pm, 20 minutes earlier than the show opening time and got in the ticket line with a lot of other people. The line moved pretty quickly and we were in at around 4 pm.

Maybe because it was a Friday but this year's motorcycle show felt very different than that of the other years. Perhaps it was only my own perception but I noticed the absence of the pre-holiday purchasing hustle bustle. I guess the wavering economy doesn't help. Gone are the new companies such as the one from Korea (I just can't seem to remember the name) that was trying to break into the market last year and the classic motorcycles in the separate show room. The major players: Honda, Yamaha, BMW, etc., on the other hand were still present.

We were both curious about the new Honda VFR 1200F and made that our first stop. We both took turns on the seat to get a feel for the new "semi-auto" shifting bike. The bike's weight feels very comfortable to me, very light and the bike's seat height was just perfect for someone who's a bit on the inseam challenged side like me. Be it that the past few years touring I've covered the road mostly on a upright seating position on my BMW F650GS and at extended times in the saddle my knees would get really tired, my only concern here with the VFR 1200F is the seating position, as are usually found on most sport tourer, that may not agree with my leg configuration. Because the position is a bit more tucked in, my legs are much more folded in which case I would imagine my knees aching on long stretches. So as much as the new Honda being a great set up I may have to pass on account of my physical limitations and stick with a mount with an upright seating position.

We also visited the BMW booth where I got to try on the F800ST. The floor model had a standard seat on and being inseam challenged I couldn't push is over. As in the case of the Honda VFR 1200F, I had the same seating position issue also. I would have to pass on a similar account, as found with most sport tourer, if I wanted to do endurance rides. Nice motorcycle though.

In between motorcycle vendors we were stopped by various merchants vending cleaning products. We were suckered into buying some of the products... What can I say, they were definitely good salesmen.

The last place that we stopped at was the Arai helmet booth. This was actually our major reason for coming to the show, to get replacements for our helmet inserts. I guess when it comes to safety there's a lot of money to be made and our replacement inserts were pretty pricey. The foam inserts do deteriorate over time and safety is always a primary concern for us so we forked over the bucks.

Overall, Long Beach was still a show with lots of motorcycles to see even though in my opinion smaller than prior years. For me it was good to get away from the grind to bond and talk shop with my brother. Can't beat that!