The first thing on my mind when I was there was, “I’m in two wheeler heaven!”
On the 12th of April, I was at the Singapore Expo to see the different displays of motorcycles (and a couple of bicycles) at the Bike Asia 2008 event. This event was jointly organized by the Italian festival 2008, which would explain why there were a lot of Italian brands there.
I was supposed to meet the Vesporeans but in the end, after not being able to spot any members, I decided to enter the hall by myself. There were already a large queue forming at the ticketing booth.
It costs about $8.50 per entry and when I was just about ready to pay for my ticket, the lady at the ticketing booth said, “Ladies enter for free today 11am – 3pm”
It was such a pleasant surprise.
And the first display that I headed to was the Piaggio display where the Vespas were being displayed. There were a number of upcoming models like this LXV 125. This model was physically different from the LX 150 that I was used to seeing mainly because of the handlebar.
The entire front was much smaller. Aesthetically, I think that it will take some adjusting for those who are used to the GT and the LX, as shown below.
Moving around the back of the Piaggio display, I saw a couple of Gilera scooters.
This scooter was 3 wheeler, giving it that unusual look. I’ve seen 4 wheeled motorcycle on the road before and this feature is probably useful to have as it wont topple during those wet and slippery days. But the design reminds me of the Brain Bug from Starship Troopers.
Not all of the bikes had an overly unusual look to them. This one looked as if it was going to transform into a robot.
There were most certainly many Italian motorcycles from what I can see. Like this moto guzzi two wheeler, as posed by this cute kid below.
Other Italian bikes that I saw was a large number of Ducati – which is a rather sexy machine.
Man, look at that body. So sexy.
“We are the Ducati Avengers – protectors of evil”
This is the Aprilia
This is the Cagiva
And this is the Husqvarna
While they do look really sexy, the style is a little too fierce for me personally as I prefer something a little more conservative.
There were also a number of non Italian two wheelers like this adorable Yamaha Fino. I saw this bike for the first time about last year and thought that it was superbly cute. This was something that I would own, but one thing that I didn’t like about it, is that the storage compartment was really small.
There was also a scooter that I noticed and I just cant help gushing at how adorable it was. I would not mind cruising down the road with this little cutie!
This is the Demak Beetle which at first glance, made me thought that it was the Fino. But upon close examination, there were some subtle differences in them. Both Beetle and the Fino are both made in Asia – I’m guessing that these are quite affordable.
And there was the one motorcycle to rule them all.
This is official Singapore traffic police motorcycle – complete with a siren! This motorcycle is even more powerful than some cars and small enough to squeeze through traffic and to catch offenders. You’d better drive carefully if you spot one of these one the road!
Apart from motorcycles, there was also some bicycles being displayed.
This is a rodalink display with a simulated screen – probably for the next generation of the Wii.
After gawking at the different two wheelers, I found myself at the stage area looking at two men practicing on their motorcycles. They were doing bike stunts.
These two guys, Sergio and Fergo(?) are from Italy and they called their team “Motorlife”. It was quite exciting to watch them doing their stunts, which would be impossible to do on a regular bike.
Here is a short clip of the stunts :
All in all, I thought the event was quite interesting as I could admire the different motorcycles. But I prefer events such as the vivo vespa and the Bike Bike Festival as not only I could admire the two wheelers, I could talk to the owner of the motorcycles, which makes it more personalised and interactive. Nevertheless, I still had fun 🙂
You may also be interested in :
i didn’t go but you’ve got to see this….
http://multimedia.asiaone.com/Multimedia/Story/A1Multimedia20080411-3171.html
ROFLOL
When I was a teen (and all the way to my early adulthood) I was a biker chick, as in I liked guys with bikes. That was, until I got on one and he rode the bike like a maniac through a traffic jam. No more bike rides for me, unless it’s the bicycle,
*humming malique and rinaz’s espa espa…..*
the bikes are more sexeh than the gals!
I <3 the babes!!
Kris
Omygosh! Hahahaha!! Precisely why I would not call them race queens. There were about 3 coherent ones but the others are … just a pretty face 😛
Mintea
The trouble with riders is that, they are so used to riding at that speed that they don’t realise how scary it was for passengers. I had to learn that the hard way.
But I hope you dont stop the 2 wheeler loving – It feels much more exhilarating than a car 🙂
CC
Yes, its true! Hahaha! You should watch the link that Kris gave. Really funny!
Buny
I like the motorcycles better than the babes 😛
great stunts ! hope for more bicycle report 🙂
That three-wheel bike looks so cool! The one sitting on it in the picture ….. mmmmm ….. 😉
Joko
Oh no! I didn’t take a look at that many bicycle displays though. However there was this association that caught my eye – the borneo bike club association that had frequent trips to Indonesia for some challenging terrain rides
Moby
I guess she’s pretty, its just that I admire the motorcycles more than the models 🙂
aww man!i wanted to go see bikes but no friends to go with,and didn’t want to pay to see.
lol,thanks for taking photos
the piaggio mp3 is so sexy, i dont care if it looks like the brain bug!! its not really a 3-wheel scooter/trike, its a 2 wheel scooter …with 3 wheels. there is no difference in handling. i dont know if you seen this but here is how it looks like otr http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2E2d-29ry8 i’m not a scooter fan but i am seriously changing my mind.
04/14/2008
“6” the video was nice!
Rinaz I’ve seen some bike tricksters that did some amazing things with their bikes ( non-motorized ) !
I’ll try to round up some videos of the sport and put in the response section of one of your future posts!
freee2me2 (Gary)
04/14/2008
Ah Wei
I had a friend who learnt a technique of entering for free! Hahaha! I should have learnt that earlier … or um … you could have worn a skirt on Saturday morning! 😛
6
Maybe you could try to get a test drive at the Piaggio Center? They let people try out their vehicles before consider buying the vehicles at the authorised centers 🙂
Gary
Cool 🙂
I’ll be looking forward to seeing it 🙂
Y nv tell me earlier… I MISS THE BIKE SHOW!! anyway.. nice pic…
Man oh man… I love your report of the event and suddenly the craving for scooters has returned after a long leave of absence for over a decade! As you know, my first bike was a Skipper and I somehow feel an affinity to scooters, which I guess is much more fuel economical and carefree than cars. Am thinking of getting the Gilera Runner, which has a 4-stroke engine that is more environmental, yet with enough kick to speed ahead after traffic lights.
I find its quite disconcerting that I can like bikes so much, as much as I love cars. Gosh Vespas and Ducatis all stir me in places that should never be stirred. I never get it, but I still want one. Must be the italian thing.
Aloha! Just to point this out to you: “This is the Aprilia”, you wrote and the photo shows an “MV Agusta F4 R312”, which is made by MV Agusta (not Aprilia) and might be the world’s fastest production bike (not Suzuki Hayabusa and/or Kawa ZX14 anymore) soon.
The ‘312’ is the bike’s top speed as claimed by MV Agusta. Also, it is way better-looking than any Aprilia, I’d say (although looks are arguable from an individual to another).
Anyways, my name is Azlan and I am a Malaysian based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. I was at Bike Asia 2008 last Sunday and I have to say that while the show itself was quite pleasant but the crowd turnout was very, very poor.
Pathetic, actually.
Why? Because the organiser – Italian-based EICMA – was either too stupid or too bigheaded in choosing the date for Bike Asia 2008.
Let’s see:
1. Forget about most of the Harley (and even most BMW) owners since a huge number of them were in Thailand, for the wild Phuket Bike Week 2008/wet-wet-wet Songkran festival (10/4 to 15/4).
You know, getting drunk, getting laid, love-you-long-time, getting drunk AND laid at the same time, those sort of things…
2. There’s the Malaysian Super Series 2008 held at the Sepang International Circuit (12/4 & 13/4). So, Bike Asia 2008 organisers can forget about many hard-core Singaporean superbikers (and car owners who also own superbikes) who were racing and partying in Kuala Lumpur.
3. There’s the Taiwan International Motorcycle Industry Show 2008 in Taipei (Apr 9-12) which explains the poor participation of bike, bike accessory & related product manufacturers at Bike Asia 2008.
I was at the Asian International Motorcycle Expo 2007 (AIME ’07) in Kuala Lumpur last October and the crowd turnout on a week day was waaaay bigger than last Sunday at Bike Asia, although the number of exhibitors were less than Bike Asia’s.
The organiser deliberately chose the same weekend as the MotoGP in Sepang and in a huge way this helped in bringing the crowd to AIME ’07.
I’m not sure if there’ll be Bike Asia 2009 but if there will be one, I hope the organiser will be wiser in choosing the right date(s) for it, and also be more humble and not simply assume that they can outshine and out-crowd (hehe!) the events in Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan.
After all, an expo is only as good as the size of crowd it attracts, right? Without the crowd, ticket sale is poor and the organiser’s shareholders, investors, sponsors and more importantly, exhibitors, will not be amused by this.
Anyway, it was very pleasant to see bike appreciation from a woman’s point of view. Your take on bikes offers a fresh insight on how women perceive the culture.
I have to say that I wasn’t surprised, since being a Singaporean, you are surrounded by a lot of nice two-wheeled machines, compared to us here in Malaysia.
If you have the time, please Google this: “BRP Can-Am Spyder” and tell me what you think. I have a feeling you’ll like it.
I am in discussion with the manufacturer to import and distribute this product in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore & Indonesia. I hope they will appoint me.
At the moment, my company was just appointed as the sole distributor for Cagiva, MV Agusta & Husqvarna motorcycles in Malaysia.
Cheers!
AZLAN.
Hello there, are u A mate lately purchased a old smaller motorcycle, im not even positive what make it is! My other buddies are now mocking him and telling him that it is a scooter, not a motorcycle! I want to put them in their place seriously what is the difference between a bike an a scooter? Can you answer?
Hi,
Need some help in getting this bikes & stunt bikers for an auto show scheduled to be held in 2 week of may at bangalore,india.
Thanks
syed ehsan