We Were Up Early And Off To The Bike Show,

every year about this time,

there is a huge bike show at the Burapa stadium in Soi Chaiyapreuk 2, off Sukhumvit Road,

although called Pattaya Bike Week the bikes are only here for two days, Friday and Saturday, with other events held else where during the week,

there are so many bikes on show and like this one for sale, yours for 850,000 baht, today's rate £17,419

 but for me the real interest was here, we were a bit early, hopefully more British bikes will be here tomorrow when we return,

 although not British I remember these from the 1960's Mods and Rockers days,

 also not British but nice neither the less, a BMW R27,

 this is the first time I have seen this yellow Matchless motorbike here, I wonder how many more are still to be found out here?

 an early Triumph with girder front forks,

 and a later one with telescopic forks,

 it also has a TLS (twin leading shoe) front brake, first brought out on Triumphs in I think 1968/9,

 a A.J.S. just 55 years old and still going strong!

 a Norton twin,

 with plunger rear suspension,

 another Triumph,

 this time a Royal Enfield twin,

 many associated stalls had been set up around the central stage,

 with clothes and biker gear on display,

 walking around the perimeter I noticed this stall exhibit being set up,

it was a collection of small and I guess less well known Harley Davidson's, more than a little interesting,

 there were some modern customised German ones here as well,

then what a joy! considering that so many bikes are bought out here I was surprised that Tony from Ducati had brought some of his bikes along for the show, it really seems quiet pathetic that as far as I could see not a single other big name bike manufacture was represented here, I would have thought that at least Harley, Triumph, Honda, Kawasaki or Yamaha could have stumped up enough cash to hire one of the tents, hopefully they will have turned up later today, but full marks to Tony and Ducatu for making the effort to be here and be here early for their fans,

yep, that's the one for me 399,990 baht brand new, £8,225 at today's rate, the Ducati Monster 795,

 it looks good from both sides,

 as does the Multistrada 1200,

 I am not sure what model this one is,

 but the single sided rear suspension looks so high tech,

I pretty much like most bikes and can appreciate the amount of work that goes into some of the custom jobs, but I do have to say I do not think I would like to ride this one,

for some reason I had the idea that this 3 wheeler comes from France, but I am not sure,  

 great suicide doors by the way,

 there were lines of clothes shops,

 some selling crash hats,

this looked kind of cool if you like this sort of thing, the visor being painted to give the full skull effect,

 as we were getting ready to leave the Honda Goldwing club had lined their bikes up near the entrance,

 nice they looked too, but not quiet my taste in bikes,

 naturally Diana wanted the pretty in pink one,

 there was a distinct American Indian theme about the place with wigwams

 and cowboy boots being sold,

 with lots of other Americana,

 the stage for the evenings show was huge,

as we left I noticed this Honda F6C Valkyrie, OK for some but I prefer something a bit more sporty,

 then home, a bite to eat, shower and change and off to the Friday night market,

 clouds in the skies, but no rain,

 just a couple of clothes stalls behind the bar today,

 for some reason a lot of interest in the pet section this evening,

 the sun starts to set,

 back to the bar,

 Diana has been shopping again!

 also Tony and his better half was here this evening,

 along with Thomas,

 no chairs again at the bar so I picked up Diana from another seating area on our way home,

in the afternoon we watched a part of Waterloo, I guess the last of the great epics, the costumes and extras has to be seen to be believed, now all on computer, but not in 1970 when this was made, two meet at Waterloo where the fate of Europe will be decided, thoroughly enjoyable movie,


as an aside it appeared that airguns held a fear for Napoleon, during their heyday, they were preferred over black powder guns because they were smokeless (black powder created clouds of smoke that both blinded the shooter and gave away his position), they could be loaded faster than black powder guns, they could be used in damp weather, they never burned the shooter, and they were quiet and did not scare away the game, this silence, however, led them to be a chosen weapon of snipers throughout their history,

the Austrian Army used air guns against Napoleon in the late 1700's, though Napoleon was ultimately victorious, the silent killers demoralised his troops and became so feared that he decreed any enemy soldier captured with an air gun was executed as an assassin,

it is the year 2029: Astronaut Leo Davidson boards a pod cruiser on a Space Station for a "routine" reconnaissance mission. But an abrupt detour through a space time wormhole lands him on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race, so the scene is set for Planet of the Apes, after watching that it was late so we were off to bed.