Stanley's pictures: Straight On To Today's Post,

as there are so many pictures,

this is where we are going, to have a look at the Burapa Bike Week at the end of which on the 14 th and 15th Febuary ends here on the show ground at the National Indoor Sports Stadium on Soi Chaiyapruek 2,

a quick picture of Diana,

a few of us traveled there by car, the good news was that a friend we were travelling with wanted to order a brand new bike so we had a look at the first of the motorcycle company stale we came across, Yamaha,

nice but not what he wanted so over to the main show ground we went,

if anyone has been to a show like this before,

you know what to expect,

food,

and more food!,

I liked the checkered winning flag table cloth,

there was just so much to chose from,

but we were on a mission, so into the show ground we went,

one of the first dealerships we came across in the show ground was Honda,

a couple of prospective buyers having a look,

of course there were not just bikes on sale here, the diversity of stalls was amazing, like this one selling toy cars,

or this one with three wheelers,

driving around Pattaya I have notice a huge number of these vehicles on the roads,

with a number of different bikes to power them,

of course there were lots of clothing stalls,

with a full range of accessories,

like these scary crash helmets,

plus of course more traditional ones,

pretty in blue,

or sporting your bikes logo,

it was of course a fun day for everyone, just look out for traffic!

more food stalls,

and a very scary crash hat,

we were now approaching a few dealers stalls,

but first a quick picture of this work in progress,

and there they were, Ducatis, with their own dealership in Pattaya,

my dream machines, but what colour?

for me it has got to be red,

the good news is that the numbers of them out here is growing, due to the fact forward looking management assembles some of the models here in Thailand, the same way that Triumph does and then sends the bikes around the world to be sold,

I then noticed this drag bike, it does not look that interesting till you take a closer look,

at the carburetter,

and what it is bolted to, possibly the smallest turbo unit I have ever seen,

this bike was going around the path way a few times, what it lacked in size it made up for in noise!

if you live in Pattaya I am sure you will have seen this stall past you by,

the mobile bug stall,

not my cup of tea, but Diana likes some of them,

here is a bike I am surprised we do not see more of over here, it is a Russian Minsk, you can buy or hire one in Saigon if you want to retrace the trip through Vietnam that the Top Gear team did a few years ago,

if only it was road legal I would love one of these, what a great piece of kit but at 35,000 baht a tad too expensive as a off road toy,

by now the place was filling up,

there was a constant steam of bike entering the show ground,

another dream machine,

there was a mobile film crew in attendance,

I mean how could you not spot him?

the crew were interviewing many of the exhibitors,

there were a few cars on display as well,

V-8, way to go!

a Yamaha SR single, with a lot of work spent on it, these seem to be becoming more popular out here for the custom guys to work on,

next stop the triumph stand,

a nice twin,

and a touring triple with screen and rear top box,

across the road I noticed another bicycle with motor, they some how look so cute,

more scooters,

and bikes were arriving,

another three wheeler,

I then found the vintage bikes display,

what a beauty! I just hope someone has the time and money to restore this Harley to its former glory,

it seems strange to think,

back in the mid 1960s,

most of the bikes here,

like this Royal Enfield Constellation, could be bought for a few pounds, now they go for thousands,

I will be the first to admit it,

I do not know what this car is,

but it looks quite impressive in the 'go' department,

the radiator has Ford on it, so maybe it is a Ford?

there was also a few things other than bikes to look at, violin playing Captain Jack Sparrows,

and a Predator from the movie,

another take on the three wheeled theme,

like this one,

with a different colour scheme,

advertising the show on the rear,

mobile drinks van,

and another three wheeler,

in the inner part of the show ground there were more stalls,

selling modern reproduced items,

back in the early 1950s the rich kid down the street had one that looked like this,

for some reason many of these bike shows has a very distinct cowboy/Indian feel about them, like the saloon in the distance,

with stalls selling Western clothes,

and accessories,

there was even a bucking bronco,

cowboy costumes were de rigueur,

in the center front of the showground a huge stage,

with bikes filling up the rear,

we caught up with the film crew,

who seemed to be having a great time,

oh-oh an oil leak, I thought for a moment it must have been a British bike!

a few more toys for sale,

they look like the Predator,

a chopped VW,

that some one must have spent a lot of time,

and money on,

three from the past,

at first glance a B.S.A. an early one,

especially with this rear sprung hub,

but it had a modern single cylinder engine,

going back to crash helmets, they can of course be custom made, just remember to order the horns to be on the outside,

moving around the show ground the cowboy/Indian theme continued,

with stalls selling all manner,

of items,

for home,

and wall decoration,

as I mentioned before,

there were so many shops selling similar cowboy items,

it was surprising how they could all survive,

you could even buy a Indian headdress here, yours for 7,000 baht,

it looks like there are going to be a few bald parrots around here somewhere!

the stall names,

have a distinctly American ring to them,

but I have yet to find out why,

so many people here have adopted the Western culture,

even to the point of having clubs,

and wigwams,

and powwows,

a last look at the Western stalls as we continue our walk,

this truck does not look that big,

but it was!

and a car familiar to all Harry Potter fans,

a UK Ford Anglia,

we then found a second stage,

complete with it's own food stalls,

plus a auto jumble,

selling all manner of parts,

to help complete,

your labor of love,

we made our way out of the show ground towards the active bike display area, unfortunately one of our friends failing to order his new bike, whilst almost every manufacturer had a display, Harley's did not, so I guess he will have to go to Bangkok to order it,