There is an iconic line in the 1975 movie Jaws when Chief Brody sees the shark for the first time. With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he mumbles: “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” Having just visited the second AMID Motorcycle Expo at Red Star Raceway, I feel that we are going to need a bigger venue soon! I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout, and that warms the cockles of my motorcycle heart.
At the beginning of 2024, Arnold Olivier, National Director of AMID (Association of Motorcycle Industry Distributors) put together a Motorcycle Expo at Red Star Raceway. The event itself was organized on very short notice, which resulted in some manufacturers not attending because of other commitments. However, this was only the start of something that will hopefully become a permanent fixture at the end of January each year.
The event coincided with the Suzuki Rider Safety Day which in itself is a wonderful initiative. The Suzuki Rider Safety Day allows riders of any skill level to come and improve their skills in the safe and controlled environment of the track. I have to give a special mention to the guys and girls at Suzuki. They really pour back into the motorcycle community. Not only are they one of the major supporters of Cancervive, but they also provide motorcycles for the CMA Riding Academy.
This initiative helps new riders understand the basics of operating a motorcycle on their rolling road, and they also have scooters on hand to help beginner riders. Of course, none of this will be possible without Quinton and his crew at Red Star Raceway.
This day, however, had even more to it, and the line-up of manufacturers was quite a sight to see. At last year’s event, almost all of the exhibitors could fit into the pit area of Red Star. This year, the pits were fully occupied by the manufacturers, therefore, the accessories and gear sections had to be moved to their own dedicated area.
Honda gave us a first glimpse of the new 1000cc Hornet SP. Honda South Africa will only get the SP version of this bike, and pricing has not been finalized. However, speaking to Riaan Fourie from Honda, the price will be substantially less than what you will shell out for the latest CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. Where the Fireblade is a track-day weapon, the Hornet will be a practical, everyday bike with similar performance.
Over at the BMW stand, most of the space was taken up by the new R 1300 GS Adventure, decked out in every conceivable add-on you can think of. I know this bike will sell well here in South Africa, but man, that bike is big! Next to it, the standard 1300 GS looks almost dainty.
The new kids on the block, CF Moto, had a very impressive stand, and their range is quite extensive. That MT 450 looks like such a good bike for people like me!
Yamaha brought their XSR 900 GP to the expo and this really is a beautiful machine to witness in the flesh. It was also good to see Kawasaki, SYM and Triumph join the fray this year.
The extended accessory section included everything from motorcycle gear, luggage solutions and tyres. The guys from Bikewise were also on hand to clean helmets and look after your Arai helmet. I grabbed a hat from the friendly people at Motul which helped to keep the sun off my face. I also had a long chat at the AXOR helmet stand. They have a stunning range of affordable helmets and will be good news for cash-strapped consumers.
For me, the highlight of the day was the racing, organized by Neil Harran and his team from the South African Motorcycle Racing Academy (SAMRA). SAMRA has been going for 16 years, and most of our young racers have graduated through this program. With full backing from Honda South Africa, they have 58 Honda NSF 100 motorcycles for the kids to race on.
These are small motorcycles, but the program is only for ages 6 to 14. Also, absolutely no experience is required for you to join this program. They will even teach you how to ride. Once new riders are up to speed, they can go and race. To make the series fair, you get allocated a motorcycle on the day, so everyone races on equal machines. Neil pointed out that parents are not allowed near the bikes! On Saturday, the kids put on an 8-lap demo race, and maybe somewhere in there is the next Brad Binder. It was wonderful to see.
I sincerely hope that this event will keep growing so that we will need a bigger venue very soon. This is a wonderful initiative, and again we have to thank everyone involved in putting it all together. May our motorcycle sales numbers climb, and may we have an even bigger turnout next year!
