Greyerbeard wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2019 8:19 am And ditto what everyone has said about Kymco - good looking products, but where are you supposed to buy them?

Meldrew wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 10:03 am The annual NEC bike show is whatever you make it, I don't think going there is a big deal and never have. It's better now than it was in it's early years when it was like the BMF Rally, with stalls offloading old stock clothing, helmets, and accessories. But there's still show goers having to sit on the floors to each their lunch because there's no seating areas. If you decide to go for a pie or burger etc, tables can be hard to find because they're full of blokes chatting long after they've finished eating.

As I've already mentioned I couldn't care less about the latest motorcycles, because I'm not going to spend much more time looking at them than the ones I see daily parked in the street.

As for getting technical info, I stopped at the Quadro stand on my last two visits and yes they were knowledgeable about the Quadro 3 and Quadro 4, but when asked about their dealer network North of Watford they couldn't tell me a thing. Enquiring about the Limited Edition Quadro 'Steinbok 4' and 'Edelweiss 3' models that were already on sale in mainland Europe drew a blank too, they knew nothing about them.

capitano wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 8:01 am

mottza wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 8:06 pm Sorry that none of us gave a full show report.

Likewise, I obviously didn't get the memo. I may wear the same hat as Henry Cole sometimes but I'm no reporter of any merit, and my personal reasons for liking and attending the show aren't that relevant to anyone else to be honest. My photo skills are pants, too!

MotoGB did indeed have a few Syms there, but the range of scooters, and their positioning (literally hidden behind their banner) displayed their indifference to the brand in the UK. It typified their whole approach, "Great product, rubbish support network."

Kymco were a bit more of a conundrum. Another great product, that they displayed well. I'd take an educated guess and say that they had their whole range there.

Kymco's bikes looked great, particularly the AK and Xciting models and there were plenty of Kymco staffers on hand to answer queries ... about the bikes. Although I knew, I did ask who my local dealer was. When they answered, my response was, "They aren't really a bike dealer, they are a small repair shop and clothing store." Summing up, plenty of knowledge and pride about the product (and they did look/feel great) but the support needs a lot more work.

As a true potential buyer in the near future, the lack of dealer/importer/distributor support puts me off buying one.

So, no change really.

Data wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2019 12:17 pm

I spoke at length with Kymco reps who tell me they are pushing to get more dealers across the country and have already increased the number in the last 18 months. If you remember when the original importers went down (Masco) Kymco took direct control of the import and sale of their bikes in this country. 18 months later, Kymco is still in full control of their brand imports and sales through Kymco Mobility UK and this will remain the case. They seemed less than pleased with the performance of the previous regime. There is no doubt the brand is set to grow considerably over the next few years, as it is already doing. The bikes themselves are fantastic quality and they had their full range at the show. They put SYM to shame. SYM had just token bikes their, not the full range. But that's down to MotoGB.

Data wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2019 12:17 pm I spoke at length with Kymco reps who tell me they are pushing to get more dealers across the country and have already increased the number in the last 18 months.