On Thursday the 2012 International Dirt Bike Show will be alive and kicking and the MOTO team will be there alongside a host of top motocross, enduro and trials manufacturers. Running from Thursday, November 1 to Sunday November 4, the UK’s International Dirt Bike Show is the biggest in Europe, with a massive selection of 2013 off-road bikes, accessories, clothing, aftermarket spares and parts, plus a full line-up of world class racers and riders all under one roof!
Bikes, bikes and more bikes
As well as the 2013 machinery from Honda, KTM, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha being on display, new enduro machines will also be on show for the first time at Stoneleigh. Jotagas UK and HM Moto UK will be exhibiting. Jotagas is hoping to have the first-ever JTG two-stroke enduro bike to show, meaning Stoneleigh will be the world.
Team MOTO will be in our usual place of B11 – come visit and say hello to the team.
If it’s championship-winning machines you’re after then perhaps you need to look no further than the bigger-than-ever KTM stand, as the UK arm of the Orange Brigade has managed to secure Tony Carioli’s MX1-winning 350SX-F; Jeffrey Herlings’ 250 SX-F and the 300 EXC of ten-time British Enduro champion David Knight.
Star gazing
Tommy Searle will most certainly be at the Show. He will be joined by members of other Kawasaki teams, namely Brad Anderson, Dorren Coutts, Connor Walkley, Bryan Mackenzie and Alex Snow. From the KTM camp we hear that Extreme Enduro star Jonny Walker will be on Show duties, as will both MX1 and MX2 British champions Kevin Strijbos and Elliott Banks-Browne. Hopefully Mattis Karro and Jonathan Barragan will also make an appearance. On the Honda front; Dave Thorpe will be at the Show with Nico Aubin and new signing Steve Ramon.
Beyond the bike
Not everyone goes to the Show just to see the bikes. For many of you, this is the first opportunity to inspect the latest clothing, boots and lids, as well as machine gadgets and gizmos galore and you won’t be disappointed. Expect to find Fox, RaceFX, CI Sport, Apico International, Lazer and Madison all in hall two, together with a healthy showing of top tyre distributors such as Michelin, Dunlop, Golden Tyre and Slovenian manufacturer Sava, as well as leading lubricants companies Putoline and Rock Oil.
Buy, buy, buy
The Show layout is slightly different this year, with hall one as the only area from which exhibitors can retail. The organiser believes that this clearly defined selling area will make it a better experience for visitors. This is where the retailing heavyweights such as Fro Systems, MD Racing, Race Spec, Bikers World and Dirt Bike Express will be selling their wares, plus many, many more top-name exhibitors, too numerous to list.
Classics rule
This year the Show will run a sizeable Twinshock/ Evo display in hall three and already has a number of vintage and classic machines confirmed, with some wonderful examples of old trials and motocross bikes, including the US team’s Honda and Kawasaki crossers from the Vets MXDN, Stefan Evert’s 250 Honda and Georges Jobe’s 500 Kawasaki.
The only other area of the 2012 Show where retailing will be taking place is in hall five, adjacent to the hall four Activity Zone, where the weekend-only ‘Evoshock’ Moto Jumble will be housed. It will be open from 10.30am to 5.00pm on Saturday and 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sunday.
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Family fun
Once you’re parked up – for free – and through the ticket booth turnstiles, it’s time for the fun to really start. Whilst out front, check out the Team CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki race truck and drool over the bike ridden by our own Tommy Searle to a double race win at the superb Matterley Basin round of the World MX2 Championship earlier this year.
Inside the Stoneleigh Park halls, there is plenty on offer – remember to pick up your free Show Guide first though. Visitors with younger family members should head over to hall four early in the day to secure a place on one of the free have-a-go activities. The first-ever My First Honda Licence at the Dirt Bike Show is where children from the ages of five to eleven can experience the fun of riding a 50cc motorcycle with expert tuition. In the same hall, Strider bikes, which even toddlers from 18-months of age can ride, will teach natural balance and co-ordination. The Strider team will instruct children to propel themselves on the bikes and then hold mini races for two to ten-year-olds throughout the weekend.
Strike it lucky
There are loads of on-stand competitions going on around the halls with some top-notch prizes up for grabs.
One lucky visitor will win an all-new Honda CRF110F in a free-to-enter prize draw on the Honda stand in hall two. In the same hall Madison is running a competition every day with a different first-rate product to be won daily. Elsewhere in the same hall, Ultra Sport EU is offering up a brand-new Contour+2 video camera, with inbuilt GPS tracking and Bluetooth, worth £359.99, and Gear4 will have a competition draw running with a choice of mountain bike worth up to £400 or Fox MX riding gear.
MC Comps is running a lottery style prize draw, where, to celebrate the launch of its unique motocross competition website, it has a Suzuki RM-Z250 up for grabs. The draw will take place at the end of the show and someone will win this bike! Whilst you’re in that hall, you can find out how to win a day’s riding with Troy Corser at Wheeldon Off-Road Centre.
Budget friendly admission
The Show organiser slashed admission costs last year with half-priced adult entry on the first day of the exhibition. Thanks to its success, that wallet-friendly incentive has been retained for the 2012 Show. This means that an adult buying a ticket in advance for Thursday can gain entry for just £6, or £7.50 on the door. Children aged 10 and under go free, so, a family of four with two youngsters aged ten and under can enjoy a whole day of off-road fun for just £12.
For the Friday and weekend days of the Show, ticket prices are £12 in advance and £15 on-the-door for adults; £6 in advance and £7.50 on-the-door for children aged 11 and over and also for senior citizens; £10 on-the-door for students. Families travelling together can make further savings, with tickets priced at just £30 in advance for two adults and two children aged 11 to 15, or £40 on the door.
Source: http://moto.mpora.com/news/preview-the-international-dirt-bike-show.html
Ryan Dungey Vic Eastwood Daryl Ecklund Erik Eggens Richard Eierstedt
