News from Buenos Aires

fritz

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Thought the following might interest a few folk, pictures underneath.

Saturday 8th April 2006

Buenos Aires - International Super Moto Show

0 odd kms

A rare treat, a visit to an 'International' bike show, just happened to be in town when we were. Leo kindly took us downtown and back (wished we'd ridden as soon as we got there as parking inside the hall and would have been cool to have the bike there still all encrusted with dirt !)

The show was actually a joint Chinese / Argentine affair as they have a trade partnership that it reflected, there is another one with all the big players another time. So, none of the latest models from the major players, but a large number of Chinese manufacturers. Maybe some of these appear at the International Bike Show in UK, I don't know, but in South America they are big players. (See Peru's police bikes for instance), there was one Chinese manufacturer we did recognise - the makers of the (Harley Davidson clone) police bikes in Peru. I guess we can all expect to see more of these manufacturers in future years everywhere though.

Most of the vehicles on display, not too surprisingly, were clones of bikes already out there. A common thread was a heavy dresser style 125 or 250, a MX style trial bike, and a humble about town basic bike. In addition there was often some scooters and quads.

In pristine new condition the quality looks fine and I'm sure the machining etc is better than say the 1930s BMW copies and the like that are also available from China - the equipment used to produce the new bikes at least being brand new, only time would tell.

In addition to the bikes there were several accessories stands - also Chinese - that had some great looking pistons, shaped like few I've seen, and forks and brakes that at least looked the business on display, whether or not in action. I guess the real beauty being price.

So ignoring the fact none of the big players were there, but lots of interesting Chinese manufacturers were, what else was there ?

Like many a show there were stands (and a display team) from the local police, and restorers and classic clubs. Also a stunt riding display, the usual stuff, stoppies and wheelies with two scantily clad young ladies on the back......and a couple of lads of MXers doing jumps and stunts in the arena in an area that looked like it would be very unlikely to pass a Risk Assessment. Two ramps, clear space, and a low roof with cross-wires for the lights to hang down from. None of that prevented them leaping through the air and doing some impressive poises in the process. For folk not familiar with Freestyle motorcross (MX) this involves them jumping through the air striking poses like 'Superman' where they literally come off the bike in the air and lie (on thin air) flat with legs out back, one arm by side, and one hand on bars, or not for a brief second, before having to remount the bike before landing. (That bits quite important !) In bigger arenas these guys carry out the most outrageous of maneuvers such as flipping the whole bike and themselves 360 degs....backwards. i.e. the whole bike and rider turns full circle vertically before regaining the 'normal' alignment and landing. So many people have had very serious injuries pursuing this stunt, and yet now the best riders consider it 'part' of their performance....eeek ! Red Bull had a stand selling DVDs of their sponsored Freestyle MX championship, and for a fiver it seemed a bargain for 160 mins of outrageous stunts. Sold !

The police display team, bless 'em, tried very hard to match the 'White Helmets' but weren't quite that standard (still good though). Not quite sure how they managed to make most of their stunts look so camp, maybe it was the outfits, not sure, but they still managed a few impressive feats of riding. Their machine of choice being Moto Guzzi.

The stunt rider was the usual fair of lots of revs and noise to egg on support and then some impressive vertical wheelies and stoppies, and of course the previously mentioned scantily clad girls to cling on the front or back for similar effect.

The stands that most interested us were the 'classic' ones. A nice opportunity to see bikes we wouldn't see in the UK, or ones that we would and would enjoy seeing anytime. There were a few nice BMWs including a nice racer replica that wasn't quite there as no working clutch etc so just display (maybe in the future ?) It made me realise how lucky we are in the UK. For under a thousand quid you could get a pretty damn good 70s or 80s BMW and strip it to bare bones and recreate a fair representation of a 30s or 50s BM road racer. If only I had the time, or thought that if I started I'd finish it !

Obviously Javier is familiar with many of the folk involved in the motorcycle scene here and we got some nice insights to some of the machinery. (as well as free entry I should point out I guess, £2 otherwise) If you wanted a highlight I guess it would have to be the restored Norton used in the Che film "The motorcycle Diaries". Gustavo Agra was responsible for the one on display.

We got the insight to how the bikes were used in the film too. There were three Norton’s built, two with slightly different seat heights - the actors were different heights - so there were bikes for continuity for whichever was riding during filming....odd eh ! To ensure the classics weren't destroyed they also used 2 Suzuki Savages (modified) for scenes like that when the bike ends up in a water filled ditch. Little insight for you there !

Gustavo owns one of the Nortons, one belongs to a private owner, and one was donated to the Che Guevara museum in Cuba.

There was also a replica of the bicycle (with small engine) that Che made his first tour on. Never knew about that one either. Hell, haven't even seen the film, never mind read up on Che's history.

As an aside he is still a huge draw here. Places he lived, moved too, etc are much venerated from tourist perspective, and there are many a 'Wolfie Smith's' walking around in the old Che T-Shirt and beret...."Come the revolution...."
 


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