As this is the 1st year of the ISANET online scooter magazine it was decided to visit the expo 2oo8 which was held at the NEC, the organizers had decided to move the 13th expo to the national exhibition centre, as anyone is aware the NEC is not only a great place to visit but is so accessible, with this in mind off we set.

once we had arrived we were met with the great British weather that we have all become to familiar with “rain”, well what else would you expect, it was a mad dash to get out of it as fast as our legs could take us, once inside we were greeted by smiles and given our press passes, nitro were giving everyone free shoulder bags packed with information on the event, “good idea” you can plan your day out and also find out where the refreshments are being served!!.

we had decided that we were going to cover the vast space inside the hall like a military exercise, cover the area and look for the scooter related dealers first, but that didn’t last 5 seconds, 1st dealer we came across and 20 minutes later! yep it was like having a kid in a toy shop, well that’s my excuse, we were amazed at the amount of companies and businesses that were there displaying their wares and also plying for potential trade,

for anyone who has never visited the expo, it is a trade show designed for companies and in some cases one man bands to come and show the trade and the public the latest products and to get as much interest as possible from major dealers in the hope of expanding their order books, and in some cases gaining outlets for their products, we soon realized that we were going to be there for the day, the range of helmets that were being displayed ,well what more can i say, and that old saying once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, well believe me its poppy cock!!(well it is a family magazine after all) the helmets on display were fantastic not only in the sense of cost but also in the sense of safety and looks, do you want a full face or would you like an open face, why not have the best of both worlds, “ said the salesman” if your into snazzy graphics that your mates haven’t got ,then there was plenty about on display, Caberg helmets have brought out a helmet that is well, that would be telling ,we are going to have to show you that one at a later date.

we decided to sit down and rest our tired legs and have some liquid refreshment, not badly priced and ice cold, it was then on again to look at what we’d missed and to pick up all the freebies and posters that were being handed out , there were quite a few scooter related companies in attendance that will be all to familiar to scooterists ,these being V.E , Armadillo scooter wear, Putoline oil, Davida helmets, pm tuning, rock oil to name but a few, if i have missed anyone i do apologise, but anyone will tell you the day is simply not long enough, the auto boys were there in attendance displaying everything from a 50cc to an auto scooter that has a big enough box on the back to fit in ,well you name it ,it will probably fit in, the delivery boys will love it, the carrying capacity was better than what the usual pizza delivery guys are used to, “we will be featuring this at a later date”.

these big companies should realise that if they knew anything about a true scooterist, simply giving away free posters and pens doesn’t do it for us, now if they were giving away free gloves, helmets or the odd exhaust (now we are talking freebies)!! overall the expo wasn’t a bad day out and moving it to the NEC was a good decision by the organizers.

words and pics by tommy1drop