What's new at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show
What's new at 44th Tokyo Motor Show
It was raining and it was cold.
But they came by the thousands.
On Monday, I joined a sea of visitors who came to ogle at the exhibits on display at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show held at Tokyo Big Sight in the Ariake district.
As I entered the large exhibition hall, I forgot about the numbness in my frozen fingers.
The new and concept motorcycles on display gave me a sense of warmth.
The Big Four (Honda , Yamaha , Kawasaki and Suzuki) Japanese manufacturers shared a big hall along with bike makers like Indian, Victory and Can-Am.
Yamaha's concept bikes were popular with the crowd especially the three-wheeled, big capacity MWT-9.
Maybe it was the bike's aggressive styling or the fact that it possessed what looked to be the longest side stand.
Understandably a sophisticated looking female model became a crowd-puller every time she posed with the three-wheeler.
Yamaha gave visitors a peek into the future when it unveiled the Motobot Version 1.
It's a robot capable of riding the 2015 Yamaha R1M super bike on its own.
Impressive, but equally scary, I thought, what if these robots can chase offending bikers to issue a speeding ticket?
I walked nervously away and sat on Valentino Rossi's podium-topping Movistar Yamaha MotoGP race bike, pretending to duel with Marc Marquez.
A tap on my right shoulder ended my fantasy - it was time for the next visitor to sit on Rossi's bolted down bike.
Next door, Kawasaki seemed to have kept things real for the average rider.
While its 300hp, supercharged super bike, the H2R, is still what everyone's talking about, the marque is giving the road-legal H2 a more enticing look for 2016.
UPGRADES
Its liquid metal paint job is now in bling pink rose gold.
A Kawasaki representative told me that its stars, the ZX14R and the ZX10R, will be getting upgrades for 2016.
What will be a common sight is its Z125 Pro, a mini 125cc four-stroke commuter bike, when it begins its production run in Indonesia and Thailand.
But it's anybody's guess if the Z125 Pro will be sold in Singapore.
Another attention grabber sat across the exhibition hall in the Honda corner.
The MotoGP replica, RC213V- S, commanded its own mini stage.
Like Ducati's Desmosedici RR MotoGP replica, the Honda is street legal and comes with a hefty price tag meant only for the well-heeled - a British bike mag reported it was £137,000 (S$295,000).
The RC213V-S is a race bike with headlights and turn signals.
The 999cc V4 race replica shares about 80 per cent of the parts found on the factory Hondas on the GP grid.
While the attention may have been centred on two-wheelers at the show, I was mesmerised by the bike parts exhibits.
I'm not sure if that had anything to do with pretty women in figure-hugging clothes giving away leaflets.
But at the Ohlins suspension and Nissin Brakes exhibits I stayed glued to the exotic works of art that allow us to ride and stop safely.
If you plan to attend the Tokyo Motor Show, make sure you devote a whole day to it.
There are car exhibits, demo rides/drives and forums to attend.
"If you plan to attend the Tokyo Motor Show, make sure you devote a whole day to it. There are car exhibits, demo rides/drives and forums to attend."
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