UKMOC @ EICMA Milan 2011

[Gordon H]

If my limited IT skills have got this right, this link should take you to some more pics taken at the show........


http://s1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/gah55016/UKMOC%20Does%20EICMA%20Milan%202011/

[Pomp1]

Good man Gordon,when is the rest coming, like say the one of you dancing ;)

[J.P]

Some nice stuff there mate :)

[uksurfer]

Good man Gordon,when is the rest coming, like say the one of you dancing ;)

the Gordon Pole Dance?

I'd like to see that too

[Rally]

I'll post mine on here tomorrow evening. Dancing Gordon included!

[uksurfer]

Did the Gordon Dance photo look like this one?

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d125/Uksurfer/Monster%20796/Dance2Shoes.jpg

[Gordon H]

Did the Gordon Dance photo look like this one?

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d125/Uksurfer/Monster%20796/Dance2Shoes.jpg

All is not what it seems......... I'm sure Alex will back me up on that!!

[Rally]

Right after about 3 hours of trying to sort this out, if this doesn't work i'll give up! Why do things have to be so complicated some times?

http://s786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/UKMOC-Rally/UKMOC%20-%20Milan%202011/

[Pomp1]

OK, seen that I’ve got a bit of time this evening I’ll take the challenge of updating you on the most recent UKMOC event. This is becoming a sort of a regular event, seen that is the second year we’re running it. First I must apologise about the lack of pictures: I’m not a prolific photographer at the best of times, but I become particularly lazy once back home as A) I’m normally in charge of the driving B)I’m in charge of translating. So I hope the other guys will do the uploading as apart for a couple of skimply dressed ladies I’ve got nothing.
Monday: Guys from the MOB and UKMOC arrived almost together and, after leaving Rally to deal with the car hire we set off to the villa, dropped the luggage and went for lunch. Wine flowed and then we met with Alex as I had to visit his new workshop and collect some tickets I needed. I wish him all the best in his new venture as he deserves it. Rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful and after a quick shower and pizza we split and went to bed: I knew there would have been some serious walking to do the following day.
Tuesday: After a full Italian breakfast we set off for the show: the beauty of having press-day tickets (cheers Rob) is that you can actually see the things, rather than queue up for a glimpse. Everyone got in with their (personalized) tickets and decided for meeting points as is easy to get lost and separated, especially if you’re in a big group. As soon as we walked in we were met by a Pierobon framed 2V of some description, looking really good and purposeful. Good omen for the rest of the visit. On a different not the official Pig mascot made an appearance this year as well, and the girls queued up to get a chance of a picture with such an iconic animal (this year was also graced by a MOB sticker, as The Pig was more than happy to represent them too..). All sorts of bikes were there, from big manufacturers to small bespoke machines, like the CR&S, always one of my favourites, as well as parts manufacturers, like CNC and those sexy Alpina rims. Of course now we need to mention the Talk of the Town: 1199. Looks good and is not all that uncomfortable to sit on, TBH. What catches the eye is the massive steering stem and the researched bits of design: from the holes in the tail piece to the exhaust downpipe cut-out in the fairing (which I’m sure will burn few boots as people manoeuvre it around while parking etc..) all in all a very good looking bike, only part I’m not too sure is the front, with that CBR-like beak. Looks good without lights but I’m not sure that would be allowed. Good choice was to have the engine and frame cut out and exposed in a plexiglass box for everyone to understand exactly what’s involved. As expected the whole range was on show, and the guys from the MOB slipped a sticker on a Monster 696 VR replica which wasn’t spotted by the Ducati guys as they cleaned the bikes. As is customary everyone got lots of catalogues (apart for pictures with the ladies..). We also had the chance to meet our very own Geoff and Marcio, which some of you meet at the weekender and Belgium.
Spotted? Well, Agostini, Lucchinelli and Biaggi, while amongst the bikes Cagiva C595GP, Elefant Paris Dakar, Pretty much every MotoGP and SBK around including at least 6 Rossi’s bikes and lots of tributes to Marco Simoncelli. My favourite? Hard to say, but I quite liked the Husqvarna MOAB, hope they go and make one.
Obviously there is stuff that I missed, like the NCR M4, hidden away at the Bridgestone stand. Damn. After an indigestion of bikes we made our way back to Gallarate for some serious food (including a 600grams ribeye) and a generous serving of Limoncello. I bet the guys from the restaurant realized that leaving the bottle on the table was foolish to say the least. We duly obliged and drained every last drop off it.
Back to bed, but the guys had even time for a nightcup..

[Pomp1]

Wednesday: not up to early we visited Magni, which again showed us around their fantastic workshop, where place of honour was taken by the Guzzi which was recently raced at the Bol D’Or, where they finished 6th, despite only testing the bike twice. Among other things I managed to set an agreement over some very special exhausts..watch this space…
We then made our way to Como, where we had lunch on the lake front and then made our way to Mandello. Unfortunately we arrived too late for a visit at the Moto Guzzi Museum, but the scenery to get there was quite amazing, we should have a tunnel run down there..(being late didn’t stop Gordon doing a bit of trainspotting thought..;))
We then made our way back where we were the guests of honour at the 100hp club house. Pizza and several beers later the whole group was treated to some very dubious pole dancing by a well respected member (respected until then, at least..) On the occasion we were presented with a lovely plaque commemoration our second visit, this was received by Stuart and he was in his own word “touched and honoured”. I thought it was a very nice gesture as Alex and the guys from the 100HP (amongst others Willina, Gegio, Daniele, Andrea and his sister Tiziana, plus all the other 30+ which turned up..) are as passionate motorcyclist as you can get. We also signed a Happy Birthday card to Paolo Pirozzi, the guy that went around the world on a Multistrudel, on behalf of the UKMOMC, and got some rather nice membership cards! We stayed till late and I treated the guys to some Italian driving..

[Pomp1]

Thursday: some serious miles needed to be crunched to tick all the boxes on the list: days earlier I made some arrangements to go and see one of the places I remembered as a kid: does the name Paton rings a bell? I remember when 500GP had Harris, ELF and ROC, as well as this guys. In a rather unassuming industrial estate you walk in and find a 2 stroker V4 ex-GP machine, with a further 2 machines being built on the benches. This however they’re of a different breed: are the exact replica of their ’58 machines and for classic race. You need to see them to appreciate how well they’re built. Externally they may look like normal classic bikes but the touches are all there: front forks which are very modern inside, all engine parts bar for the heads and cylinder are CNC-machined from solid blocks, gearbox is removable, all major parts made by an “unknown” company called Suter to Sig. Patoni dad original specifications. Takes a month to build an engine, but it seems to work as they won their class at the Manx GP for the last three years running..
Now a word about the man himself: you can see the passion when he talks about his machine, and makes no bones that his dream is to be able to rebuild the 500Gp. He was also such a nice and approachable man, and he was so keen to show us around, a simple phone call got us in and he stopped working (this is a 2 mans operation) just so he could have a chat with us. Stewart was in his element, as engineering there is at the same time classic and modern.
Unfortunately we had to leave as we had another meeting near Bologna. Onto the Autostrada and after a couple of hours we arrived at DP Telai. Lorenzo showed us around and as said in a different thread this is not an operation in a back-garden shed: this is proper frame building from very knowledgeable peoples: jigs are everywhere, and all kind of stuff is being built, from Ducati F1 frames to racing scooters to that now famous Alu7000 frame. Stewart was very specific about what he wanted, and I’m sure all his requests will be accommodated. But it was time to hit the road again and after a quick panino and drink (without mentioning the sight of several working girls in full daylight..) we arrived in Maranello for a visit to the Ferrari Museum. This was a bit of a mixed emotion moment if I have to be honest. I would have liked more cars, but the amount of F1 engines and F1 cars kind of made up for it. See the detailing that goes on in those engines is mind blowing, and they’re part of our national heritage. At least we could sell those when we go bankrupt..:(
Made our way back home and someone decided to race us back, forgetting 150 miles of average speed cameras..
This was the Belgians last evening. We had a good pizza (sure Stafford remembers those gigantic calzone) and a bottle of wine (or two). Hopefully they had a good time and they’ll be back next year. They had to put up with my driving and Rally snoring, and I hope this hasn’t put them off..
(admittedly Rally took them to the airport early in the morning, so I guess this earned him some brownies points).

[Pomp1]

Friday: with only half a day left Andrea suggested we’d go and see Ubaldo Elli collection of MV Agustas. I was told this was a private collection and made arrangements to go and see it through his daughter. I was expecting few bikes, and as we walked in only 3 bikes were in sight: a Gilera, a single OHC Guzzi and a 4 cylinder MV. Along a Eddie Lawson and Doriano ROmboni fairing it looked like if there was a lot of memorabilia but not many bikes. What I didn’t realize was what was lying around the corner: a jaw-dropping collection of bikes: first one in line was a TZ750 Factory ex-Ceccotto Yammy (which apparently Sig. Elli had a numberplate on and used to go and get his shopping on), followed by a Factory Ducati F1, 125 GranSport and 37 (thirtyseven!!) ex factory MV Agusta, most of them ridden by Agostini himself, all shapes and forms, all working and signed, complete with 1 on the fairings. As I was looking at one particular model he pointed out that that one won 3 world championship in the 250 series… All sorts of signed memorabilia was around us, a huge amount of pictures and signatures, trophies and parts. He also has modern bikes: this include a MV F4 750 Serie Oro, a Brutale and a OW01 ex-Pirovano Endurance machine, one of 3 in Italy. We were accompanied by Sig. Elli grandson, a very lucky lad indeed. He showed us few videos and pictures and we found out that in aproper workshop all you need is a screwdriver, an adjustable wrench but you’ll need at least 11 hammers (in the words of Stuart “don’t force it son, just get a bigger hammer). We excused ourselves and the guys were sent on their way with some pistons from one of the Agostinis bikes, one of the 6-cylinders machines, a very nice and precious memento indeed. You know when someone is a authority to be reckoned with whe he has a Troy Bayliss poster signed by the men himself reading “ Take it easy, to the MV boss-man”. Again, when the word “passion” doesn’t quite describes it.
A bit of shopping and a lunch seen us to the airport, not before finding out that our host at the restaurant is the daughter of a former Pirelli tester, and has a few work machines in his garage, including a Mike Hailwood one, which we’re more than welcome to go and see whenever we want. Brilliant. Sounds like a plan for next year.
I then waved the guys farewell. This was Italy. Hope you’ve enjoyed the stay.

PS. Hope the pictures will follow shortly..

[Gordon H]

Great write up Max - make it all sound rather civilised. I'm sure Mr Stevens would approve......

[Rally]

Yeah, could you not have managed a few more words though!

You seem to of missed out Stephs talking in her sleep and the trashing of the third gear synchro in the hire car! And the Italian warning on the dash to warn me of brake failure ..........

[MrsC_772]

Sounds like you had a great time again this year, with access to lots of biking heritage not normally available to the paying public. Will be up for it next year :)