There are worse ways to spend a few days than surrounded by motorcycles in Milan.
Last week, we headed to EICMA to catch up with the brands we stock at Veloce Club, spend some time with the people behind the kit and have a look at a few new bikes. Strictly business, obviously. Getting distracted by motorcycles was simply an occupational hazard.
Catching up with the people behind the gear
A big part of the trip was meeting the brands whose motorcycle clothing, helmets and riding gear you’ll find online and in our Hitchin shop.
We caught up with Pando Moto, Silk Road, Merlin, ROKKER, Riding Culture and Origine, as well as spending plenty of time with By City. Having everyone together gives us a chance to step away from emails and catch up properly.
For us, those relationships matter. When we help someone choose their riding gear, we want to know the people behind it as well as the product. Trips like this give us time to ask questions, look more closely at the ranges and keep those conversations going.
It also means we get to spend a few days talking about motorcycle kit with people who are every bit as interested in it as we are. Which probably explains where the time went.
Plenty of time on the Merlin stand
We spent a particularly good chunk of the visit with Merlin.
Some stands are a quick hello before you move on. Others take up rather more of your day, and Merlin was firmly in the second category. Between catching up with the team and looking around the range, there was plenty to keep us there.
If you’re curious about the gear behind the name, you can browse our Merlin motorcycle jackets and Merlin helmets.
By City was another important part of the trip. We spent lots of time with the team, alongside our visits to Silk Road, Pando Moto and the other brands we work with.
These are the conversations that happen behind the scenes of running an independent motorcycle shop. You see the finished selection on our rails and shelves; we get the enjoyable job of going out, meeting people and taking a closer look.
Fancy seeing you here
One of the nicest surprises was randomly bumping into Roy from Alchemy Parts.
In a show full of tens of thousands of people, you don’t necessarily expect to stumble across someone you know. Yet there he was.
No arranged meeting, no carefully coordinated stand visit. Just a familiar face in the middle of a very big motorcycle show.
We love that about the motorcycle community. You can travel from Hertfordshire to Milan, find yourself surrounded by people from all over the world and still have a “fancy seeing you here” moment.
We did look at some motorcycles, too
Of course, we couldn’t go all that way and spend the entire visit looking at riding gear.
Among the bikes we stopped to see were BSA’s adventure bike, the Norton display and the new Harley-Davidson.
Seeing bikes in person is a good excuse to put the phone away and have a proper look. You can walk around them, take in the proportions and spend far too long considering whether there might be room for another motorcycle.
There’s always room, isn’t there?
We’ll leave the detailed specifications and road-test verdicts for another day. This was a chance to enjoy seeing what was on show and indulge the same curiosity that gets us talking bikes around the coffee machine back at Veloce Club.
Back to Hitchin
The bikes gave us plenty to look at, but the people were at the heart of this trip: time with the brands we stock, longer conversations on the Merlin and By City stands, and an unexpected catch-up with Roy.
Thanks to everyone who made time for us during a busy show.
And if you’re visiting Veloce Club soon, ask us about Milan. We’re always happy to talk motorcycles, riding gear and which bike we probably don’t need.
Preferably over a coffee.
Explore our motorcycle clothing and gear brands, or pop into Veloce Club in Hitchin for a catch-up and a bloody good coffee.
