November 30th, 2013

I headed back to Birmingham today and as Sarah and I didn't have a huge amount planned, we thought we'd head off to the NEC and split the day between another trip to Motorcycle Live and the Good Food show. I wanted to pick up a new helmet and had my eye on the Shoya Tomizawa Shoei rep. I'd seen it at a few shows and was available on the web through Helmet City at £389.00, which was the same as the show price. I tried the helmet on a the fit was good and I wanted to barter a bit about the price, especially as the helmet was made back in 2011, but the man behind the counter was possibly the rudest person I have ever encountered in retail. Now I will put my hands up and say that I offered a price about £50 below the asking price, but was happy to meet somewhere in the middle. The response I got was shocking. When 'talking' to me, he was looking anywhere but at me and he didn't even try and make the sale with me, so I walked away. The bloke must be made of money as he just turned his nose up at an easy sale. After being treated so badly, even if he had matched the price I don't think I would have wanted to give him the money.
Back to much nicer tales now though. As Sarah and I were looking at the rather lovely Ducati branded clothing, I heard a familiar voice and Tim Maccabee, head of Ducati UK came over to say hello.Tim is one of the nicest people Ive ever met in the bike industry and always comes across as a perfect gentleman. We chatted about a few things for about 10mins and he told me that a very special guest will be appearing at the Ducati stand to look at the 1199 Superleggra. It turned out to be none other than Heir to the throne, Prince William. Now that's not something you see every day.