80,000 square meters, 15 halls, exhibitors from fourteen countries, visitors from more than thirty countries ... and up to 340,000 visitors: the 42th Essen Motor Show (D) from November 26 to December 6 2009 has been the biggest tuning show in the world for years.

The fact that I showed my CBX six years ago could not appease the organization: I was invited to participate in the '1st. Speed Bike Show'. I liked the idea that a third of a million visitors would see my bike.

One rainy autumn day in 2009 I cleaned the engine and made it presentable: cleaning (moderate), pressure washer (even less) and blow-drying with the compressor (intense). It wasn't required to bring the bike in showroom condition: the intention was to show the visitors bikes that could (and would) actually be ridden. A good initiative with a pleasant side effect as I prefer riding in stead of cleaning.

Thursday November 26th I mounted the CBX on the trailer. That wasn't easy because of the storm that raged at that time. I was drenched when the bike was finally ready for the trip.

From the rear, the CBX somewhat looked like a creature from Greek mythology ...

... called a Minotaur: half bull, half man.

I know, sometimes my fantasy takes over.

My Minotaur was drenched by the oncoming freight. As I arrived in Essen, I had to clean the bike all over again.

The 1st. Speed Bike Show was organized by motor journalist and close friend Sabine Welte.

No small task for a small lady between huge men and big bikes.

Caution whilst lining up the bikes.

After a while an impressive number of hotrods arrived. What a sound in such a hall! I imagined I was back at the Hotrod Hayride, last summer in England.

At the end of the afternoon I left the CBX. The hall didn't look too "flashy" yet but that would certainly turn out fine.

On Sunday December 6, the last day of the show, I visited Essen with Jan van Atteveld and Benno Krabbenborg.

Of course the focus of het Essen Motorshow was on cars. My favorite since quite some time: the Audi R8.

Again a R8, this time a 5.2 liter ten cylinder with 525 hp and a full aluminum body. Vulnerable but so beautiful.

Even hybrid cars are worth a look. Not all of them look as yawnful as a Prius, like this Giuliaro Frazer-Nash Namir with a top speed of over 300 km/h. That is serious.

A nice detail on this Sbarro Hybrid Orbital: hubless wheels.

I spent a lot of time at the 'oldies'. What a beautiful and timeless styled car, this Ferrari Enzo.

Lotus showed great sports cars from their long history.

Mercedes showed that good design doesn't age.

Talking about 'timeless': a pity that the sound was missing because it would have completed these hotrods.

As you might expect many cars were extremely tuned like this classic with huge compressor.

Or this dragster, based on an (imitation) Gullwing with 1,050 hp.

Only Americans can exaggerate like this: a 1970's Rolls Royce Silver Shadow with 572 ci Chrysler Hemi engine ... with 1.350 hp. For sale for 700,000 Euros.

'Crisis', anyone?

In one of the halls it was all about racing. Everything with four wheels, from karts, Formula 3, drifters ...

... to tuned Beetles.

A church organ?

No, it's a tractorpuller with two 24-cylinder Allison aircraft engines from WWII. Joint power: 5,000 hp consuming 50 kilograms of methanol per minute. The question remains why it's called 'Green Monster'. The red-white color nor the environment can be the reason ;-)

Just one more: two V12 engines with 29.4 liter engine capacity, also 5000 hp with no less than eight huge turbochargers.

A bit smaller to power your car: a V8 with two compressors. Totally whacked but that's almost a compliment.

The show was well attended. So were the halls where parts were sold.

Endless rows of tools. Unfortunately I found nothing for milling.

It was striking to see the massive stands with LED lighting ...

... LED lighting ...

... LED lighting ...

and LED lighting.

There was something for everyone: do you prefer your mats from with the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' theme or better 'Lord of the Rings'?

Bike seats in every color and shape. I think I still prefer sitting on a steel plate.

Audio, very present. A leaflet on this Scirocco warned for hearing damage.

A useful warning: the back seat and trunk were packed with enormous speakers and subwoofers. To find the limits and jump over them.

Many cars now have what one motorcycle already had seven years ago: rear-view cameras.

I'd almost forget the motor show itself. Fiftyfive unique motorcycles were shown all of whom were admitted on public roads (ie with registration) or on the racetrack. So no pure show bikes were present: a good initiative.

There were café racers, sportbikes ...

... and streetfighters.

German bikebuilder Markus Fritsch ('Fritschi') came with five of his creations, including this unconventional streetfighter based on a BMW engine.

Nothing possible in Germany because of their notorious TÜV? This show proved otherwise. So don't complain, build.

The CBX was, in the presentation at the press day, classified as 'Design'.

At the show it was surrounded by customs.

A special custom was this chopper based on a Japanese four cylinder. Luckily it doesn't always have to be a Harley.

The orange carpet suited the CBX very well. The fact that the bikes were seperated from the visitors by cords pleased me. The specifications from the CBX were clear and often read.

Click on the image to enlarge the specifications.

A lot of shots made. With cell phones ...

... but also with professional cameras. Suddenly a team from the German channel DMax showed up.

The week before I handed over my gloves and key to Sabine in case they would want to show the bike. Coincidently I was present when that happened.

Along with bike builder Fritschi (on the right) they showed the crew the CBX. I like it a lot to be 'on the other side' for once.

Fully concentrated: headlight on, headlight off. They did quite a good job and were not aware of my presence, which was funny.

But nevertheless I finally interfered: it's my nature I think. The interview that followed took quite some time.

Obviously the CBX was not alone: close to mine was 'TwinTrax', built by Christoph Madaus. I'd seen this bike at the Big Twin Motor Show at Rosmalen (NL) and still was impressed. It took the builder more then twelve years to build, about as long as the CBX and the V8 together! But it's something very special: two inline 1340 cc Harley Davidson / S&S engines and almost every part self-built.

What an impressive machine, and what an eye for detail.

Outside the 1st. Speed Bike Show were the show bikes. Impressive: 'Gunbus'. I'd never seen this bike 'live' but of course knew it from the Internet. This picture gives you no idea of the size of this largest motorcycle in the world ...

... that's why I picked this image from the Internet. The bike is five feet high, has a 6.7 liters V-twin engine, is three feet long and weighs less than 650 pounds. Pretty? Not really. Impressive? Sure.

Very extreme was this turbocharged ice racer. Functionality and brutal style combined.

This is Night Shadow, a 325,000 Euro bike. It could not please me in any way.

Finally, at the Essen Motor Show 2009 the fastest production motorcycle ever was presented: 'Stormbringer' made by Asphaltfighters. I liked the the performance more than the design: 0 to 100 in 2.9 seconds and 0 to 300 in 13.9 seconds. Top speed: more than 320 km/h.

About 17.00h. we had ourselves a nice beer.

Because enough is enough.

So we picked up car and trailer.

During the outward journey the blue tarp was ripped to shreds. Hence a fresh tarp.

On our way back we dined at a restaurant. And made plans for the electronics of the CBX to undergo a complete update. More on that later!