#CMC used motorbikes

[tonyb-blog]

It’s not so often that you get a new motorcycle dealership that opens fairly near to where you live (in my case probably only around five or so miles away), but that is exactly what has just happened.

The actual location is down near the J&S Accessories (Manchester branch) in Openshaw – which is about two and half miles outside the city centre, 10 or 11 miles from Glossop (at the end/start of the Snake Pass) and probably less that two miles from that modern day cathedral of football – Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

For one reason or another this store has taken an age to open – it must be at least 18 months or so since I noticed a sign that went up on the building that is now the CMC Manchester Store, to say that a new motorcycle dealership was coming soon, but in fact it was only a week or so ago that it actually opened.

CMC Manchester

CMC Manchester

CMC Manchester

Yesterday my wife and I were driving past, noticed that it was open and decided to call in for a browse. They are a Yamaha main dealer as well as selling used bikes from all the major manufacturers and I’ve got to be honest and say that first impressions of the store are pretty impressive.

The layout of the new bikes section (Yamaha) is spot on, well lit, spacious and plenty of room to look at a decent range of models – and it actually reminded me of the sort of sense of order that you get in the Williams BMW (Manchester) store. We spent some time chatting to Simon the Yamaha Brand Ambassador (I think that’s his correct title) and he came across as a decent person and one that’s probably good to deal with if you’re in the market for a new machine.

One of the bikes that struck me was a new XV 950R from the Sports Heritage range beautifully finished in gloss grey although I’m sure Yamaha have a more marketable name that simple ‘gloss grey’. My wife and I looked at one of these a couple of years ago when we were looking around for another bike and as much as I could be tempted by this one, it’s doesn’t quite strike me as ideal for riding ‘two up’. There’s some photo’s of the new bike area in the gallery below and clicking on any of the pictures should open a scrolable gallery – they give you an idea of the showroom layout.

CMC Manchester

CMC Manchester

CMC Manchester

The used bike section is decent as well and there was a good selection of machines all of which were immaculately presented. My only criticism of this section (and indeed of the store) is that none of the used bikes for sale that we looked at had the mileage on the ‘sales ticket’ – which for me isn’t really that helpful. I sort of get it if the idea is that by asking for that information it starts a potential ‘sales conversation’ but for me as punter I want that information up front, but maybe not everyone is bothered about that?

The gallery below has some snaps from the used bike area, an example of when having the mileage on the ‘sales ticket’ would have been helpful (to me) is the blue BMW R1200R – a 2015 model, very clean, very well presented but no mileage on the ticket! When I checked with one of the sales guys it was only 4,721, but he had to go and get the keys, turn the bike on etc before he could tell me (although it must have been on the documentation wallet that he had in his hand). In fairness if you are browsing on line, the mileage of the used bikes is all clearly shown.

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

Used bikes at CMC Manchester

We also had a wander round the accessories area, and in keeping with the rest of the store seemed to be well stocked, with decent choice and well presented. The pictures in the gallery below will give you an idea.

And almost finally, like any decent bike shop there should be somewhere to get a drink and there’s space set aside with tables, chairs and vending machines – we didn’t have time to check out the coffee from the machine, but I will be doing on my next visit and I’ll post update when I’ve been there again

And if you’re wondering how they get the pictures of the bikes on what looks like a decent summers day, take a look at this neat idea in the pictures below:

So all in all, it looks promising and it’s got to be good to have a new store close to home (for me) and with plenty of parking space as well. I really hope they do well, although I did wonder what the folk at the J&S store a hundred yards away think – from a buyers perspective competition has got to be good and I guess most folk will wander between the two. My own view is that CMC might have the edge in terms if first ‘port of call’ – what biker doesn’t like a brew and a browse around new and used bikes?

Other posts you may want to check out:

motorbikes blog – home click here

words and pictures from 2018 road trip – click here

words and pictures from 2017 road trip – click here

words and pictures from eastern europe trip – click here

        new motorcycle dealership in manchester… It's not so often that you get a new motorcycle dealership that opens fairly near to where you live (in my case probably only around five or so miles away), but that is exactly what has just happened.

[tonyb-blog]

It’s just a day short of seven weeks since I banged my knee and fractured it – which meant the first four weeks I did almost absolutely nothing and then the last couple of weeks doing a little bit more but  a long long way off anything like normal activity.

The bikes remain in the garage and although the engines have been turned over a few times in the last few weeks the wheels certainly haven’t and just at the moment I’m not quite so sure when I’ll be bale to get back on one of them or get behind the wheel of the car.

The knee brace that I moved to after four weeks of the straight leg brace was initially set an angle of 30 degrees, last week it went to 80 degrees and yesterday it moved up to 90 degrees, I’m looking forward to the Consultant’s views and opinions at my next hospital visit later today.

80 degrees

80 degress flex’

To keep a bit of a focus on progress, and if I’m honest to relieve some of the boredom of sitting around doing next to nothing I drew a bit of a diagram that shows the knee angles I need to get to, and if you look carefully along the bottom arc you can see some already marked off with a red tick.

We also took short a drive out to a local bike dealers – as much as for something to do as anything else really, and it was a decent enough way to pass a bit of time, wandering around the new and used bike stock at the Manchester branch of CMC Motorbikes.

We had been there on one previous occasion back in March, not so long after the store had opened  – click this link for the Blog post following that visit.

It’s a very decent store with a good range of clean, well prepared used bikes on display, the seating area is OK and although the coffee comes from a machine it’s quite acceptable and reasonably priced at £1.50.

It also provided me with the opportunity to sit on a couple of bikes for the first time in weeks – one of them that both my wife and I liked was a Triumph Bonneville T120 which looked lovely and felt pretty comfortable for both of us. There were two T120s along with the smaller displacement  T100, it was the one in the first picture below that we tried out for size (clicking on any of the pictures will open a scrollable gallery). The last picture in the group below is the Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer, and although I am a fan of the Guzzi marque I’m not wholly sold on the aesthetics of the V9 – it sort of all looks pretty nice but I’m always left a little unsure about the angles on the fuel tank, and think I would have preferred a more rounded finish on the tank at the point nearest the seat.

T120

RnineT’s

BMW R1200

Moto Guzzi V9

To be honest I’ve never really looked at Triumph machines with any great interest before but I was struck by the quality and finish of the Bonnevilles . Just in front and to our left (when we sat down for a coffee) was a very clean 2014 model of the Triumph Speedmaster and I couldn’t resist having a sit on it.

The low seat height and forward controls certainly felt easy on my knee in its current condition – what I did notice and hadn’t expected when I was getting off both the Bonneville and Speedmaster was that the simple act of putting weight onto my left leg whilst lifting my right leg over the bike wasn’t great and caused some discomfort, although I’m guessing that is just a temporary thing on the road to recovery.

Streetmaster

Streetmaster

Streetmaster

I thnk maybe the last time that I looked a Triumph was about three or so years ago when my wife and I briefly flirted with the idea of getting a Triumph America (after having seen one at the Llan Fest show in Llangollen) but when we went to look at one it didn’t quite float our boat enough to pursue an interest in buying one. On returning home from CMC I spent some time reading up on the Bonneville Speedmaster and there is no doubt that the latest incarnation of the T120 is a heck of a bike – the 2014 Speedmaster in the showroom has been completely superseded by the revised model that is built up from the superseded ultra-successful Bobber platform, and the model that provided Triumph with their fastest selling model in history when it was introduced in 2017.

Speedmaster

Speedmaster

Speedmaster

Speedmaster

Speedmaster

Speedmaster

The Speedmaster certainly looks superb and it’s possible that we could be tempted by ether the T120 or the Speedmaster. However being tempted is one thing, being able to afford it is another and that’s quite apart from just being able to get back on a bike!

With that in mind todays hospital appointment should give me a clue about whether this years planned bike trip is likely to happen, its already been pushed back a few months but the next decision point about whether to go ahead is already fast approaching.

Links to recently published posts:

Small Steps Forward

Doctors Orders

Sometimes you just want to swear

She’s a beauty

continued progress … I think It's just a day short of seven weeks since I banged my knee and fractured it…