Techno Classica Essen March 26 - 30 2008.

VIP, Preview day March 26.

20th TECHNO-CLASSICA ESSEN from 26 to 30 March 2008:
The Classic Fair of the Superlatives

Paradise for Classics on Two Wheels

Classic vehicles do not necessarily have four wheels in order to be treasured - the visitors of the TECHNO-CLASSICA can verify this by themselves in the 20 exhibition halls. The whole spectrum of motorbike fascination can be
experienced by a multitude of interesting motorcycle classics .
Ducati again presents its highlights at the classic world fair.
There is a lot to discover for two-wheeler enthusiasts
also at the dealers and clubs.

Whether small motor scooters or powerful racing engines - particularly the motorcy-cles with their visible engines and freely accessible engineering, are demonstrating the development of means of travel, both by contemporary history and technology. Technology can be experienced. Still in the nineteen-fifties, the motorcycle as pure means of transportation was a means to an end - to come from A to B in a cost-efficient way. Today as a second or third vehicle, it usually is an object of desire, mainly serving for the fun of driving. This can be perceptibly experienced by direct contact between man and machine in the truest sense of the word.

Ducati belongs to the motorcycle manufacturers having both desire and sportsman-ship in their genetic make-up. Right on time at the beginning of the motorbike sea-son, Dukati Deutschland presents in exhibition hall 3 among the current model range the new Ducati 1098 R, the most powerful series-produced two-cylinder motorcycle in the world. The L-Twin Testastretta Evoluzione engine has a performance of incredi-ble 180 HP and is installed to the classic Ducati lattice pipe frame. The bike has a weight of only 165 kg. The R-type is a racing motorbike without compromises - thus emphasising the sports tradition of the Italian motorcycle manufacturer.

Ducati is celebrating two motor sports anniversaries: 60 years ago in the year 1948, the company from Bologna registered their first racing success, when Amilcare Bon-fanti was able to win five circuit races with a Cucciolo. Ten years later, fifty years ago, Ducati could celebrate the first Grand Prix success and the vize championship at the end of the season. 2007 Ducati was world champion - possibly the engine of last year's world championship can be seen at the exhibition stand. However, this will be decided only shortly prior to the start of the TECHNO-CLASSICA.

Two historic motorcycles are exhibited by BMW at its company exhibition stand in hall 12. Both machines were provided by club members and come from the nineteen-twenties and nineteen-thirties respectively. The issue of motorcycles plays an impor-tant part also for Audi - after all, with DKW and Wanderer, two of the four rings have an impressive motorbike tradition. In addition, the DKW motorcycle club is repre-sented at the Audi exhibition stand, since 1989 dealing with the motorcycle range of the DKW factory built until 1958.

From Ardie to BMW and Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Indian and Moto Guzzi to Wan-derer and Zündapp - it is an impressive variety of the vintage motorcycle market. Eventually, there were more than 600 motorcycle brands only in Germany; several thousand manufacturers have globally produced smaller or larger numbers of motor-cycles. Some vendors are represented at the TECHNO-CLASSICA with interesting offers from this wide range. Among spare parts, of course the appropriate accesso-ries of motorbike clothing and helmets are available - so that the motorcycle season on the historic two-wheeler can start in proper style.