SANTA MONICA, CA – Dates and cities for the 37th annual Progressive International Motorcycle Shows tour were announced today. The IMS visit to New York City is set for Dec. 1-3 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
The 2017-2018 tour will stop in seven cities, the same ones as in 2016-2017, although the dates have been juggled somewhat. The tour begins in Long Beach, CA from Nov. 17-19 and ends in Washington, D.C. from Feb. 23-25. That’s still four fewer stops that the IMS scheduled in 2015-2016.
The dates for the New York stop differed from those offered two weeks ago by Moto Guzzi on a website page that listed sites for motorcycle demos. Moto Guzzi projected the dates to be Dec. 8-10, but did get the Long Beach dates correct.
The IMS tour was launched in 1982. A press release announcing the dates and cities said, “IMS has a proven impact on the consumer motorcycle market and industry. Its attendees are 18 times more likely to purchase a powersport vehicle than the general motorcycling population because they’ve attended IMS. Additionally, 31 percent of the IMS 2015- 2016 Tour attendees purchased a new or used vehicle within 12 months of attending a show.*
IMS dates and locations for 2017-2018 are as follows:
Nov. 17-19 – Long Beach, CA. Long Beach Convention Center.
Dec. 1-3 – New York. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Dec. 8-10 – Minneapolis. Minneapolis Convention Center.
Jan. 26-28 – Cleveland. I-X Center.
Feb. 2-4 – Dallas. Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Feb. 9-11 – Chicago. Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
Feb. 23-25 – Washington, D.C. Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
The press release did not mention which manufacturers will be participating. Progressive Insurance has been the presenting sponsor of the IMS tour since 2004.
– By Bud Wilkinson