RIDE-CT.com On The Scene At The IMS

IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW YORK SHOW 

NEW YORK – With the three-day Progressive International Motorcycle Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York this weekend, RIDE-CT.com’s staff went into the city to check it out.

Bob Rosen, Steve Smith and Bud Wilkinson attended the press preview on Friday morning and then stuck around after the show opened, while Tim Aloisio went down today. Here are their impressions of the show as well as an added contribution from friend Neil Tolhurst, who also attended Friday:

Tim Aloisio:

Just being back in the Big Apple after two years was cool in itself. The thing that stood out to me was the quality of the bikes by private owners and small  shops for judging. The new bikes were all fine but expected.

The other cool thing was talking to the celebrities, especially (the guys from the TV show) “We’re the Fugawis”- very funny and down to earth. R. Lee Ermey from “Full Metal Jacket” was cool at the Victory booth.

I thought that Progressive’s use of their stage for the various interviews of everyone from some famous racers to celebrities worked quite well and was very informative, too.

Bob Rosen:

After attending more IMS bike extravaganzas than I care to remember, I still look forward to the fresh dose of excitement and the lust-worthy shiny stuff that is always present. This year’s show featured over 200 exhibitors, including 14 major motorcycle manufacturers. Show management says that the average visitor spends about 4 hours checking out everything from helmets to nearly the full range of bikes sold in the U.S.

I couldn’t tell whether this years’ show was any busier than previous editions – the last show in January of this year drew 73,000 visitors over three days – but the floor was full of enthusiastic riders and wannabees looking at all manner of cool gear and bikes.  I suspect the timing of this show during the busy pre-Christmas season might have some effect on the total attendance.

Every year I hear visitor complaints like “There are fewer vendors than last year,” “Brand X is not here,” “The food’s too expensive,” “$18 to get in, really?” and so on.  Well, you can’t please everyone. And, for sure, the show’s not perfect. However, I, for one, have not lost that “Kid in a candy store” feeling when I wander the aisles. Where else can you see vendors with a diversity that ranges from American Honda Motor Co. to One Sexy Bikerchick? There are a few booths that won’t get much more than a glance from me. And there are those who will get more than their fair share of attention.

My few disappointments center on what was not at the show. I was hoping to get a close look at the new Royal Enfield Continental GT café racer, BMW’s R1000R naked bike, Erik Buell’s new 1190RX sport bike, and even Ural’s substantially improved line of sidecar rigs. I’m not sure if the half dozen MV Agusta’s were even part of an official display as they were casually herded in a group without any signage or handlers in attendance.

Peripheral issues aside (like cost, logistics of attending, etc.), I thoroughly enjoyed the show and look forward to the next edition.

Steve Smith:

This year the show occupied the upper level on of the Javits Center. The show floor layout seemed better than past years. Aisles were noticeably wider and vendor booth groups were placed in four areas around the show floor, apparently in an attempt to reduce crowding.

The big players in the market all had a presence. Kawasaki had the largest display by square footage of all manufacturer displays. Yamaha/Star, Suzuki, and Honda were also there in my perceived size order of show space.

Polaris is coming on strong with Victory and Indian in side by side areas that in total was larger than the Harley-Davidson presence. The new Indian Chief looks like a sweet ride. As Tim said in one of his previous articles, H-D should be afraid.

The only new Harley Davidson that I was interested in seeing was the new Street models, and I did not see them anywhere on the display.

I really liked the all-new Kawasaki Z1000 (pictured above), freshly redesigned with a very cool street fighter look. It also includes more modern tech like inverted forks and ABS radial mounted brake calipers. The KLR 650 received significant and needed suspension upgrades. Many owners previously had to go to aftermarket to beef up the under-performing suspension. With the new setup front and rear springs are 40 percent and 60 percent stiffer respectively. This is the bike I would love to add to my garage to complement my sport-touring bike.

For those interested in track racing, Penquin Racing was at the show promoting their program, which they run at different track facilities around the Northeast. New York Safety Track recently opened near Oneonta, NY and offers track school on their 2.1 mile course.

The New York State Motorcycle Safety Program was present as well as several several booths from a few of the many private rider education schools offering beginner rider education in New York and New Jersey.

Neil Tolhurst:

As Steve noted, it was disappointing that Harley-Davidson didn’t have their new 500 or 750 Street models at such a major show. It was interesting seeing the variety of Zero’s electric bike models and their progress in increasing maximum riding range to approx 170 miles in city use.

What was lacking were any new general-purpose or sport-touring machines in the 400cc  to 650cc range. Honda reps said their three new 500s did well this year, their initial sales year, and the general purpose CB500F surprised them in being the best seller of the three. They expected that to be the more sporting CBR500R.

The Yamaha TZ 750 in the Vintage Japanese Club’s booth was great to see and is a historically significant motorcycle.

Never saw this before: The stunt riders were doing turns while balanced on their front wheels only!

Bud Wilkinson:

Because the other guys covered pretty much everything, my two cents will be somewhat limited. I, too, would have liked to see Royal Enfield’s cafe model, Ural’s new sidecar rigs, Harley’s Street models and Erik Buell’s new sport bike. That’s a very minor beef, though.

It was nice to get to see and sit on BMW’s new R NineT roadster (pictured below). Size-wise and balance-wise, it felt a lot like my old R65. It would need risers if it were ever to go in my garage. A truly stunning bike.

On the downside, there was one creepy part to the press preview that took place between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, before the doors opened to the public. During that time, each manufacturer got about 15 minutes to show off new models and talk up their products. Reporters and photographers gathered close to take notes and pictures. This time there were some rude if silent shadows.

Intruding was a “crew” from Honda, more than a half-dozen sullen guys in black shirts who hogged space, eavesdropped and seemed to menace the proceedings. Why were they there? To cull ideas or steal secrets from competitors? To intimidate the other manufacturers or the media? Their mere presence was boorish and disconcerting. When Honda finally made its presentation (pictured above), these sour-pussed guys stood in the background like Mafia soldiers or nightclub bouncers about to attack. It was downright spooky to the point of almost being alarming.