Kawasaki breaking ranks?

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I have been going to both shows for the past 3 years even though i just started riding this summer. I prefer the January show more, the flea market feel and toothless riff raff, biker mamas, badly tatoo'd people etc. are more what motorcycle culture has always been about historically. And i like seeing all the customs and used bikes. The only real reason to go to the December show is if you are planning on buying a brand new bike, which i wont be for a long long time. I mean sure it's fun to look at them, but i like older bikes and customs, so for people like me Jan is definitely better.
 
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the january show doesnt have all the deals it used. the savings barely cover the admission price, and there are little manufacturers to look at. if i go to a bike show i want bikes... not bumper stickers, RV's, belts, movies, and sausages.
the december show had all the manufacturers, and it had gear. now it still has all that, but no kawi... oh well. they werent pulling anything new out this year that i'd be interested in anyways.
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The problem is that the manufacturers didn't have enough to fill an entire show. They said that they wouldn't be selling stuff at their show, which left a big hole. That claim didn't really survive the first show. They even brought in the knife guys and ostrich meat dealers, that they had cited as a reason for the split. With the manufacturers gone Bar had to fill the show with something, so there were more knives, ostrich meat, and he managed to bring in a few dealers to fill the new bike void. The accessory guys and distributors ended up with two shows, they could attend, at a significant cost for each. Some tried going to both, for a while, then most gave up and chose a side.

In short, they split the kids in the divorce. Neither show is complete.
 
This all reminds me of when CART racing split up and turned into Champ car Racing and it's wattered down, crappier IRL little brother.. :(
 
If it was a vote, I'd vote to bring back ONE show..at the Intl Centre which is where it was for years and still should be. SKIIIIIIIIIRRUUUUEEEEW downtown TO.

Plus, if manufacturers would band together (or do it individually) to offer up affordable insurance for the bikes they sell, we would see a resurgence in bike interest/sales.

And while I'm doing a mini-vent/rant, it pisses me off when perfectly good fasteners (think brake caliper bolt heads, as a single example) are replaced with (not lighter, like a consumer might expect in the unsprung weight race) different heads, just as a blatant ploy to either have the purchaser have to constantly invest in new tools...OR, take it to the dealer for it to be hurriedly gone over...only to find that when the unsuspecting investor gets home, that that special new headed bolt wasn't even torqued in right and if you didn't go over their speedy work, you'd have not caught it till it was ****ing missing.
My point?? Who the HELL cares about the next newest and greatest litre bike for street use, when we have militia-type laws that are always just looking for an excuse to turn your life upside down. pffffttttt
 
nesobriquet said:
If it was a vote, I'd vote to bring back ONE show..at the Intl Centre which is where it was for years and still should be. SKIIIIIIIIIRRUUUUEEEEW downtown TO.

Plus, if manufacturers would band together (or do it individually) to offer up affordable insurance for the bikes they sell, we would see a resurgence in bike interest/sales.
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Not their fault. Blame the polticians and the civil servants.
 
Last year they were at the show...also SBK champs...then all this year I saw only 2 RSV4s on the road! Maybe they figured it wasn't worth showing up this year. Not to mention Envy must have delt them a fair blow this past March!
 
I've been going to the shows the past 3 years, and every year the december show is noticeably smaller. And while i like looking at the bikes unless i get a windfall I'm not getting anything new anytime soon.

the toronto shows aren't just drawing from the GTA, I know people driving all the way from windsor through to ottawa to go to the January show.

Sadly the "deals" aren't what they were at the shows, I've seen gear going for more than MSRP and for more than the regular price in the store.

The january show can put all the manufactures into one or two large halls and keep the meat vendors to the other halls, keep the clean bright look...
 
I go to both and always come away wishing i had taken a closer look at the bikes.It's the people that are the draw for me.I spent a bunch of time at the MTCC show yakking with Jordan,Amy and Steven last year,then went off to hang with Paul for a while.A bunch of time with the Soar folks and trying to get all the sigs on my girly calander.
At the Jan show i put in time at the DOCC booth were i always bring a bike to show.The vintage display has gotten better with every year.And the various racing and dirt clubs have been getting more floor space every year.With the Ducati booth always beside the beer/pizza tent,it's a great way to hookup with old and new friends.My goal every year is to say hi to my old friend Helmut Classen and crush his hand.Maybe this year!?
This year i'm gonna try and spend some time checking out bikes.Lol.
 
I've been going to the show the past 30 years (the big January show) usually working at Yamaha, some Kawi too.
The December show sucks. It's too early anyway (not even 2012 yet) and some people are still riding...
Though I was riding in the '70s I didn't start in the business until the '80s, and back in the day big TV stars used to attend the January show.
Famous babes actually, heheh...
(I still have Audrey Landers autograph here somewhere, on the back of my Cycle World card! And she was definitely fine.)
Point is, the January show is the real deal - it's the show.
The December show is a Manufacturer Showcase and bikes are not sold, no used models, no accessories/gear. Nuthin'.
Dealers that participate have only to send staff, to help man the corporate booths and speak with the public.
I'm usually there too, distributing brochures and little giveaway trinkets...
But you can't have a car-show-style manufacturer's display in the bike business, not here in Canada anyway; it just couldn't fly.
All the manufacturers realize - but Kawi Canada it seems is the first to admit it!
We need the people at shows. All the people - all the 'colour', the riff-raff, the leather, the cruiser pilots with beer guts and a bit of snow on the roof...
THAT'S the only kind of bike show that will ever work, here in Canada at least.
It's who we are...
 
I hope this results in one single big show at the International Centre, next year ... just like it was years ago. One big show with everything should be better than two half-arse shows.
 
There is an International Center style bike show every Friday the 13th in Port Dover and the admission is free. Thousands of wannabe 1% smelly, fat, hairy, dudes (the biker woman are included in that statement) all wearing their same biker uniform to show that store bought rebel image for everyone to stare at. What is everybody complaining about?

:cool:
 
I grew up going to the January Bike show and then the Boat Show. As kids, we used to get monster amounts of stickers each year to wall paper our rooms with. You could see all the new bikes in Hall 3 where there was nice plush carpeting. You could sit on the new bikes. They had vendors in Hall 1 and 2, but all the manufacturers were in Hall 3 and it was awesome. I'd love to see this come back. It would make the January show everything it was again.
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