Has anyone been to IMS?
- Thread starter Lorien
- Start date
elizilla
Guest
The only one that's happened yet is the San Mateo one. I never see any reports from people in San Mateo. It'll be in Dallas this weekend, and surely someone will go and tell us what the highlights are. By the time it gets to NYC everyone will have heard all about it. I'll go when it gets to Detroit. Some years I go again in Chicago or Cleveland since a lot of vendors skip Detroit; the Cleveland and Chicago shows are larger, and it's not like there's anything else to do in January. 
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It has been a couple of years since I went to one. I quit going as the Southeastern show started catered to much to the sidewalk commando and Harley wannabe crowds. Great if you wanted a t-shirt, skid lid, or cheap leather gear...but not so good for the other makes. Make sure you carefully check which vendors are attending the show you are considering... Not all of the vendors, or even motorcycle manufactures, do all of the shows. Click on the Exhibitor List for your choice of the shows to see who should be there...
IMS came to Denver for three years and then dropped us from the schedule. The first two years there were lots of vendors, but when vendor participation went down the tube the 3rd year, we saw the handwriting on the wall.
I miss it.
Wow...just noticed that this is a "milestone" post.... # 4000.
I spend too much time here.
I miss it.
Wow...just noticed that this is a "milestone" post.... # 4000.
I spend too much time here.
elizilla
Guest
Discount code JM2012 gets $4 off the online ticket price.
elizilla
Guest
It's rare that anyone can ride to the show here, and even when the weather does cooperate, there are usually only a few bikes. The show venue doesn't even provide motorcycle parking. You pay as much as the cars do, and park where you can.
But the show is generally well attended. It's a motorcycling event when the local riders are starving to ride, so everyone comes out. I usually spend more time chatting with people I know there, than I do actually looking at the exhibits.
But the show is generally well attended. It's a motorcycling event when the local riders are starving to ride, so everyone comes out. I usually spend more time chatting with people I know there, than I do actually looking at the exhibits.
RapidRobert
Guest
Towjam (and anyone else),
I'm planning to attend the Dallas IMS this weekend, probably Sunday. PM me if you're going then and want to hook up. Agreed about the weather forecast, probably will take the cage instead. It's an even 100 miles for me door-to-door to the Convention Center, don't feel like getting that wet. It's gonna be cold too.
I'm going to Long Beach this weekend. Good weather is forecast and with free parking for bikes it should be a great show in the parking lot, too.
Sun night - went to the show in Long Beach on Saturday. Pretty good crowd; lots of bikes in the parking lot. I posted some photos in an album on my page. One is a photo of the floor plan, so you can see which manufacturers were there. I enjoyed the custom bike show - some different styles than what seems to dominate the bike building shows on TV. Maybe not a "must see" show overall but entertaining enough for four hours on a Saturday. My favorite memory from previous IMS's is still seeing Dennis Manning's record-breaking streamliner in '07. Nothing like that here, but the motorcycle land speed record doesn't get broken every year either.
Sun night - went to the show in Long Beach on Saturday. Pretty good crowd; lots of bikes in the parking lot. I posted some photos in an album on my page. One is a photo of the floor plan, so you can see which manufacturers were there. I enjoyed the custom bike show - some different styles than what seems to dominate the bike building shows on TV. Maybe not a "must see" show overall but entertaining enough for four hours on a Saturday. My favorite memory from previous IMS's is still seeing Dennis Manning's record-breaking streamliner in '07. Nothing like that here, but the motorcycle land speed record doesn't get broken every year either.
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elizilla
Guest
I'll go, when they come to Michigan in a couple weeks. It's not like there's anything else to do here in winter.
RapidRobert
Guest
I went to the Dallas show last weekend. Here are my impressions that I posted to the Texas MSTA group site:
I've been attending the IMS since they began back in the early to mid-90's. In fact I have never missed one, not once, even all those years I lived in Houston and I had to make the trek to Dallas for the show. I remember taking my kids when they were just little and we made it a family trip, staying over. One year I even went at night when we arrived in town, then went back the next morning for more browsing before hitting the road. Not this year; I could tell within minutes of arriving that this year would be disappointing.
So many vendors NOT present this year. Moto Liberty hasn't come in years. I can recall one show where Motoport came and brought a ton of their gear. Didn't see Aaron Zimmerman (Legal Speeding) this year (did I just miss you, Aaron?). Where was Ride Texas magazine, Miguel and Valerie? Roadgear was a no-show again this year, it used to be that Mansoor was a fixture of the show. I acutally had cash in my pocket, looking for new helmet, but didn't find squat that I was interested in buying. Oh, one vendor showed up with a bunch of Sons of Anarchy crap - t-shirts, jackets, doo rags, etc.
Bikes? Nothing new from Honda, same old same old from the other Asian OEM's. It might have been nice to see Kawi's Versys 1000 but I didn't see it. Couple of 650's were there though. Suzuki's answer to sport touring? A Bandit with Givi luggage, looking like it was stuck on as an afterthought. One FJR and one C14 to go with Honda's one ST13, and that was it for sport touring. There were a couple of Ducatis seen, but it was hardly the factory displays of years past, when Ducati was THE place to see and be seen.
Was nice to see the Triumphs, but the new sport touring Trophy was in absentia. My son (18 in a few weeks) has a serious jones for the classic-looking Triumphs, like the Bonneville and Thruxton, so he enjoyed browsing there. Where was BMW? For like the 4th or 5th year in a row, no factory display from Bavaria. I can remember when BMW always brought a truck trailer loaded with gear you could browse, try on, or purchase - boots, gloves, jackets, suits, rain gear, t-shirts ... No Moto Guzzi again this year either. Sigh...
This may have been my last show, it simply wasn't worth the two-hour drive to get there. Maybe next year someone who goes on Friday night can post up their thoughts and tell the rest of us if it's worth going on Saturday or Sunday.
I've been attending the IMS since they began back in the early to mid-90's. In fact I have never missed one, not once, even all those years I lived in Houston and I had to make the trek to Dallas for the show. I remember taking my kids when they were just little and we made it a family trip, staying over. One year I even went at night when we arrived in town, then went back the next morning for more browsing before hitting the road. Not this year; I could tell within minutes of arriving that this year would be disappointing.
So many vendors NOT present this year. Moto Liberty hasn't come in years. I can recall one show where Motoport came and brought a ton of their gear. Didn't see Aaron Zimmerman (Legal Speeding) this year (did I just miss you, Aaron?). Where was Ride Texas magazine, Miguel and Valerie? Roadgear was a no-show again this year, it used to be that Mansoor was a fixture of the show. I acutally had cash in my pocket, looking for new helmet, but didn't find squat that I was interested in buying. Oh, one vendor showed up with a bunch of Sons of Anarchy crap - t-shirts, jackets, doo rags, etc.
Bikes? Nothing new from Honda, same old same old from the other Asian OEM's. It might have been nice to see Kawi's Versys 1000 but I didn't see it. Couple of 650's were there though. Suzuki's answer to sport touring? A Bandit with Givi luggage, looking like it was stuck on as an afterthought. One FJR and one C14 to go with Honda's one ST13, and that was it for sport touring. There were a couple of Ducatis seen, but it was hardly the factory displays of years past, when Ducati was THE place to see and be seen.
Was nice to see the Triumphs, but the new sport touring Trophy was in absentia. My son (18 in a few weeks) has a serious jones for the classic-looking Triumphs, like the Bonneville and Thruxton, so he enjoyed browsing there. Where was BMW? For like the 4th or 5th year in a row, no factory display from Bavaria. I can remember when BMW always brought a truck trailer loaded with gear you could browse, try on, or purchase - boots, gloves, jackets, suits, rain gear, t-shirts ... No Moto Guzzi again this year either. Sigh...
This may have been my last show, it simply wasn't worth the two-hour drive to get there. Maybe next year someone who goes on Friday night can post up their thoughts and tell the rest of us if it's worth going on Saturday or Sunday.
Mellow
Admin
I've only been to two shows every.. 2004 and 2005 I think...
I think it's nice if you have new bike fever and want to sit on a bunch of different bikes but it's less hassle - to me anyway - to just go to dealers for that. I've never purchased anything from vendors as they were typically the cheap stuff they were unloading.
With the internet, there's not much reason to go to the show anymore.. That's just my opinion.. If I want a new bike, I'll research it and find one at a dealer I can sit on or test ride. If I want some cheap vendor deals, they're all over the place already. The economy sure doesn't help any either and until that picks up and folks have more cash to spend on luxury items, the show won't get any better.
You can't blame the vendors, why spend a few thousand getting to the show/paying for a booth/keeping the booth occupied and then selling a few hundred $$ of stuff.. just not worth it and a sound business decision to not go.
I can see the show going to maybe 3 major shows and that's it.
I think it's nice if you have new bike fever and want to sit on a bunch of different bikes but it's less hassle - to me anyway - to just go to dealers for that. I've never purchased anything from vendors as they were typically the cheap stuff they were unloading.
With the internet, there's not much reason to go to the show anymore.. That's just my opinion.. If I want a new bike, I'll research it and find one at a dealer I can sit on or test ride. If I want some cheap vendor deals, they're all over the place already. The economy sure doesn't help any either and until that picks up and folks have more cash to spend on luxury items, the show won't get any better.
You can't blame the vendors, why spend a few thousand getting to the show/paying for a booth/keeping the booth occupied and then selling a few hundred $$ of stuff.. just not worth it and a sound business decision to not go.
I can see the show going to maybe 3 major shows and that's it.
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
I have to chuckle that even at the Cleveland show, held the last week in Jan or first week in Feb, the
Harleyites are still dressed "in uniform" as if they rode. Do they own civilian clothes?
The show promoters, nationally, have raised vendor rates to make up for sagging ticket sales so that
portion of the show continues to get smaller and smaller. It means far fewer good deals on riding gear
are to be found at the shows.
Harleyites are still dressed "in uniform" as if they rode. Do they own civilian clothes?
The show promoters, nationally, have raised vendor rates to make up for sagging ticket sales so that
portion of the show continues to get smaller and smaller. It means far fewer good deals on riding gear
are to be found at the shows.
elizilla
Guest
The crazy thing is, the show here is packed. You end up waiting in line to see things. I'm not terribly upset by this, though - it means I see my local friends there. I always have a good time, but I don't always buy much.
Motopilot
Guest
I went to the Dallas show and it didn't feel anything like the same show as last year.... half the size. Hardly any gear vendors. They need to give vendor space away and charge a small percentage of sales to attract the crowds.
You can also try:
PROGMI5E for $10 tickets (maybe MI only, from an email they sent me)
IMSPCC (from a postcard they sent, looks to be less discount)
Don