2013 Motorcycle Show Your Thoughts

tomcycle

tomcycle

Past President DSBC 2004 -2018
Staff member
The Motorcycle show is on January 17 18 19 and 20th 2013

Somewhat new format with an ailing motorcycle market. What do you think

manufacture displays are smaller

Less clubs

Less dealer space

Less vendors


So what do you think? Some of the mmic reps and people that are in contact with the show promoters check this site, so if you have something that could be considered constructive it will probably make it to the right ears.

Dont bother bitching about the price of parking, that is something that is out of the shows control and land is expensive, at least they are providing a shuttle service for those who cant make the trek from their car to the entrance.

did you see anything interesting?

Personalty I like the slightly smaller venue, make the show a little more focused on motorcycles. As a vendor I dont like the 4 day long show. I like the new Husky 650 (but you knew that already) and at 7990 it going to give the KLR and DR buyers something to think about. I still have not had time to finish my round at the show so I might have something more to add

Tom
 
clarge

clarge

New member
Less of everything is sort of 1 reason not to go this year and the other reason showed up in the dealers on Friday. Just to costly to come from the Island for something smaller.
 
xr8d

xr8d

New member
I don't know if it was because attendance is down (lots of parked cars though), or because it's spread over 4 days, but I really liked being able to walk around without being in a huge shoulder to shoulder crowd. I could see what I wanted to see and go at my own pace. Previous years were too crowded to be able to do that. With the amount of time I spend in downtown Vancouver, $6.00 for parking is really not that bad. With the lower crowd, I found that more people were stopping at our booth to chat (boy those tires were great at getting peoples attention!).
 
SouthPoint

SouthPoint

Member
xr8d said:
I don't know if it was because attendance is down (lots of parked cars though), or because it's spread over 4 days, but I really liked being able to walk around without being in a huge shoulder to shoulder crowd. I could see what I wanted to see and go at my own pace. Previous years were too crowded to be able to do that.
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I agree. It was nice to be able to talk to the vendors without having to line up or feel like you were holding up others. I was there Thursday night, so I'm not sure if that was due to lower attendance or the day/time.

With the online resources available these days, I think there is less reason to go to shows for fact finding. I think this is especially true if, like clarge said, you have to spend a lot of time and money travelling. This may be one reason for lower attendance.

I think the shows are great if you are close to making a purchasing decision and want to meet the vendors. Also, in this online world, it's nice to get out and actually talk to people. I hope that the shows continue, even if they are in a smaller format.
 
tomcycle

tomcycle

Past President DSBC 2004 -2018
Staff member
I'm not sure how much smaller the show really is with the manufacturers taking up less space. It has been noted that there are a lot less leather and tshirt vendors. Which is ok by me. Also less unrelated to motorcycles vendors ie quad or candy.
 
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caribooster

Member
I loved the show, it is always great to get and see everything under one roof. Parking prices, well it was reasonable and you can come and go in one day if you get a receipt. Hell you have to pay to park at the hospital these days... I always find lots to look at although I did not spend too much time looking at the new Harleys.
 
M

mike_123

Member
loved it
as someone else mentioned being able to walk freely through the isles and being able to get close to the vendors tables was great
being able to sit on the bikes without the hoards of peopel was great aswell
 
r1200gsa

r1200gsa

New member
I thought this year's show was actually better than previous years'. It felt like there was a bit more focus on Adventure Touring and Dual Sporting, and less focus on showing customized cruisers (which I don't actually have an issue with, just not my style). It was definitely less crowded on Sunday than previous years, but crowded enough that someone would sit on whatever bike you might be taking a picture of at the time. The DSBC cards with a few events listed on them was a great idea!
 
JavaJude

JavaJude

Super Moderator
I enjoyed the Show this weekend. I agree with Tom, it was nice not to have so many non-motorcycle related vendors. It was also nice to be able to walk around and not get jostled by crushing crowds.

The busiest place at the Show was the DSBC booth!!! The tire display was a huge hit (thank you Colin at MX1 for lending them to us) and the huge photo display drew people in as well (Thank you Doug at Minuteman Press for printing them for us).

Thank you to all the fantastic people who volunteered at the booth: John (farp), Ted (southpoint), Guy (DRuZer), Rick (North), Chris (Chwk Chris), Bill (wjm), Jon (xr8d), Gordon (blocker), Leedam (bikefx), Ian (IanB), Ken (unsightedlight), Peter (Fbomb), Mike (MikeO), Scott (tiwelder), Sharon (rambo). And a huge THANK YOU to Tom (tomcycle) and Scott (Scott604) for working on the booth and being there with me all weekend. We kept it simple and it worked great. We had 500 card calendars printed and we handed out almost every single one of them. We also sold quite a number of Trail Passes.

I chatted with people while I was at the booth almost non-stop. It was great to see old friends and to encourage new faces to sign up to DSBC. I've already notices a few members on the forum.

Next scheduled event is the Flat Tire Social on March 3. Watch the forum for further info. If any new members have any questions feel free to PM me or any of the other Administrators.

Judy
 
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unsightedlight

Member
Had a great time at the show this year. Here are a few photos a got of the DSBC booth

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L

leppardb

New member
One of my pet peaves with these shows is the Wholesale/Distributer displays. When I see something I want, I want to buy it (with show discount, if possible). The "For Display Only, Go see your local dealer" answer is lame when I want instant gratification. Usually by the time I get home I don't bother pursuing it or I check out how to get it online, bypassing the local shop. You distributers should figure out some arrangement with your dealers where people can actually buy the cool stuff you bring to the show, on the spot.
 
kaos

kaos

New member
leppardb said:
One of my pet peaves with these shows is the Wholesale/Distributer displays. When I see something I want, I want to buy it (with show discount, if possible). The "For Display Only, Go see your local dealer" answer is lame when I want instant gratification. Usually by the time I get home I don't bother pursuing it or I check out how to get it online, bypassing the local shop. You distributers should figure out some arrangement with your dealers where people can actually buy the cool stuff you bring to the show, on the spot.
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I was helping out one of the distributors displays this year and asked the owner why they only displayed after people asked about purchasing items ,he mentioned that would near double the already huge fees it was costing to be an exhibitor there
 
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