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Toronto Motorcycle and Powersport Show

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Mango Rider said:
great shot of the CB1000R!!

I had a fun time walking around the show, seeing multiple Brutale RRs, meeting cutekill was neat, sitting on a bunch of nice Aprilia', spun a wheel and didn't pay for a lot of unneccesary things! also free parking and paying 2for1 was dope. Ended off at Apache - it was a good night.
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Apache.....noooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 
Who wasn't there - Kawasaki, BMW, Ducati (as have been mentioned), CFMoto - who have I forgotten ?
Kove was there, but only showing their ADV bikes.
But I coulda got a tattoo...?
 
Great show even with BMW, Ducati and Kawasaki Manufacturers missing.

However, GP did great job representing BMW and Ducati as they brought several of their recently introduced models.

Honda, Triumph, Yamaha, KTM , HD and Suzuki had full displays as did the the Aprillia group.

Highlights for me:
Moto Guzzi Stelvio
Triumph 400 line
BMW R1300 GS and F900GS
Honda NX 500
Suzuki 800 GXS 8R
Ducati Hyper 698

Great afternoon and bumped into a few motorcycle friends and nice dinner after.

Excellent location
 
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The show was fine. I don't regret spending money and time to go, but at the same time it was kind of "meh". The missing manufacturers are major players in the market and have significant dealer networks. They're letting down their dealers by not promoting their products and brands in my opinion.

And there was a cured meat booth, several insurance companies, a couple "Hey man, free boot cleaning?", cheap gear sellers and assorted other stuff. It's not just the airport show anymore.

TK is right, it's long past time for the 2 shows to merge into 1. Never happen, but should.
 
xrljoel said:
TK is right, it's long past time for the 2 shows to merge into 1. Never happen, but should.
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Man, don't do that to me. I hate walking. You guys wanna give me more cheaply made jackets and helmets stands to blow past? More insurance stands that can't match my rates? More people selling tacky t-shirts and 'biker' jewelry? More goldwing clubs I'm not retired enough to join?

Why do you wanna put me through that?? Bunch of sadistic ****! :LOL:
 
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adri said:
Man, don't do that to me. I hate walking. You guys wanna give me more cheaply made jackets and helmets stands to blow past? More insurance stands that can't match my rates? More people selling tacky t-shirts and 'biker' jewelry? More goldwing clubs I'm not retired enough to join?

Why do you wanna put me through that?? Bunch of sadistic ****! :LOL:
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Suck it up Princess....
 
AFJ said:
If I recall correctly - probably because it must be well over 40 years ago - the idea of annual motorcycle trade and public shows (in Toronto and Montreal at first) was started by "Cycle Canada" magazine. In Toronto they were held in the old Automobile Building. Lots of room and CC encouraged the Vintage and Custom displays with a bit of "tow money".
But after some years the MMIC (Motorcycle and Moped Industry of Canada) told Cycle Canada that the MMIC wanted to own the annual show circuit and would not participate in the Annual shows unless the MMIC were the show owners. Cycle Canada had to agree.
Bar Hodgson had held other custom bike shows and then developed his annual "New Year's" show at the International Centre near the Airport. And -if I recall correctly - for a few years - the MMIC and Bar put on a combined "Motorcycle Show".
Then the MMIC went with a "National" show circuit across the country and had their own "Toronto show" downtown and latterly at the Exhibition in a hall in the new Enercare Centre.
Bar's shows just after New Year's and in "Spring" up near the Airport survived quite well for many years, but I think they have passed to other owners.

Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic did not help the fortunes of motorcycle shows in general for a couple of years. And the retirement of the long-time Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council (MMIC) with an organization under the name of the MCC (Moto Canada and/or sometimes called the Motorcyclist's Confederation of Canada) makes one wonder if there is some uncertainty in this country's motorcycle industry. Particularly in view of the long-term (or short term) uncertainty of the future of gasoline-powered vehicles - including motorcycles.

AFJ
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Toronto is over 'consumer showed' to a ridiculous degree. The Boat Show, the Auto Show, the Motorcycle Show(s), the Outdoor Adventure Show - on and on, ad infinitum and ad nauseum. I realize they cater to different tastes, but there is a hideous amount of overlap.
I can see where manufacturers and distributors might seek out other ways to spend their marketing budgets and get a bigger bang.
 
bigpoppa said:
The show was cool, apparently free parking after 5
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They really need to do a better job on advertising this. I couldn't make it because of family emergency, but free parking would have made a big difference if I were on the fence.
 
Relax said:
They really need to do a better job on advertising this. I couldn't make it because of family emergency, but free parking would have made a big difference if I were on the fence.
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Just went back to see if I missed it, but nope, not a word on their web site. "Parking" and "Venue" links take you to the Enercare Center web site which is just as useless.
 
TK4 said:
Toronto is over 'consumer showed' to a ridiculous degree. The Boat Show, the Auto Show, the Motorcycle Show(s), the Outdoor Adventure Show - on and on, ad infinitum and ad nauseum. I realize they cater to different tastes, but there is a hideous amount of overlap.
I can see where manufacturers and distributors might seek out other ways to spend their marketing budgets and get a bigger bang.
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Do they have a marketing budget and are they spending it? There's no national advertising to speak of from any of the manufacturers. The websites are international in origin, and some of them aren't much good though most function pretty well. Some manufacturers truck around a bunch of bikes for test rides.

Al mentioned the Cycle Canada shows and the Bar Hodgson/MMIC (or whatever they call themselves now) split. Back in those days the shows were packed with bikes and people and there was a level of excitement. Even in the bad days of high interest rates.

I think the manufacturers and MMIC/manufacturers are doing a disservice to their dealers by not putting effort into having a proper "celebration of motorcycling" show, and I don't mean focusing on cheesy stunt shows, little kids on Stacys etc., I mean putting a little effort into it. Walking around I noticed a stage with 2 guys talking on microphones to each other. I have no idea who it was or why they were there and there was NOTHING around to tell me. There also was nobody watching. I remember one of Bar's shows had Eddie Lawson being interview to a sizable crowd and signing autographs, including a gas tank for one really excited fellow.

As TK4 noted there was no presence of CFMOTO or Kawasaki, with BMW and Indian/Polaris VERY minimally represented by GP to the point of irrelevance. If I was looking for a new bike (which I am, sort of) would I bother looking at the 3 Indians plunked at the back of GP's booth? Could I have found them?

Why does HD put such an expensive and expansive effort into the show? There's no arguing that the company beats everybody in terms of brand recognition and brand loyalty and in spite recent news is still selling a lot of bikes. In spite of all their cringe inducing video marketing they seem to realize that motorcycles are essentially an analog device; you need to touch it to connect with it and to break open your crusty wallet. The other manufacturers are just half-assin' it with their efforts at this show. It had a little "sparkle" to it in early iterations but the ones pre and post covid have been bland and blah with a capital MEH.

Having the show downtown may work for Adri, but I think it precludes a HUGE portion and majority of the riding public in southern Ontario. Many people outside of metro Toronto recoil at the idea of driving down to the show and view taking transit as an expensive hassle (wrongly in my experience), but are willing to drive to the airport.

Whoever is in charge of this show and it's presentation should look for another line of work, because while it may be orderly in it's layout and perhaps its execution it lacks ANY vestige of excitement, panache, joi-de-vivre or anything else you could associate with motorsports. For instance, Honda had a Dakar bike (winner?) displayed in it's booth. Unless you looked really closely or stumbled on it you wouldn't have noticed. Was there ANYTHING else of note displayed at the show?

I realize it's hard to get club/volunteer organization to participate and fill space but they're an important part of the scene as they put on the events, races etc. I recall at Bar's show he gave clubs free entry for "workers" and free booth space and a couple chairs, with the only prerequisite that you displayed a bike or 2.

They should publish a motto for this show - "We DARE you to give a sh*t about motorcycles based on our presentation. Please leave us alone. Signed MMIC (or whatever we're calling ourselves now.)"
 
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