Chicago Motorcycle Show

The snow is falling at a rapid pace as I watch the AMA Supercross race from sunny San Diego. Motorcyclists in the Great White North have to find their two wheel fixes where they can this time of year and the supercross season coincides with the snowiest months of our year. Even better, yesterday I got an up close and personal look at former champion Eli Tomac's motorcycle.

Eli Tomac's championship winning Kawasaki

Televised racing is a nice diversion, but there is nothing like the opportunity to experience motorcycles old and new in person. That is exactly what the Progressive Insurance International Motorcycle shows provide. I attended this year's edition at the Donald A. Stephens Center in Rosemont, IL, yesterday. The show comes around at a perfect time for me and I haven't missed a show in quite a few years.

There were some beautiful custom bikes on display.

The last few years a few of the manufacturers have passed up the opportunity to participate. This year saw a drastic drop in the number of not only manufacturers, but aftermarket vendors. Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, KTM and Triumph were all no show. Some of the notable vendor absentees were Twisted Throttle, Mosko, and Cobra. There were no aftermarket lighting or exhaust system vendors in Chicago. Some of the manufacturers and possibly some of the vendors showed up in New York and Long Beach.

I got to meet AMA flat track champion Jared Mees!

The absence of vendors and bike builders left a lot of open space. The IMS filled it with open areas for kids to learn to ride bicycles and the opportunity for adults to ride electric motorcycles around the expo area. There was a large area that was formerly used for exhibits that was closed off. All of this makes me wonder about the future of the show, not to mention motorcycling itself.

The Harley Livewire is a smooth runner.

But there was still a lot to see and appreciate. Harley Davidson offered the opportunity to sit on their new Livewire and rev it up. It felt very smooth as the revs came up, but it was not easy to hold the bike at a steady speed. It produced a loud whining sound, but the technician explained that some of that was from the rollers under the back tire. Harley also had examples of the new Pan America and the Bronx. They were not available to sit on, however. These bikes face some stiff competition in the biking fields they are entering. In my view BMW, KTM, Ducati and the Japanese Big Four have a big lead in the adventure and streetfighter motorcycle styles that these bikes are modeling.

Harley Davidson Pan America

Harley Davidson Bronx

T



he vintage bike area was a little smaller, but still provided some interesting conversation pieces. There was the usual contingent of British bikes from the are, but there was also a shiny Honda CB 160. I was admiring it while being reminded of my 1966 Honda 160 Scrambler when one of the vintage guys walked up. He recently bought a 1967 160 Scrambler and we had a wonderful talk about the bike. There is a Honda 160 race series now and the bikes are harder to find and more expensive than they used to be. I have neither the garage space nor the skills necessary to make me a buyer of an old motorcycle, but it is so much fun to reminisce with someone about a favorite old motorcycle.

Honda CB 160

I checked out a few of the riding jackets and the helmets. A Shoei RF 1200 is almost certainly in my future. There are some great graphics and the helmet will be perfect for riding my Harley Lowrider S. The one I tried on felt like a perfect fit. The Klim Badlands Pro riding jacket felt great and Revzilla had a 20% discount, but I just could not spend that much. I am still thinking about it though.

At 1600 we all got back on the bus and headed back home. The motorcycle shop sponsoring the bus stopped and picked up pizza and soft drinks for the three hour ride, so it was a perfect end to a mid-winter motorcycle experience.