As the mainstream ("metric") vendor community gears up for the second annual American International Motorcycle Expo at Orlando, Florida this week (AIMExpo), news has emerged that the show is now to set its sights on the v-twin sector.
Marketplace Events have announced that they have hired v-twin industry legend and leading show custom show organizer Bob Kay as the v-twin director for AIMExpo with immediate effect.
The company states that "Bob’s role will be to work closely with the v-twin industry to develop AIMExpo’s offering for this important market segment beginning with their 2015 event."
Bob is a well-known and highly respected member of the v-twin community. Following formative time spent working in motorcycle dealerships he went on to play key roles in notable companies in the v-twin segment including NEMPCO, Tucker-Rocky/Biker’s Choice, and American Iron Horse. In 2005 he launched Biker Pros to provide specialized business services to the v-twin market. In recent years Bob has been the face of the AMD World Championship program in the United States and heads to Orlando after spending a week at the INTERMOT expo in Germany, where he was part of the team that presented the 11th annual World Championship of Custom Bike Building.
“As I became more aware of the vision for AIMExpo, I realized we shared a common direction for the prosperous future of our industry – one that brought everyone together. While the American v-twin community stands out as a strong segment on its own, joining together as a unified force with AIMExpo’s forward-thinking platform will lead to positive gains for all.
"I am very excited to join the responsive leadership on the Motorcycle Group team and take the point on their efforts to create a genuine and viable offering for the v-twin market, and leveraging the strengths of AIMExpo to help grow the v-twin industry."
“The stated vision of AIMExpo from the beginning was to be an all-inclusive, market-wide platform for the motorcycle and greater powersports industry,” remarked Larry Little, Vice President and General Manager, Marketplace Events Motorcycle Group.
“That said, we knew our core team’s strengths did not include the depth required to develop a meaningful v-twin offering that would complement the growing AIMExpo platform. Bob’s extensive background, his standing as a pillar of the community, and more importantly his vision for showcasing the v-twin market at AIMExpo made him the clear and obvious choice to join our team.”