As a follow up to the December publication of our unique events listing Year Planner for 2018, here is a quick guide to selected highlights from the motorcycle industry shows, events and expo year ahead. The focus in primarily on the first six months of 2018, but the major events from the second half of the year are also highlighted, with notable ‘mainstream’ as well as V-twin specific events selected.
January: International
The new year kicks off with the popular UK Dealer Expo opening its doors for the 23rd time for three days from 14-16 January – a mostly ‘mainstream’ expo it is by far Europe’s largest, longest lived and most successful dealer show; www.motorcycle-expo.com
A week later Motor Bike Expo (MBE) will fill four halls at the Verona Expo Centre in north eastern Italy from Friday January 18 to Sunday 21. A combined custom and ‘mainstream’ consumer expo, “Verona” has seen attendance grow ever since its move from Padua in 2009; www.motorbikeexpo.it
At the end of January, Sweden’s annual show, MC-Massan, returns to Gothenburg in the south west of Sweden (25-28 January 2017) in its biennial rotation with Stockholm, the Swedish capital; www.mcmassan.se.
January: USA
The month sees the first of the Easyriders Bike Shows at Sacramento, California (www.easyridersevents.com), but the big news for the first part of the year concerns the absence of the V-Twin Expo at Cincinnati after 18 years.
As reported in this month’s cover story, its demise, along with the rise of the Dealer Events that the market’s two primary distributors host in February, has massively changed the center of gravity of the spring selling season in Dealer Show terms – both the ‘major’ spring Dealer Shows have now folded, in the space of less than five years.
Other January highlights include the second Easyriders Bike Show of the year at Charlotte, North Carolina (January 20) followed by Nashville, TN., a week later (January 27).
The same day sees the first of the season’s “New Generation” of custom events, Garage Brewed, being staged at the Rhinegeist Brewery, Cincinnati on January 27 (www.garagebrewed.com); the same weekend one of the market’s oldest and at one stage most influential shows takes place in California, the Grand National Roadster Show, once of Oakland fame, at Pomona, January 26-28.
The Progressive IMS tour, with its J&P Ultimate Builder competitions, resumes after the winter break, arriving at Cleveland, Ohio, January 26-28 (www.motorcycleshows.com); the 40th annual Colorado Motorcycle Expo is at Denver, 27-28 (www.coloradomotorcycleexpo.com).
February: Europe
February sees two largely mainstream shows with the MCN London Motorcycle Show being staged at East London’s Excel Center (16-18; www.mcnmotorcycleshow.com) followed by Swiss Moto at Zurich (22-25; www.swiss-moto.ch); the popular and still growing Motorbeurs at Utrecht in the Netherlands (22-25) is a mainstream event with significant custom and V-twin market action (www.motorbeursutrecht.nl).
February: USA
The Easyriders Bike Show tour lands at Atlantic City, NJ, on February 3 before reaching a crescendo at Columbus, Ohio on February 10-11.
Highlights at The One Moto Show at Portland, Oregon (www.the1moto.com) include indoor Enduro (Friday) and Flat Track racing (Saturday) from February 9-11; racing is also slated to feature heavily at Mama Tried, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 23-25 (www.mamatriedshow.com).
The Progressive IMS tour and J&P Ultimate Builder series visits Dallas, TX, February 2-4; Chicago, IL., for the J&P Ultimate Builder finals on 9-11; before wrapping up for the season at Washington D.C., February 23-25.
The market’s two major parts and accessory distributors are holding their own dealer shows in February: Tucker Rocky/Bikers Choice are playing host to their dealers in Texas on Thursday 8 and Friday 9, with Parts Unlimited/Drag Specialties setting up shop at the downtown Indianapolis Convention Center on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11.
March: International
March opens with Motocykl, featuring the Bohemian Custom Bike Show, at Prague March 1-4, the first of two shows in the Czech Republic in March (www.motocykl-praha.cz); followed by one of Europe’s most prestigious custom bike shows – the Radical Custombike Show organized by MC Pecquencourt at the Salon de la Moto Pecquencourt in north western France, on 10-11 (www.mc-pecquencourt.com).
At the same time three mainstream shows are being staged in three different countries in Europe - Moto Madrid (9-11, www.salonmotomadrid.com); Motosalon, Brno, Czech Republic (8-11, www.bvv.cz); and Moto Days, Rome, Italy (8-11, www.motodays.it).
Later in March the focus shifts to Asia with InaBike at Jakarta, Indonesia (22-24, www.inabike.net) and the Tokyo Motor Show (23-25, www.motorcycleshow.org)
March: USA
The biggie in March, and one of the major events of the year, is of course Daytona Bike Week, Florida, USA, March 12-21 (www.officialbikeweek.com), which includes the Daytona TT - the opening round of the 2018 American Flat Track presented by Vance & Hines race series.
Racing features the evening before the 31st annual Donnie Smith Bike & Car Show at St Paul, MN, on March 24-26 (www.donniesmithbikeshow.com), with ‘War of the Twins’ Indoor Flat Track Racing at the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum at the St Paul Fair Grounds on Friday 23.
April: International
Custom Show Emirates is at Abu Dhabi’s National Exhibition Center, UAE on April 5-7 (www.customshowemirates.com), and this year sees a change of venue for Motospring and the 12th Moscow Tuning Show (16-18) to the Moscow Olympic Stadium!
Africa’s principal motorcycle event is Africa Bike Week, staged at East London, south of Durban, on the coast of South Africa.
There is a second mainstream event in Spain for 2018, Vive La Moto, also at Madrid (www.vivelamoto.es), a show in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine (Motobike, 20-23, www.kdm-international.com) and one of the major motorcycle industry shows of the year, Motorcycle Taiwan, at Taipei, 12-15 (www.motorcycletaiwan.com.tw).
April: USA
The month kicks off with the always popular Arizona Bike Week, April 11-15 (www.azbikeweek.com) followed by Revival Cycles’ annual Handbuilt Motorcycle Show, Austin, TX, staged concurrently with the US MotoGP, on April 20-22 (www.revivalcycles.com).
The Laughlin River Run is from April 25-28 (www.laughlinriverrun.com); the Leesburg Bike Fest in Florida is 27-29 (www.leesburgbikefest.com).
May: International
The first AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building affiliate event is Biker Fest in Italy, May 10-13 (www.bikerfest.it); the increasingly popular and well-respected Bike Shed in London will again be at the uber chic Tobacco Dock venue near the River Thames in East London, May 25-27 (www.thebikeshed.cc).
One of the major international highlights of every year is the historic Isle of Mann TT Festival (www.iomtt.com) which this year gets underway on May 26 to June 8.
The Federation of (independent) Harley-Davidson Clubs in Europe stages its European Super Rally in Poland in 2018 (May 16-20, www.sr2018.pl); in Germany the Magic Bike Show at Ruedesheim kicks off on May 31 (to June 3, www.magic-bike-ruedesheim.com).
May: USA
Emerald Coast Bikefest (formerly the Earthquake Biker Bash) organized by Emerald Coast H-D, Fort Walton Beach, FL, May 4-7; Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Week, May 11-20 (www.myrtlebeachbike.com).
June: International
The second of the 2018 AMD World Championship affiliate events is the internationally renowned one day Custom Bike Show staged by Twin Club MC at Norrtalje, Sweden, on June 2 (www.custombikeshow.se); the annual Harley Euro Festival is at Grimaud, on the beautiful Cote d’Azur French Riviera Mediterranean coast of southern France (near St Tropez) on 7-10 (www.harley-davidson.com), followed by the increasingly popular Wheels & Waves at Biarritz on the south western coast of France, June 14-17 (www.wheels-and-waves.com), with Hamburg Harley Days (www.hamburgharleydays.com) in northern Germany, June 22-24.
June: USA
The 35th Americade at upstate New York, June 6-10 (www.americade.com); Republic of Texas Rally, Austin, Texas, 7-10 (www.rotrally.com); celebrating 95 years the oldest motorcycle rally in the world is Laconia Motorcycle Week, New Hampshire, June 9-17 (www.laconiamcweek.com).
Born Free, Silverado, California is June 23-26 (www.bornfreeshow.com); The ‘Pikes Peak’ International Hill Climb in Colorado is on Sunday June 24 (www.ppihc.com).
July - September: International
Harley-Davidson’s 115th anniversary celebrations kick off this month with another opportunity to visit the Czech Republic as the Motor Company sets up shop in the capital city, Prague, for four days of all things ‘Bar ‘n Shield’ from 5 to 8 July.
BMW stages its ‘Motorrad Days’ at Garmisch in southern Germany, July 6-8, while Ducati celebrates its biennial World Ducati Week at the Misano race circuit in Italy, July 20-22.
A new affiliate event joins the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building on July 21 at Cesis, Latvia (www.mc13.lv).
One of Europe’s newest events, the Harley backed Polish Bike Week is at Karpacz, Poland, 3-5 August, while one of Europe’s oldest is the Faro Rally, in the Algarve, southern Portugal, from 19-22 (www.motoclubefaro.pt).
BMW’s fast growing Pure & Crafted Festival is in Berlin, Germany again, on August 25 & 26.
The European Bike Week at Faaker See, in the stunning Carinthia region of Austria sees Harley-Davidson and the custom V-twin aftermarket side by side from 4-9 September.
In Asia, CimaMotor at Chongqing is one of the largest and longest established motorcycle shows in China, September 21-24.
July - September: USA
The 78th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally again features two rounds of AFT Presented by Vance & Hines racing and at least five custom bike shows at the Buffalo Chip campgrounds and ever-growing Harley-Davidson presence downtown, August 3-12 (www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com).
Harley’s 115th Anniversary Celebrations arrive at the Harley Museum, Milwaukee from August 29 to September 2.
October - December: International
The biggie for the custom market and wider mainstream motorcycle industry is INTERMOT, again featuring INTERMOT ‘Customized’ and the XIII AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, at Cologne, Germany, from October 2-7 (www.intermot-cologne.com, www.amdchampionship.com).
The annual Bigtwin Bikeshow and Dealer Expo is at Houten, in the Netherlands, November 2-4 (www.bigtwin.nl) and the annual EICMA ‘Milan Show’ in Italy is 6-11 November followed in mainstream event terms by the Salao Duas Rodas at Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 13-18 (www.salaoduasrodas.com.br).
Custombike Show at Bad Salzuflen, Germany takes place from November 30 to December 2 (www.custombike-show.de).
October - December: USA
The debut of AIMExpo at Las Vegas is 11-14 October (www.aimexpousa.com) with Drag Specialties and Parts Unlimited recently announced as the first of the major parts and accessory distributors to book the event; Artistry in Iron runs concurrently (www.lasvegasbikefest.com); AIMExpo is slated to return to Columbus, Ohio in 2019.
Myrtle Beach seeks to emulate Daytona with a second trip to well – their Fall Bike Week is slated October 1-7; meanwhile Biketoberfest at Daytona Beach, FL, is October 18-21 (www.daytonabeach.com); SEMA is at Las Vegas from October 30 to November 2 (www.semashow.com).
DISCLAIMER
While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, apologies in advance for any mistakes or omissions; check with the event organizer before making plans to attend.