As of 2018, the absence of both the independently owned and operated dealer expos that used to dominate the spring parts and accessory buying season leaves the V-twin market with a brand new marketing and vendor contact landscape.
Instead, the emergence of the dealer shows hosted by the market’s two largest distributors gives the season an all-new look and a radically different approach to dealer business opportunities.
The Tucker Rocky/Biker’s Choice Dealer & Brand Expo is being staged on February 8-9 at Frisco, Texas; with the February 10-11 Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialties Dealer Show now moved into the downtown Indianapolis Indiana Convention Center - the facility that used to house the whole of the industry ‘back in the day’ when Advanstar’s Dealer Expo moved there in the 1990s from its long-time home at Cincinnati (subsequently the host city for the now sadly closed V-Twin Expo).
“a reboot of public enthusiasm”
The changed spring dealer expo landscape is a direct consequence of market decline and consolidation. However, as the pressure continues to grow on dealer inventories, and the increasing premium that all retailers need to place on logistics excellence, it is not a surprise that distributor/dealer relationships are more to the fore than ever. Neither is the motorcycle industry the only specialty discretionary leisure dollar spend-dependent market to see a similar process unfolding at this time.
The Tucker Rocky/Biker’s Choice and Parts Unlimited/Drag Specialties events will both see brands owned by the MAG organization participating - brands such as Vance & Hines, Kuryakyn, RSD, Performance Machine, Burly Brand, Mustang and others - which is excellent news because while there is cross-over between the two distributor networks it is estimated that they are at least 75 percent separate.
The changing market landscape hasn’t only affected the trade show cycle. Changing demographics have taken their toll. The emergence of the New Generation consumer shows that now populate the calendar on both sides of the Atlantic is evidence that new consumers and vendors are bypassing the established events.
With many of them feature racing of one kind or another (to say nothing of the dramatic evolution and growth of American Flat Track Racing) there is a reboot of public enthusiasm for the two-wheel lifestyle under way.