I ventured to the Seattle International Motorcycle Show Sunday the 18th without high expectations of seeing anything particularly good. Mostly because I had seen a lot of Facebook complaints regarding how “un-good” it was (Hey if Shakespeare can do it, so can I) . Each year it is dedicated mostly to the road enthusiast with a few off-road booths mostly for dualsporters. Nothing is ever geared towards ATV use unless it’s something utilitarian such as the camo printed Suzuki utility quad.
Used under Creative Commons License. Photo by dbking
It’s not legal to hunt from an ATV, but you sure can lose it the woods with that sweet color scheme while you chase down a deer! Sections of floor were dedicated to Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, and they lined them up with their slickest 2012 floor models complete with “bold new graphics.” Honda happened to have Canard’s, Barcia’s, and JCR’s Norman/Kendall/Holladay bikes there for display. Although JCR did take the extra step of finding a chewed up tire with missing knobs to put on the rear for what I can only guess is “effect.” JCR changes their riders’ tires way too often in the desert to be missing any knobs.
In addition to the shiny new motorcycles was a series of vintage motorcycles, including some Harley Davidsons from the early 1900s. That was just about the highlight as we’ve all seen enough custom choppers to last several lifetimes (thank you over-saturated television networks running everything into the ground). There was a small display of some custom motorcycles there and a lot of guys resembling exactly what your mom pictures when you say “motorcycle rider” checking them out. This was part of some “Ultimate Builder” competition the show was holding. Additionally there were booths for the dual-sporting and touring sort with pants and jackets, armor, helmets, foam-lined sunglasses (gotta keep the dust out, you know) and of course a lot of leather and bandannas or elastic ‘do-rag bandanna wannabes.
One of the most interesting booths we came across was one for custom-fitted ear plugs and earbuds. There were two booths doing the same type of ear plugs, but we sat down at Fit Ear to get a custom set molded. They put a piece of foam in your ear, then you get to pick your color (I chose blue) and then they fill your ear up with essentially a cross between play dough and modeling clay and you sit down for 5 minutes to let it set. After they pull the mold out it has to cure for about an hour so we headed back off to view the rest of the show’s offerings. Fit Ear provides earplugs (what I got) and also does custom earbuds for radio communication inside your helmet, listening to your ipod, all the way up to the super-zoot musician’s on-stage earbuds. Prices for the earbuds start at just over $200.
Not a Smage brother. Used under Creative Commons License. Photo by xindilo
While waiting for the earplugs to cure we investigated the thousand dollar (that’s right) jackets and pants from Klim and Companero at the Touratech display. Touratech is known for their dualsport accessories and are local to the Northwest. They had a few KTM and BMW bikes on display, decked out with panniers and enough bags to pack for a cross-country trek via motorcycle. Their product catalog resembles a phone book. While browsing Touratech’s display, the next seminar started. Amidst a few games and raffles at some of the exhibit spaces, there was scheduled to be several presentations made throughout the weekend by various groups. Topics were geared around being a safer, more prepared rider mostly with topics including turning better, setting up your suspension, and how your helmet should fit among stories from riders that have traveled the world, or ones that have just started out. We missed it because we had left already, but a few times throughout the weekend the Smage brothers, Pat & Phil, would put on a trial exhibition in the back corner. Trials riding is always impressive, but probably not worth waiting around for; I do have YouTube after all.
The cost of the show was $15 at the door. I am lucky to have not had to pay that because I would have been REALLY mad about it. $15 is an IMAX ticket for a kickass movie. Or a matinee with popcorn – something that would actually entertain me for two hours. If you missed the motorcycle show, don’t feel left out. If you went, well, sorry. In years past there have actually been some cool products to look at and some interesting bikes to drool over. This year, not so much. Maybe it was because the space was bigger (it was held at the Washington State Convention Center), or maybe there just wasn’t the number of booths and exhibitors, but short of the bar (which I did not make it into) and the sweet, blue earplugs, the show was a bust. Now, if anyone wants to send me to Indy in February for a birthday present I’ll happily report on the new ATV products itching for you to buy them when they are released in the next year. If you are REALLY dying for some leather chaps and free bag from Progressive Insurance (no appearances by Flo), the next motorcycle show is in Novi, Michigan January 6-8.
About Megan
Megan grew up riding quads and got involved with the racing community in 2004. She maintains Pit Traffic out of service to the sport and friends she made! She graduated in 2009 from Central Washington University and now she is always looking to help, collaborate, and create. Megan likes to write, take pictures and make art digitally and traditionally. Of course, she still loves to ride!
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