#longbeach

Upcoming Motorcycle Events: Nov 14 – Dec 12

Today is Thanksgiving here in the United States of America, and with all the new motorcycles coming out in 2017, there’s definitely a lot to be thankful for. Last week the MO crew made its annual pilgrimage to the Long Beach round of the Progressive International Motorcycle Show, where it was my first chance to see many of these bikes I’d been reading and writing about in person. The Long Beach show is a special one, as it’s centered in the heart of the U.S. moto industry, making it one of the rare times we get to see all of our industry friends all in one place. As such, there were a lot of cool things to see as we walked around. Here are my personal highlights from the show.

Comfortable shoes. It’s the foremost important aspect of enjoying any large consumer or trade show. Comfortable Shoe Editor, Troy Siahaan, and I had this exact conversation the morning of attending media day at Long Beach IMS. We both rode to the show, but whereas he brought sneakers to change into, I put a new pair of Bates Adrenalin Riding Boots to the ultimate comfort test by wearing them all day during the show (the most comfortable riding boots I’ve ever owned, I might add – full review coming soon).

Another thing the interwebs have diluted a tad is SoCal’s local International Motorcycle Show, the one that kicks off new-motorcycle fever in Long Beach, California, every November. Now that we get to see nearly all the new bikes the week before from Milano, it’s slightly anticlimactic. Only slightly, though. It’s still a great place to see everybody in the U.S. bike industry all in one place and gauge their confidence/fear ratio, along with most, if not all, of the new machinery, and to ask each other collectively, ‘How we doin’?’

Already popular in Europe, the Honda VFR1200X receives important updates for 2016 and will now be available to American customers, joining the previously announced 2016 CRF1000L Africa Twin. Honda also announced that the NC700X and CB500X receive aggressive new styling for 2016, and that the U.S. debut for all four 2016 Honda adventure models will be at the November 20–22 International Motorcycle Shows stop in Long Beach, California.

With the 2014 editions of Intermot, AIMExpo and EICMA now done and dusted, the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows circuit is now making its way across the country. Its stop in Long Beach, California is usually regarded as the most important on the tour, due to its proximity to many of the major OEMs who make their home bases in the SoCal area. And while the international shows are important for making big announcements, it’s here in Long Beach that many important regional or national announcements are revealed.