V-Twin Expo - A child of its times
The news that Easyriders Events has cancelled its 2018 V-Twin Expo at Cincinnati may have come as no surprise to many , but everyone should regret its passing , and above all understand that it is market conditions , change and consolidation that has brought us to this place . The show was first staged in 2000 . It was born as a reaction to the relocation of the allindustry Dealer Expo to Indianapolis , and that show ’ s refusal to recognize the specialty needs of the then fast-growing V-twin parts and accessory and custom bike building sectors . V-Twin Expo was a “ child of its times ” and has now fallen victim to the radically different times in which we now find ourselves . Fast forward 17 years from that bright , shiny new start that ( in Expo terms ) Easyriders gave us , and my word , what changed times these now indeed are ! I have always guesstimated that the market hit “ peak-V-twin ”, certainly in aftermarket terms , in the spring of 2006 , by which time there had already been mutterings about the market not sustaining into the final months of the year prior . The impacts of hurricane Katrina and Detroit ’ s liberal splashing of so-called employee discount levels over everyone , and anyone who visited car showrooms , were cited as issues , but the orthodoxy then was “ hey , it ’ ll be okay ”. They were seen as being just short-term , specific and isolated factors , and that normal service would be resumed the following year . In fact , 2006 was the first year that those who were listening , those who were paying attention , were starting to hear rumblings about credit apps failing and mortgage defaults steepling . I remember staying in the U . S . after the V-Twin Expo in advance of ‘ Indy ’ two weeks later ( an ‘ Indy ’ which more resembled an Asian ATV swap meet than a professional powersports expo ), and being in a Harley dealership in California and seeing a slew of sharply reduced stickers – a shock after the years of wait lists and gouging . If memory serves right , it was in 2007 that we saw the highest number of booths at V- Twin Expo . As the shockwaves caused by the EPA ’ s plans to tighten on-highway emissions standards and the cycle of ever deepening financial issues took a hold of consumer confidence and spending , by the time of the “ Lehman Apocalypse ” of October 2008 , layoffs and closures were already commonplace , and the parts and accessory industry atrophy , that we are still enduring to this day , had set in . The V-twin industry and its specialty Expo had a long way to fall , and barring a couple of false dawns , it has dropped like a stone ever since . In recent years the number of visitors and exhibitors at V-Twin Expo had continued to decline in line with the market ’ s diminishing sales opportunities and when , three years ago , Harley ’ s own recovery stalled and went into reverse , the writing was on the wall . In tandem with the channel consolidation triggered by acquisitions in a declining market , the impact of e-commerce and the changing of the demographics that had underpinned the phenomenal growth in the V-twin industry since the early 1990s , it was , regrettably , only a matter of time before Easyriders had to face the altered realities in which we are all trading . There has been plenty of conjecturing as to why it has come to this . Personally , I don ’ t think the launch of AIMExpo has had much effect on the V-Twin Expo , largely because of the timing and because , until this year , it was being staged just about as far away
‘ the market math is horrible ’
from the V-twin industry ’ s midwestern heartland as it is possible to get . However , there is no question that the emergence of the current pattern of expo style distributor , dealer and vendor events in February has had a massive impact , along with the wider consolidation issues and the collapse in available budgets as a result of declining sales . of the numbers that I have been hearing about just how dramatic the decline Some in industry revenues really is are heart-stopping . Both in aftermarket parts and
accessory terms but also , now too , in new motorcycle registration terms . The V-Twin Expo announcement was made before the latest round of quarterlies from Harley and Polaris . What is interesting is that both manufacturers are currently able to lay claim to a growing market share , albeit in a declining market overall . The irony ( and danger ) of that is that the overall industry sales picture is so bad that even in making and selling fewer custom-style streetbikes this year than last , the combined share of the overall market seen by the V-twin market is actually growing , but with fewer bikes . That is horrible math . That said , right now , it does rather beg the question about the long-term viability of any powersports trade expo ( ATV , UTV and SxS market performance aside ) that is not prioritizing outreach to the old and ( especially ) “ New Gen ” custom culture . Relatively speaking , the “ custom ” market could be transitioning , as we ‘ speak ’, from traditionally having been worth around a third to a half of the available motorcycle market footprint in North America to being in the region of a half to two thirds of that ( currently much smaller ) available opportunity . I always maintained that if we didn ’ t have the V-Twin Expo , then sure as heck it wouldn ’ t be long before someone , somewhere , would try to reinvent it . With tweaks , yes , and yes , with its agenda firmly based on the multi-platform , multi price-point market that is replacing dependency on the pure V-twin market of the boomers . Down the years the opportunity that the V-Twin Expo provided has been a mainstay of my business opportunities , and I for one will miss it – not least because I still do firmly believe that there is a need for there to be speciality events as well as wider , multidiscipline shows . As I have been saying for years , dealers need to tend their own gardens as well as look over the fence to see what others are doing ! On behalf of all those who , like me , have valued the business opportunity that the V- Twin Expo has represented down the years , I ’ d like to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Jim and Meredith Betlach and their team for all their dedication and hard work , and to Easyriders owner Joe Teresi for what he has done for countless businesses these past 17 years . I ’ m sure I am not alone in sharing the regret that they no doubt feel keenly that it should end in cancellation rather than the sunlit uplands of a vibrant future , but they can be mighty proud of the legacy the show leaves and the contribution they made to the lives of so many of us .
Robin Bradley Co-owner / Editor-in-Chief robin @ dealer-world . com