Posted 12/02/06
Hey,
We?re here at the Big Twin West Dealer/Consumer show/Auction in Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort. I?ll make this quick, since it?s Saturday morning and we need to hit it back to the show. But I?ll add to the report tomorrow.
I?ve got a babe shot for tomorrow, so hang on. For now it?s all chrome and parts. The Big Twin West Dealer show has struggled for a couple of years. It?s designed to be a West Coast Dealer meeting to afford manufacturers and distributors a forum to show off their products to shop owners and staff. Allen Alvarez pointed out, ?This should be a time to train techs and dealers on product installation and usage.? Allen put on two Daytona Twin Tech seminars to help shops understand their expanding product line, what the various elements fit, how they fit and how to obtain maximum performance.
The key to a successful dealer show is drawing the dealers to come support the vendors and manufactures. It?s an opportunity for the shop guy to meet the manufacturers face to face. I have high hopes for success of this show for a couple of reasons: I would like a show to help shops prepare for the Christmas season with deals and notions to keep shit moving through, what is normally a down season. It would be cool to have a successful dealer extravaganza on the West Coast for guys who can?t make it to Cinncinati in February, generally in the snow. Third, I think Vegas is a natural for such a show. Sema rocks Vegas for the car side, and it?s great to attend a show then hit the town in the evening.
Last year Robin Bradley and the AMD crew hosted their World Championship of bike building at Big Twin West and the bikes were out of this world. A show, open to the public, of that caliber pumped real life into this event, but for some unknown reason the staff of Advanstar couldn?t hang onto Robin Bradley and his crew. Robin took his show finals to Sturgis.
Dave Scott is the new man on board and he initiated a show competition and it drew an interesting array of customs not normally seen at big bling Bike Shows. It contained a fresh talent mix and some very sharp bikes. The Bike Show aspect will open to the public tomorrow and I?ll find out today if I?m required to judge. Over the next couple of years Scott will refine the show and build it into the extravaganza it deserves to be.
Scott Long from Central Coast Customs brought a couple of fantastic bikes, including a Discovery Build-Off contender for the action.
Here?s the draw for a number of builders. Tomorrow Big Twin West will host the first-ever major Custom Bike Auction produced by Manheim Car Auctions. A number of us brought bikes to Auction and test the waters. The key to a successful auction is drawing the bucks-up buyers. Manheim will simulcast the auction so buyers all over the country who can bid on the air.
Tomorrow, I?ll bring you news about the show, teasers about the auction, girls and more new products. Hang on.
Posted 12/03/06
SATURDAY AT BIG TWIN WEST–was a maze of meetings, new products and judging the bike show. I judged it with master builders Mike Prugh and Denny Berg, then there was me and Mr. Rucker of Rucker Performances, one of the masters behind American Iron Horse. Although we each only had a short time to assess 100 top notch bikes we generally came to the same or similar conclusions.
This bike was a contender except it wasn?t finish so we had to let it slide. Sharp custom, but let me tell you about some more of the products on display or in the aisles. I met the man behind a hub 360-degree brake. It works sorta the opposite of a clutch with pressure being applied to the entire disc at once. He?s performed tests against dual disc front brakes over and over to see if the heat would be a problem and beat the others after several tests. Check out 360brake.com. At last you can build a bike and still see the wheels. The key was the way he handled the venting and heat distribution. It?s killer and the one-eyed designer was good people.
Of course Ray Wheeler was on hand with his W8less rotors. Check them out on our home page. They?re amazing and we?re using his rotor on the rear of our Bonneville Assalt Weapan. Also Spyke stepped up to be a Bikernet Bonneville Sponsor.
Phil?s Speed Shop in Santa Ana has been around forever. He?s build bikes for 20 years and tired of dicking with crummy wiring systems, so he developed his own. He built cases for wiring switches, idiot lights and starter buttons. I?ll bring you more info in them in the near future.
There were several categories in the show judging, Best Paint, Best Fabrication, Excellence in Engineering, Best old School, and Excellence in Design which was awarded to five different bikes?sorta the favs of all the judges and we awarded one rat bike.
So here?s the deal today: THE BIG TWIN WEST SHOW IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR SUNDAY,The Manheim Auction starts at 1:00 p.m. You can see the entire bike show and meet the manufacturers. We are going to meet with Cycle Source magazine, a grass roots magazine that making headway. Yesterday we met Blue from England?s Back Street Heroes, chopper magazine. They do a helluva job.
Senator Buerggman is here from Montana for the 12:30 EPA meeting. He?s the man behind registration legislation that will allow us to build bikes reminiscent of years gone by without EPA influence. Read that article on the home page.
Tomorrow I?ll bring you a report on the Auction, whether we sold the Amazing Shrunken FXR, and how the show panned out after four days in Sin City. What could go wrong?
Ride Forever,
–Bandit
SUNDAY UPDATE
Sunday the show was open to the public, and it drew a crowd. The EPA meeting scared dealers to death, then Senator Buerggman, from Montana took the heat off with his legislative agenda for motorcyclists. Check his answer to the EPA stranglehold on our home page. It’s worth reading, then join your local motorcycle rights group and hang on. We’ve got a couple of battles ahead. They’ll never kill the sport, but we’ve got to organize and fight back.
Bill from Spyke jumped on board as a Bikernet Assalt Weapan sponsor with a Spyke starter. Also All American Wheels volunteered wheels and hubs. Where the show was down over last year, sales for some guys was up. Scott Jacobs did killer, so did artist Eric Herrmann. American Iron Horse signed six dealers, so did Swift. Next year will be greatly improved.
The Auction was a bomb, unfortunately. But there’s a major demand for it from builders’ prospective. Next year Dave Scott will have a year to promote the Auction and draw the right buyers into the crowd. I’ll bring you more updates Thursday.
There’s nothing like a show or convention in Vegas. The restaurants are killer, the women beautiful, the weather clear and beautiful and the entertainment and nightlife non-stop. Can’t wait to come back.
–Bandit
