No Yamahas at Minneapolis International Motorcycle Show :(

What is wrong with this picture?

https://photos.smugmug.com/General/i-SKQX5xm/0/3771e452/L/20171209_115350-L.jpg

Isn't Yamaha in the American Motorcycle business anymore? Guess not.

Were they at the New York show ? Wanted to go but Didn't fit into my Plans. Anyone know?

I'm not sure what happened, but they sent me an e-mail yesterday that Yamaha will not be at the show.

I wonder what happened, as that is pretty "last minute" to back out on their part. Or they just didn't want to tell people that they backed out earlier.

I'll be heading to the show tomorrow.

Kawman10 said:

Were they at the New York show ? Wanted to go but Didn't fit into my Plans. Anyone know?

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Yes, Yamaha was at the NY show. They had their usual large display, but they brought last year's FJR.

My wife and I are going tomorrow, we wanted to see the Yamaha line as well....now im bummed!

Yep, the show was ok and got me out of the house Friday, but it sucked balls that Yamaha, KTM, and Ducati weren't there.

Ducati always has the hottest girls of the show prancing around their display.

I was disappointed because I have some crazy idea of down sizing by two bikes getting rid of my Honda XR650L and CRF230 and replacing them with a KTM 500 EXC. I'm also toying with selling the Ducati 999 and 1100S Hypermotard and replacing them with a new Hypermotard 939. The stable has gotten a little bloated and could use a little trimming but the idea of trying to sell four bikes doesn't sound like much fun.

I've noticed over the last 5 or 6 years that there are fewer shows, and fewer vendors there. Disturbing trend that show's motorcycling in the USA is on a downward trend for sure.

Have you tried to sell a MC lately -----not too many buyers.

Abercrombie FJR said:

Yep, the show was ok and got me out of the house Friday, but it sucked balls that Yamaha, KTM, and Ducati weren't there.
Ducati always has the hottest girls of the show prancing around their display.

I was disappointed because I have some crazy idea of down sizing by two bikes getting rid of my Honda XR650L and CRF230 and replacing them with a KTM 500 EXC. I'm also toying with selling the Ducati 999 and 1100S Hypermotard and replacing them with a new Hypermotard 939. The stable has gotten a little bloated and could use a little trimming but the idea of trying to sell four bikes doesn't sound like much fun.

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Yamaha and KTM were at the NY show, but the only Ducati's were customized ones at a small custom display.

OTOH, MV Agusta and Aprilia each had full displays. I don't remember them being in NY in the past couple of years.

I didn't notice any booth babes at any of the displays, but that may be because I had my wife and daughter with me this year.

Used to be 16 of these shows nationally....down to the last 7. I went Saturday here in Minneapolis and the show managed to underperform my already low, low expectations. With motorcycle sales crashing (-14%YoY) in almost all niches, it is not going to be pretty in the next few years. The virtual generation is going to leave a giant hole in the motorcycling sports.

No Triumph at the Minneapolis show,either. Could have been due to the timing. Some of us were riding the previous weekend and then winter hit. It's hard to get excited about motorcycles when I'm shoveling and chopping off ice from the driveway. I still managed to go and met up with quite a few friends. Even bought a few things.

I heard the Super Bowl caused the IMS to be so early.

The ski industry used to have big shows combined with snowmobiles every year at the Convention Center. Those are long gone, too. The market is changing. How come I feel like I'm getting old? Oh wait, I am old. Glad I still ride and ski. I'm not dead yet, in fact those activities help me think I'm still young. That virtual enough for me.

Zbear said:

Have you tried to sell a MC lately -----not too many buyers.

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I've sold two in the last three weeks.

I think because this upcoming generation doesn't know anything about the outdoors anymore. They sit in there rooms playing the latest video games. What a shame. My mother threw me out of the hourse and told me to make sure I was home by dark. All we did was play outside. Fishing Building shit in the woods. Making our own bow and arrows. We grew up with imaginations and ingenuity to build shit. Sadly those days are over for most folks.

My local dealer lost their Yamaha dealership due to lack of sales and the Honda portion left now isn't doing much better. Second generation family run MC business. I sometimes wonder if people are changing there values in life. Are some folks trying to simplify life and getting back to basics. Maybe this new generation is giving things a second thought. Time will tell.

Dave

This my friends is the future...

At the LA/Long Beach show, the show was less than last year's.

Yamaha's presence was the same as at NYC, large display but only last year's FJR on the floor.

Yes, Ducati upheld their reputation for best looking hostesses of the show. But their faces looked blank most of the time - intentionally or otherwise. Most personable and knowledgeable booth worker award was closely contended by the rep in the Polaris-Indian section and the BMW manager who came down from NorCal to bolster the local team.