Downscaled bike expo innovative and weird

LARRY TATE FOR THE TORONTO STAR

Bombardier ATV is interesting, to say the least.

Larry Tate

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

INDIANAPOLIS–The annual Powersports Dealer Expo is the biggest industry-only motorcycle aftermarket show in North America, so Wheels bike tester Steve Bond and I thought we should find out what's coming down the pipe for 2010.

As you might expect in today's economic climate, the show proved to be a lot smaller than in previous years but still covered close to an eye-popping 500,000 square feet.

Since it's the first place a lot of new gear is seen in North America, you'll find all parts or accessories related to motorcycles, scooters or ATVs that you can imagine (and a lot of stuff that you can hardly believe even after seeing it).

Exhibitors had varied opinions of the motorcycle market in both the U.S. and Canada. One told us his firm expected that as many as 30 per cent of U.S. dealers would go under this year. Some thought business was still pretty good. Others were gloomy about their own prospects. And of course the reduced show size makes its own comment about the state of things.

The scale of the U.S. market is always a bit shocking. Many of the larger aftermarket distributors were booking orders from retail dealers, and one clothing and luggage distributor said they'd probably book $1 million in business at the expo. Good thing, as he also said the floor space alone for his company's booth cost a cool quarter mil. Add in the 30 staff and two tractor-trailer loads worth of "stuff" sent from California, and you're into some serious coin.

We noticed a few motorcycle personalities wandering around. At one point Ducati U.S. superbike racing star Larry Pegram was next to us looking for a pair of race boots, while stunt god Travis Pastrana was nearby signing posters.

Also on hand was Superbike world champion Ben Spies, who was signing posters for his HJC helmet sponsor. Also, 1993 Grand Prix champion Kevin Schwantz was at the booth of his racing school's sponsor, Michelin.

Spies and Schwantz required serious fashion help. Spies spent the weekend in a comical cloth cap pulled down over his ears, while Schwantz's plaid pants looked like something Beaver Cleaver's dad would have been ashamed of.

There were hundreds of exhibitors with their dreams on display, from riding gear to levers, from sprockets to saddlebags, from the useful to the ... er, unfathomable.

Mark Jagger, a Brit who lives on the Isle of Man for tax purposes, was flogging bright-coloured, suction cup-mounted Mohawk hairpieces to stick on your helmet. We asked warily what other products he had: "Just these." We moved on as soon as we could get away.

Two new clothing items particularly piqued our interest. Oxford is offering a heated vest that doesn't require a bike plug-in, nor does it have a network of wires in the material. Instead, flexible carbon inserts front and rear are heated by a small rechargeable lithium battery claimed to be good for six hours. That one is going to be a hit.

Bond loved the idea because as a test rider he won't have to dig around for a battery hook-up on each bike he gets. For any street rider, it would avoid the potential embarrassment of being checked up by a tether to your bike as you walk away after parking.

Another company was offering a "cool vest" that works in a similar fashion to the idea of soaking a T-shirt or bandana in water for a hot day. The vest is composed of a sponge-like material that soaks in much more than its weight in water, then slowly releases it through evaporation. Just the thing you want when riding across Alberta's Drumheller Badlands in August. Or across Montreal's freeway system just about anytime.

There was a myriad of new helmets, as you'd expect. The Snell Foundation has issued its usual five-year safety update, so everyone is upgrading to the new 2010 standard, or by-passing it entirely to meet the European ECE standard (also accepted by most racing bodies and national safety standards agencies around the world).

That, of course, offers the usual opportunity for "bold new graphics," although we must say that KBC went over the top with a helmet completely covered in red and silver rhinestones. We thought about hooking KBC up with Jagger and his Mohawk crests, but didn't see how the suction cups would hold on the stones.

Scorpion offered us a chance to look at some designs planned for 2011 and beyond, and while we can't talk about them yet, there's one innovation that, if it makes it into production, will be an eye-opener.

Tires aren't dramatic and exciting to most people despite their critical importance, but there were some terrific innovations shown.

One was the increasing use by several manufacturers of different kinds of rubber on the same tire carcass; softer on the edges for handling and harder in the middle for durability. This is a purely race-driven innovation that has led to street tires being much safer and longer-lasting.

And there were a few items even weirder than the Mohawk stick-ons. How about an ATV raised about two metres in the air on aluminum "stilts"? How about an AGV helmet painted pink with a Bravo Condoms logo? Why? Who knows?

At least there were three brew pubs within walking distance when the weirdness got a little too strange.

With files from Steve Bond

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