Destination: NY Motorcycle Show

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Today’s press day (or press morning, rather) for the New York Motorcycle Show. We’re attending and we’ll be publishing photos and other short tidbits live from the show floor. No huge new model unveils, but we expect to see Victory’s 2012 range, some news from Kawasaki and it’s the first time we’ll be able to go hands-on with new models like the BMW K1600GT and Ducati Diavel.

Want a question answered, a photo taken or anything else? Leave a comment or hit us up on Twitter.


Update: Press morning is over. The Diavel is surprisingly good looking in person, the K1600 is surprisingly small and, no surprise, the Triumph Tiger 800 looks exactly like an F800GS.

  • Pete

    I’d love some hands on impressions of the new Triumphs. Speed Trip and Adventure off-road version specifically. Have a blast.

  • Patrick

    Any sign of a BMW K1300r, or is the US still not worthy?

    • http://hellforleathermagazine.com Wes Siler

      Nope, no K1300R for you.

      • Glenngineer

        No K1300R for anyone in 2011. The S is the only 4 cylinder K bike left.

  • Daniel

    Id love to see the new Kawasaki ER-4n and Ninja 400… dont know if theyre bringing them to the US though…

    • http://www.thisblueheaven.com Mark D

      That’s a negative, ghostrider; just Canadia.

  • Nick

    Have fun! I missed the motorcycle show in Detroit this year because I was at CES the same weekend. I trust you’ll show us what’s cool and leave out what isn’t.

  • Matt

    Did anyone tell Aprilia about this show? I didn’t see them on the exhibitor list.

  • Roman

    This is my first year going to the NYC IMS, so I’m not quite sure what to expect. I’ve been to the Auto show and it’s huge to the point where you couldn’t possibly see everything in the span of one day. So I guess this is a round-about way of asking whether IMS is easily navigable or can I look forward to strolling past row after row of OCC choppers, trying to find one or two booths that may actually have something of interest?

    • Nick

      I don’t know about New York, it’s probably bigger than the one in Detroit, but in Detroit I saw everything I wanted to in a couple hours. Not every manufacturer participates, and there was a large vendor section selling leather vests and Harley-Davidson Santa Claus clocks or whatever. Also a lot of custom choppers and extended ‘busas. Luckily though, everything is sectioned off so the good stuff is right up front and the t-shirt stands and “unique” customs are off in the back somewhere.

  • Bronson

    I’m going Saturday and have my fingers crossed that KTM and Husaberg will have their (supermoto) bikes on display.

    Are there any electric bikes on display?

  • gregorbean

    Don’t forget to make the appropriate vroom vroom sounds as you sit on the bikes and twist the throttles!

  • gt1

    Does Honda show their Crosstouter?

  • noone1569

    Any 1190RS?????

  • Dan

    Buell. Anything?

  • Michael

    * In person the BMW seems wasp-like – drawn in at the ‘waist’ where the rider sits, ballooning out front and back. Not at all too-large, it still feels enveloping of the rider. Both my friend and I were blown away by how comfortable and ergonomically correct it felt when we sat on it. Total mile-chewer.

    * The copper custom Yamaha was amazing. Really.

    * In person, Wes is taller, skinier, hairer and better-looking than one might expect.

    * Was KTM even there?

    * V-Rod. Yawn. Sad.

    * I really want that custom Honda 750 Scrambler.

    * And a Ruckus, too.

    • Cheese302

      the copper yamaha was my favorite custom bike at the show.

    • Bronson

      The Honda 750 dirt tracker was sweet too. I’d really like a numberplate/headlight like that for my motard!

    • http://hellforleathermagazine.com Wes Siler

      Aww shucks.

  • slowtire

    Went on Friday. You actually had time to sit on a bike without feeling guilty about a line of people waiting and you could look at them from a few feet back. Some really nice, classic Japanese bikes. Speed Triple looked good in person and felt great.

  • Patrick

    Went to my local bike show yesterday and they had the Ducati Drivel(tm)on display. Looked liked just as big of a POS as it does in the pictures.

    • slowtire

      I was dissapointed with the Diavel too. Thought I might like it up close, but no. Bet it goes away in a year or two.

    • Mike Brooklyn

      In person i thought it was pretty cool. The display was fantastically clean, and the shape was unique. The feel sitting on it was also quite refreshing.

  • Cheese302

    i was amazed by two things. the Diavel was not as nice looking in person as i had hoped, but i thought it was very comfortable, and i still love the styling of the rear end. The K1600 was GREAT, want to see the sportier version, i loved all of the BMW bikes this year. But i was amazed, the ducati street fighter is a very comfortable sport bike, cant wait to see these start selling used. But i confirmed, in a few months a street triple r will be making a trip home.

  • Bronson

    I’ve been going to motorcycle shows in/around Philadelphia since I was a kid. I had always wanted to go to one of the larger shows in NYC or D.C. but never had till this past weekend. 10 of us made the 3 hour trip to NYC with high hopes of being wowed by displays from all the manufactures, including some of the e-bike companies like Brammo and Zero – hell, in a city like NYC, surely Brammo would want to get the word out about their offerings, right??

    First in the door we saw the Japanese manufactures, as well as Harley, Ducati, Triumph and BMW. I was surprised by the size of several displays, notably Honda and Ducati, both having multiple bikes of the same model (I think Ducati had 3-4 Hypermotards alone).

    That was cool, BUT we came to see the bikes from the other manufactures like Aprilia, KTM, Husqvarna, Husaberg, MV Agusta, TM, Moto Guzzi, etc., and again the e-bikes. Of those manufactures, guess which ones had bikes on display?

    None! Zero!! Zip!!!

    Seriously, what the f#ck is up with that??? I mean, come on, this wasn’t a motorcycle show in some po-dunk town in the sticks, it’s the freaking New York City International Motorcycle Show! How the F can those manufactures NOT show up? Isn’t KTM North America based in the neighboring state of Ohio? Wouldn’t you think NYC would be a prime sales territory for e-bikes? I’m not alone in my disappointment, I heard it from a lot of other people while we were there. Some speculated that it was due to the cost of the floor space in the convention center but I’ll raise the bullshit flag on that. There were booths for several sportbike trackday organizations and adventure touring operations. EZ-Up, Deals Gap Resort and Lee Parks Designs had displays too. For Christ sake there were even guys there selling beef jerky and shamwows! How could a company like Aprilia or KTM not even take the time to have some interns load up a box van and drive to the show? What the F#ck!?

    What was there was nice, but other than that this show was a huge letdown for us. I don’t think we’ll make the trip again without first checking to see which manufactures will bother to show up.

  • Rudyard Crippling

    Pics?