We have missed motorcycle shows in this country, both as riders and as industry ‘professionals’ and media. Expo’s are the best way to get all the role players, major or otherwise, at one venue to showcase the latest and greatest wares our industry has to offer to their direct target market. Using a venue like Redstar Raceway, especially during something sensible like a Suzuki SA training day, also offers newcomers and/or the curious a little taste of the lifestyle and atmosphere and possibly attract more people to motorcycling. Chucking in Neil Haran and his junior development series into the mix for all to go “Aw cute” to, just puts the cherry on the top.
So, with excitement and anticipation we eagerly headed off to Redstar just otherside Delmas early-ish on Saturday the 27 January 2023. The motorcycle and accessory importers who went along to the show put in proper effort and it was an excellent showcase. Attendance from the biking community at large was better than expected but not quite as much as hoped for, possibly due to the fact that everybody’s credit cards were a little worn out by the “Back To School” shopping. Also, there seemed to be a gazillion other events happening on the same weekend, (we had our sister company’s Waterberg Ride on that same weekend), the first round of the Classic TT was happening in East London and…. and…. and…. On top of that it was payday weekend and the majority of South Africa was catching up on some much needed grocery shopping after the festive season and the 49 weeks of January. But still a nice turn out for a show that didn’t get a whole lot of publicity.
As usual, Suzuki SA’s Stuart Baker and his entire team put in an excellent effort with a comprehensive display of motorcycles and demo units that could be ridden with a bit of begging and pleading during one of their rider safety training sessions. They also had a sexy little Gixxer 250 on a dyna to teach the newby riders the basics in absolute safety. They run these Safety days on a regular basis throughout the year at Redstar and actually donated the venue hire to AMID for the day.
Riaan Fourie and his team from Honda Wing SA rivalled those efforts with their own at the other end of pit lane with a great display bikes and friendly knowledgeable staff on hand to assist the throng of excited Expo goers.
KTM SA as always goes “Full Throttle” with their marketing and had the guys from FAST represent them with MV Agusta, KTM, GAS GAS and the guys from BERM looking after the Husqvarna side of things. Franziska Brandl and Megan Prinsloo of KTM Group SA were there to represent head office and rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in assisting customers. Their display was something to behold, they have really got their marketing waxxed.
We spied a Gold Rand Harley Gazebo with one or two bikes on display but couldn’t really find anybody to chat to – maybe they went for a comfort break. Braam Smit from World Of Motorcycle Ducati was eagerly chatting to interested folks about the lifestyle owning an Italian motorcycle. Zac and Co. from Shimwells Yamaha represented the interests of the Tuning Fork brand. And BMW Motorrad East Rand had a Gazebo and a couple of bikes up as well.
Roger Davidson and Paul Martyn from DMD manned their impressively stocked stand with a great selection of their products on hand for folk to look, feel, touch and even purchase on the day. And there was a lot of foot traffic through their stand on the day with a lot of interest in their products.
Next door was Ryan Robertson from ‘Powered by Autocycle’ with an equally magnificent stand and the well known and loved…. and extremely camera shy Mpho from Motomate handling the retail side of things for him, proving that when you are spread thin in this industry even the Bosses roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.
A bunch of the major brands had committed to other events on the day and didn’t have the facilities this years inaugural event, hopefully we will see them there next year.
All in all it was a very lekker initiative from Arnold Olivier and the members of AMID and we do hope it grows into the annual event that we believe it should and can be.
Watch this space!
