The AIMExpo is an industry-only powersports event that, for the last two years, has been held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before it spent time in Sin City, AIMExpo did a spell in Orlando, Florida, as well as a handful of years in Columbus, Ohio. But during the event last winter, an announcement was made that the show would not stay in Las Vegas, but instead move to Anaheim, California, for 2026. And while the move to Orange County was sort of sudden and unexpected, it seems to have been received well, at least by the vendors that plan to attend.
According to Adventure Rider, the event organizers “sent out a release last weekend saying they’d made it to the 250-exhibitor mark already, a much faster pace than in previous years; the tech section is already sold-out of space.” Clearly a move to sunny Southern California has increased the interest of vendors looking to showcase their goods to the community. Because let’s be honest, a motorcycle show in the Midwest in the middle of winter sounds appealing to no one outside of the Midwest.
AIMExpo allegedly drew in 400 exhibitors and more than 2,000 visiting dealers earlier this year. Honestly, I don’t know what to make of those numbers. In a past life, I was the Marketing Manager for Touratech, a German company that produces products for adventure and dual-sport motorcyclists, predominantly. I attended the International Motorcycle Shows (IMS) in Los Angeles and New York and remember the massive crowds that filled both the Long Beach Convention Center and Javitz Center, respectively. But those shows were open to the general public, and although they were both held in the middle of the winter, the crowds were wild, literally.
But the IMS is dead, and aside from a few enthusiast and sort-of genre specific shows like The One Motorcycle Show, Mama Tried and Born Free, there isn’t an opportunity for OEMs and aftermarket vendors to showcase their products to the public anymore.
I’ve heard that some brands prefer it that way, allowing them to focus on the dealers they hope to attract without the riff-raff of mid-winter motorcyclists looking for their fix. But I’ve attended EICMA, the largest motorcycle and powersports show in the world, held every November in Milan, Italy. They host an industry and media day prior to opening to the public, which allows dealers and journalists like me to get a look at what’s coming to market without having to navigate the crowds come Sunday.
So, why can’t we have our cake and eat it, too?
In 2025, The One Motorcycle Show opened three rooms to AIMExpo industry insiders for early access the Thursday before the show officially opened, a sort of nod how it’s done in Italy. But that’s small potatoes compared to what was sitting on the show floor at an IMS event, or the immensity of what’s available to see and sit on at EICMA. I guess we’ll have to see if the AIMExpo takes a page out of EICMA’s book, allowing riders the chance to see what’s coming, and not have to wait until its on the showroom floor.
In the meantime, as much as I’ve enjoyed my visits to The One Motorcycle Show and Mama Tried, I miss the days of a giant convention center filled end-to-end with the latest from every OEM, and the chance to throw a leg over just about every machine that’ll be coming to market in the near future. Oh, the good old days…
