November 14th at 4PM marked the opening of the 28th Annual Cycle World International Motorcycle Show. The motorcycles and scooters began to arrive by the thousands Friday evening. The
Dallas Convention Center was packed with cycles from all over the state. And with major sponsors like Cycle World, Toyota, AMA, and Progressive, the show flow was packed with a ton of new custom bike builders and all the old favorites.
Of all the bikes on display there was a very small section called the "Scooter Pavilion" which was nothing more than a 100ft square area with a limited selection of scooters from vendors such as Sym, Genuine, Vespa, etc... The scooters were scarce and the larger displays that took place in other markets across the country from industry giants such as Piaggio, Aprilia, and Moto Guzzi were not seen at the Dallas show. Fortunately there were some cool motorcycles that made it worth it and the opportunity to take a closer look at some of my favorite late model Vespas such as the LXV which pays homage to the classic design of the 40's and 50's Vespas.
I was in a state of Shock and Awe when I saw some of the custom designs from some of the "smaller" manufacturers such as Victory. There is also the San Francisco based company (whose name escapes me) has managed to put together a custom cafe racer (Ala: MAD MAX) which
gives the bike an incredible amount of character and style by making it look like a homemade racer born from the passion of a creative rider who's desire to ride is larger than his wallet!
We spent a couple hours exploring the convention floor and probably missed a ton but it was a fun experience and makes me thankful that the scooter still has so much room for growth and innovation which we all hope to see in the years to come.
Well, the time has come. The dates for the next annual North Texas Lakes Rally have just been announced! The rally will take place June 12th-14th in Waxahachie, Texas!
