On a cold and rainy Saturday morning, my dad, my brother and I set off towards Cleveland where the 2014 edition of the Progressive International Motorcycle Show was being held at the I-X Center, a convention center southwest of the city. Having been to the show before, I had a general idea of what to expect from the major factories as well as vendors. It was like Christmas morning for a motorcycle enthusiast.
Watching the weather all week, my dad and I decided to go on with our plans to make the 2-hour trip west. We shoved off at 7:30 and within an hour were confronted with a weather system that was teetering on ice and rain. Luckily the temperature stayed just warm enough to keep the water from freezing to the road, but it was sketchy for a while. Finally, we pulled off on the correct exit and were immediately met with traffic. I didn’t remember it being this big of a deal the last time I came here. We sat in traffic for a good 45 minutes before we got to our parking spot, which by the time we made it into the parking lot was about 200 yards from the front door. We parked and into the rain we went in search of motorcycle heaven.
Once we got inside it was like home. Tickets immediately to the right, show information to the left and a wonderful red carpet leading to the promised land. On the way through, we could see over the rope into the Harley-Davidson and Suzuki areas on the left and the food court was to our right. Just past the Suzuki area we made a left into the official entrance. They scanned our pre-bought tickets and we were in.
We immediately made a left and hit the Suzuki area. There was a nice lady with a microphone who was shouting trivia questions surrounded by a crowd of about 25 in return for Suzuki swag. Key chains and t-shirts mostly. We were too busy marveling at the 2014 Suzuki lineup. My favorite Zook by far was the red and black 750 that we passed as we were walking down the red carpet entering the show. I plopped my rear end on it and it felt like home. I had a 750 some time ago, and it was my absolute favorite bike of the ones that I’ve owned. It was a perfect blend of power and size. It could corner like a 600 and do a power wheelie like a 1000. And this color scheme brought me back. I wanted it. Bad.
This GSX-R 750 was my favorite Suzuki at the show.
We moved into the Harley area and took a look at some really cool Fat Bobs. I personally liked the desert-tan one with matte black racing stripes, but my dad was jonesing to see the new V-Rod’s so we headed in that direction. A V-Rod owner himself, he wanted to see what the latest and greatest was, and how it was different than his. The two that Harley brought were the “Night Rod” which was a beautiful concoction of matte black paint and tastefully placed orange accents. The other was a “V-Rod Muscle” which was green and had a giant air intake in the front. It looked like an English Bulldog. Tough, heavy, and a bit slow.
Stepping over to the Ducati tent, I saw my first glimpse at the all-new 1199 Panigale S. Like the Night Rod, the bike featured a matte black livery with wonderful red Ducati accents. I took my turn sitting on it and found it to be noticeably uncomfortable, even for sportbike standards. Combine that with the raw power of the Duc motor and you have a machine that would be extremely difficult to ride around town. Trying to harness the power while not stalling would be a trick that only a pro racer or a bull rider could master. I knew it was expensive, but I took a look anyway. $25,000. No thanks. I can buy a new truck for that. Beside it was its little brother, the regular 1199 Panigale. Decked out in customary Ducati red, this beast looked like the S but not nearly as intimidating. I didn’t bother to sit on it. Moving down the line, I noticed an arctic white 899 Panigale, a new-for-2014 model. Ducati took the 1199 and toned it down a bit (as they should) and came up with what might be the perfect motorcycle. It was just about as uncomfortable as its big brother, but it the power would be much easier to handle, making it easier to ride.
The 899 Panigale is the little brother of the 1199.
Meandering through the vendors, I made an accidental right and found myself staring at the holy grail of motorcycles, Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP Yamaha M1. MotoGP is the absolute pinnacle of motorcycle racing. Each of these machines is a $2 million mixture of electronics, engine, transmission, and frame technology that’s about 10 years ahead of current production motorcycles. By comparison, Valentino Rossi is the Dale Earnhardt of MotoGP. The Italian has won a record 9 MotoGP titles and has been competitive for nearly two decades. I felt like a teenage girl in the front row of a Justin Bieber concert (before he went crazy). Little did I know that Rossi’s younger and faster teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s M1 was over under the Yamaha tent. The two best surprises of the day.
Valentino Rossi’s Yamaha M1.
Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha M1.