"Progressive International Motorcycle Show - NYC, Final Part

Ok, time to wrap this up. Sorry I've been busy with home remodels, custom projects for a car that I haven't had time to finish this blog. Please accept my apology friends. While in New York I got to finally meet +Rachael Fuzzygalore. It was such an honor. We've been chatting on the web for a couple years and she tunes in for +MotoChat when she can. Truly a woman rider that really is inspiring. Anyhow, we got to talking about the show and what was going on, while my buddy Captain Ninja was disagreeing about her love for +Ural Motorcycles . He just didn't get it, "cause they go so slow". lol It was funny! We all have our opinions.

Got to meet another celebrating and motorcycle enthusiast Michael Wolf from American Pickers. Indian Motorcycles invited him to the show as a guest of theirs. Also, if you didn't know Polaris also bought Indian, in addition to Victory. It was kind of funny watching the same guy give us a run down of three different brands of bikes.  

Ducati had a few great bikes and gear on display as well as espresso. The espresso was just as impressive as their line of motorcycles. Truly beautiful bikes, but well out of my price range, well at least for the ones I really want. ;) +ZERO MOTORCYCLES was also at the show and had their sport, adv, off road and city cruiser all on display. They have a mobile app that they developed that allows you to adjust the performance of the bike. Pretty cool feature, nice looking bikes.

Here's some of my favorite custom bikes that were on display all over the showroom floor. Some really sharp bikes!

Before heading out I had to pay a visit to the +MotoGP bikes that were on display. 

Well my friends, that's it for this years show! I'll end it with me sitting on this BMW, boy do I look good on that baby! lol Cheers to you and thanks again for reading this series of posts. 

Progressive International Motorcycle Show - NYC, Part 4

Part 4 leads us to Triumph Motorcycles. I couldn't wait to check out this part of the press tour. A few of my friends on Google ride them and love them. Riders like +Rachael Fuzzygalore and +Wayne Fields. For most enthusiasts we all know that Triumph is giving BMW ADV riders a run for their money. BMW has been holding the #1 spot for a while, but you can't ignore the Triumph ADV collection. The New Tiger 800/880XC or the Explorer are perfect for the road and off-road experience. The Explorer is packed with 1215cc of power, liquid cooled 12 valve and shaft drive. Switchable ABS, 57 estimated highway miles. Starting at $15,699, I'll take one please! But don't think Triumph has forgotten about their cruiser riders. That's one thing they reminded us at the show by introducing a bagger! Yes, a Bagger! Pretty sweet bike. The sad part is I can't find any info on it. I'll have to dig further in to the press kit and do an update to this blog later.

Progressive International Motorcycle Show - NYC, Part 3

Part 3 continues with Can-Am an innovative new way to ride on three wheels. You can believe what you hear, but you can't dismiss what your eyes see. These bikes are super sporty, comfortable for the long haul and come with tons of accessory options. The cooper and black model is the Spyder RS-S. This is a high performance model with 15 in Carbon black wheels, tons of cargo space, LED lights and this baby is one hell of a bad ass. I know, I know.."it's got 3 wheels". I've heard many say that and so have you. Let's put aside our differences and just look at the bike. We all want the same thing out of riding motorcycles and that's wind in our hair and adventure! We're taught to not judge each other in life when it comes to other things, so don't judge a riders choice of putting 3 wheels in motion versus 2.

Let's get to Victory Motorcycles, aka another American made motorcycle. These guys had a few surprises waiting for us. Victory revealed two special bikes at the show. The first one is Victory's 15th Anniversary touring bike. Only 150 of them were made and the cost for one of them is around $29k.

The next surprise had to do with Cory Ness of Arlen Ness Customs. He designed this Victory Arlen Ness Cross Country Custom that supports the National Motorcycle Museum. You can actually win this bike by donating to the museum.It's packed with 106 cubic inches of power. There's just too much on this bike to list. 

Progressive International Motorcycle Show - NYC, Part 2

Here we go, part 2 leads us to Kawasaki! One bike I couldn't wait to check out was the KLR. 651cc four-stroke, DOHC, four-valve single engine, 5-speed, chain drive, liquid cooled and so much more. This baby is the bad ass that will take on the trail and show you a good time. You'll forget what riding on the street feels like, although this is a street friendly bike. I test road the 2011 model last year and did about 80 mph on the highway. Kind of scary, but still fun! Black, green or yellow are the hot colors for 2013.

If you're more of a cruiser type of rider. The new Valcun line is nothing to dismiss at all. The stock seats are far more comfortable than any Harley Davidson I've ever sat on. The less chrome look is really an eye catcher as well. Less maintenance and more time riding. Serious competition for a more affordable cost.    

Had to save the best for last....the famous Ninja family. Boy are these bikes just sharp. I seriously wanted to ride one off the showroom floor...catch me if you can. One really interesting thing that I personally would have never thought to do with a Ninja is add hard bags to it. I don't know about you, but more than 5hrs on these things and your butt is a goner. You can ask my buddy Louis Clegg about that day! lol Anyhow, the bikes have adjustable windshields, which I thought was really cool feature for when weather changes up on you. Speed, ABS, liquid cooled, from 250cc to 1000cc....the Ninja is indeed still the Captain of the road for sport bikes. Now with a touring luggage option....smh still.  

Progressive International Motorcycle Show - NYC, Part 1

I was lucky enough to score a couple press passes to attend the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows Press Day at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, New York on January 18th on behalf of MotoChat . I invited along a dear friend who's a New York native, writer and producer, the one and only Ms Jeri Klein. On a side note, we were also secretly shopping for a new motorcycle for her. Did we find one....you'll have to read on to find out.

At 9am the Press was taken on a tour to meet and get introduced to the new line of motorcycles that all the major dealership had at the show. While on this tour, I was accompanied by another dear friend, Marjorie Kleiman, aka Shadow, editor of Thunder Press Magazine  and was also able to finally able to meet Lance Lau of Maverick Moto Media. 

The tour for me started at Honda Powersports (I was late and missed the BMW intros, but stay tuned for those bikes). The first bike that caught my eye was the NC700x (of course). We had a month long special about this bike on MotoChatTV. My co-host J. Brandon was part of the Cycle World NC700x Challenge. (You can find out more about the challenge via our YouTube Channel.) It was awesome to finally see, feel, touch and sit on it. The NC700x is truly a great bike for the money. At under 7k, it's a steal and so are many of the other bikes Honda had to offer. The CBR collection of bikes have truly kept up to the Honda standard. Sharp looking, comfortable, and fast is still part of the package when it comes to these bikes. The CBR600RR features a new front suspension with 12-spoke aluminum wheels and to finish off with C-ABS. For you off-road enthusiasts the CRF250L is calling your name. Fuel injected single-cylinder engine, electric starter, comfortable sitting and very affordable at the pump. The CB1100 was one sharp bike. If you love cafe racer style riding or just cruisers, you'll love this bike. It has an 1140cc Transverse-Four engine, which is pact with power and gives you a nice smooth ride.