Passes & Canyons Blog

I got confused and made an assumption but then finally got it all straightened out. Denver’s long-running Motorcycle Show and Swap (now called the Colorado Motorcycle Expo) will be held as usual at the Stock Show grounds, on February 1 and 2. However, for the first time this year we will also have the Progressive International Motorcycle Show going on at the Colorado Convention Center on January 17-19. Golly, golly.

At ABATE meetings we had the usual “are we going to do a booth at the show and swap/expo this year” discussions. In the course of those discussions it was mentioned that the expo had new ownership. This is new, new ownership because there were new owners who took over just about five years ago.

So when I heard that we were going to be hosting the Progressive International Motorcycle Show–at the convention center, no less–I assumed the ownership change meant the expo had been subsumed into this big deal event. But then I started seeing promos for the expo. Huh? I did some searching and found out we’re getting both. Oh my gosh.

I have to tell you, I’m a lot more interested in the Progressive show than I am in the expo. For one thing, the expo is held at the Stock Show grounds and that is highly inconvenient. It’s an out-of-the-way place and about the only way to get there is to drive/ride. And then you have to pay to park. Getting to the convention center, for me at least, will mean getting on the light rail.

But more than that, the Progressive show has a lot more to offer. Back when I was writing for Examiner.com I made a special trip to Greenville, South Carolina, to attend a Progressive show. (It didn’t hurt that my parents lived in South Carolina, near Greenville, so I visited them and stayed at their place.)

The show was impressive. They had new bikes from all the manufacturers, gear from all the gear companies, a lot of demos and special events, and all in all was a very good event. And I’ve wondered for years why they didn’t have one of these here, but figured that they figured it was hard to compete when there is already an established event (the expo). Well, anyone who has been paying attention knows the expo has been having its troubles the last few years so perhaps Progressive decided it had an opening.

I guess I’ll be going to both. I’ll probably spend some time working the ABATE booth at the expo and I’ll definitely go downtown for the Progressive show. So much more convenient than flying to South Carolina!

Biker Quote for Today

It must have been that wild-eyed, silver-tongued schemer
A girl like Jody don’t think for herself.
Him and that Harley and his damn Jalapeno
Smokin’ that stuff’ll make you hurt yourself. — Bonnie Raitt

Would anybody challenge me if I said that bikers tend to be colorful folks? If they did I suspect I could substantiate my claim. To that end, here are some of the people I saw at the 2019 Colorado Motorcycle Expo.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in my last expo post that in my meandering through the area trying to get to the National Western center through all the roadblocks that, golly, golly, the surrounding area seems to be marijuana central. I passed more warehouses that had big, colorful murals on the outside that appear to be grow houses. And in some places the odor was powerful. To the south of the highway, between Brighton Boulevard and York Street it’s one heck of a concentration.

Now here are the people pix.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”6″ gal_title=”CME2019people”]

Biker Quote for Today

I want to interrupt a game of Magic: the Gathering by busting through a wall on a motorcycle. — Megan Boyle

It’s a motorcycle expo, right? The Colorado Motorcycle Expo 2019. So of course there were cool bikes to look at. Here are some of them.

As an aside, getting to this event was amazingly difficult. I could have simply taken I-70 and gotten off right there but I didn’t want to do that and figured city streets would be more interesting. That set me up.

First of all, the new A Line commuter train from downtown to DIA has disrupted some streets. And now, the old street that used to run under the elevated portion of I-70 has been shut down. On top of that, prep work on rebuilding the highway entirely seems to be underway so there were a bunch of detours.

I ended up snaking through neighborhoods, crossing under I-70 again and again, and could see the coliseum, but I couldn’t get there. Finally I managed to get onto Brighton Boulevard and that took me where I wanted to go. I took the direct route home and the difference was four miles. I wandered four miles through a very small area trying to find this place that I have been to many, many times before.

OK, here’s the pictures.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”4″ gal_title=”cme2019bikes”]

Biker Quote for Today

My back and ass hurt, I can’t feel my feet.
My hands have gone numb, bug parts in my teeth.
But there’s gas in the tank and a headwind to fight
On a wide open road, no end in sight.
So you think we should stop? Am I getting that right?
One answer for that, Hell No! Let’s Ride!

In its fourth year now the Colorado Motorcycle Expo (CME) seems to finally be hitting its stride. It’s no fault of the new management, the folks who took over the old Colorado Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet. They just had a run of bad luck.

The first CME in 2016 was the scene of a fatal shoot-out between two motorcycle clubs, with the result that the second day was canceled. Then the following year, because the situation was still being resolved, there was no show at all.

Last year it seemed that gap had caused the show to lose steam. It was held but attendance was way down, at least as far as I could tell on Sunday. Finally this year I pulled up to the venue and there were lots of bikes and lots of people.

Inside, it was pretty much the same as before, although there was nothing upstairs and downstairs was pretty sparse. But the main level was packed. Noticeably absent were the 1%er groups that were so prevalent at the old show and swap. That, I understand, is by mandate of the management.

Still, I had expected more of a corporate vibe such as that you see at the International Motorcycle Shows, with more new bikes and gear and less of the old, used equipment.

I was wrong. It’s still the same old swap show. Plenty of new leather and other gadgets and schwag, but also lots and lots of used parts.

So anyway, I figured I’d make three blog posts out of groups of photos from the expo: general, bikes, and people. Here are the general pix. I recommend you click to enlarge an image and then click the “i” icon at right to display the caption for the photo.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”2″ gal_title=”CME2019general”]

Biker Quote for Today

I’m a biker. I don’t do that keep calm stuff.

I was surprised on Thursday last week to read in The Denver Post that there was to be a second, competing, motorcycle expo in the Denver area in the upcoming (now past) weekend.

The first, of course, was the now 40-year-old Colorado Motorcycle Expo, formerly the Colorado Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet, held at the National Western Center. But this show had trouble two years ago when members of two clubs–the Mongols and the Iron Order–had a fight that resulted in one death. Then last year, with issues on how to proceed still unresolved, the show was canceled. It was back this year, but the two clubs involved in the fight were both banned.

The second was held at Mile High Harley-Davidson of Parker, and was sponsored by the Colorado Confederation of Clubs (COC). The COC is just what the name suggests, and they have a reputation for solidarity with their members. If the Mongols were banned then the COC would have its own expo. Surprise: the Iron Order was banned.

So how did they both go?

First off, it doesn’t seem to me that the COC did a very good job getting the word out, although I’m sure all their member organizations knew about it. I pay attention to these things and the story in the Post was the first I heard of it.

I headed to the COC event Sunday about noon and when I got there there were no more than 50 bikes in the parking lot. Plus, there wasn’t a lot to see or do. An area for vendors held about 10-12 booths and that was it. I spent about half an hour there and had seen it all. One thing I did note, that I suspect you did not see at the Expo, was a booth for a gun dealer. I could be wrong but I’m guessing those folks don’t want weapons even as for sale items, whereas the COC event definitely did.

So I headed up to the other show. Mostly I wanted to see how many people were there. And that answer was pretty obvious as soon as I came down the exit off I-70. In the front, close-in parking area reserved for bikes there was gaping open space. Usually, if you want to park in this area you better get there early.

I cruised all around the complex and out in the extended parking area, where you usually find a lot of overflow parkers, the gate attendants were sitting looking totally bored. Inside their gates there were just a handful of vehicles in an area that can accommodate probably a few thousand cars. Still, there were easily a lot more people here than at Mile High Harley.

I didn’t go in. Frankly, I didn’t want to spend the $5 to park and $15 admission. I’m sure there were many, many more vendors set up inside than at expo 2, but the place must have been like a ghost-town with so much space and so few people spread around in all those acres. I suspect a lot of people lost a lot of money on this event.

This can’t bode well for the future of these events. Maybe next year the two clubs will no longer be banned and the second event will go away. Maybe the promoters of the big show will decide they don’t want to lost any more money and the new gig will become the only one.

But maybe the public just got broken of the habit of going to these things at all, and Denver just won’t have a show anymore.

It will be interesting to see what next year brings.

Biker Quote for Today

Does he have a motorcycle? Because if you’re going to throw your life away he better have a motorcycle.

For a lot of years the Colorado Motorcycle Show & Swap was a fixture in the Denver area. You could go and look at custom bikes, shop for used parts, and even buy new stuff. Meanwhile, its presence served to keep bigger organizations such as the International Motorcycle Show from setting up here. It was locally owned and run.

New management took over a couple years ago at what turned out to be a really bad time. Renamed the Colorado Motorcycle Expo, at their first event, in 2016, there was a conflict between two motorcycle clubs and a shooting that left one person dead. The last day of the show was canceled. Come 2017 and there was still bad blood hanging over things and the decision was made to nix the event for this year. But it should be back in 2018.

From what I hear, the 2018 event will not be like the events in the past. For one thing, the 1-percenter clubs will very possibly not be there.

The following information all came in a conversation at my ABATE of Colorado District 10 meeting a few days ago.

The question was raised as to whether ABATE should have a booth at next year’s expo. Apparently, the managers of the venue have said there will be no clubs or colors allowed. However, the managers of the expo say colors are OK but no 1-percenter clubs. So they’ll need to get that sorted out.

Regardless, the Colorado Confederation of Clubs (COC) says if these rules are put in place none of their members will attend. ABATE had had a confrontational relationship with the COC for many years but recently there has been a rapprochement. So if the COC is going to boycott, should ABATE support the COC by also not having a booth? Rules against colors are generally something ABATE has consistently opposed as discriminatory. What should we do?

The idea we get is that the managers of the event hope to elevate the expo to more of a new bikes, new gear, industry expo kind of thing along the lines of the annual Home and Garden Show at the Denver Convention Center. Or like the International Motorcycle Shows in other cities. No more old parts. No more booths for 1-percenter clubs. An attempt to appeal to a broader audience. Or to put it differently, not as much ink, not as much black leather and chains, and just generally more family friendly.

Of course that would only work if the general public was alerted that the clubs will no longer be there. And apparently the plan is indeed to advertise widely to that effect. So if the clubs want to boycott that seems to be just fine with the folks running the show.

I know this is fairly rough, and I can’t guarantee the complete accuracy of all of what I’ve presented. But you get the picture. Changes are in the offing. I’ll be watching with interest.

Biker Quote for Today

Here’s to the girls who make the other girls wish they could ride, too.