IN
THE
WIND
P30
THE SHOW!
L
ast week most of the motorcycle industry
flocked to Orlando, Florida, for the second an-
nual AIMExpo and the show didn't disappoint in
its sophomore year. The show saw a 50 percent
larger footprint than in its inaugural year with more
than 500 exhibitors showing off their wares on the
Orange County Convention Center show floor.
In addition to the show itself, Kawasaki and Ya-
maha also took to the stage to unveil some new
models. For Kawasaki it was the U.S. debut for its
much talked about supercharged Ninja H2R and
the Versys 1000 LT and 650 ABS that were un-
veiled earlier this month at Intermot. In addition to
the performance sportbike and adventure tourers,
taking the stage for the first time was Kawasaki's
all-new lightweight sporty cruiser – the Vulcan S.
In the moments leading up to the opening of the
AIMExpo, Yamaha also took stage to launch five
new models. Two of which were additions to its off-
road line-up: the WR-250F and YZ-250FX. On the
street side, Yamaha unveiled a new Smax Sport
Scooter, a café racer inspired Bolt C-Spec and the
much-anticipated YZF-R3 - Yamaha's entry-level
sportbike.
Once again AIMExpo had their industry happy
hour to celebrate the kickoff that also included an
auction to raise money for the Pediatric Brain Tu-
mor Foundation, with nearly $10,000 raised.
New to this year's show, the AIMExpo also
played host to the 2014 AMA Hall of Fame Induc-
tion ceremony that was held on the Friday night. So
plenty of racing stars and legends were on hand
over the course of the show.
Of course as the show's official "Champion" Kev-
in Schwantz was on hand as well as newly retired
MotoGP racer Colin Edwards and his wife to talk
about the new Yamaha R3. Florida resident and
AMA 450 Motocross Champion Ken Roczen also
showed up over the weekend to sign autographs
and participate in a question and answer session.
Kawasaki used the AIM-
expo to show off its new
models to both the press
and the public.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
ANDREA
WILSON
