REPORT – 2019 Australian Motorcycle Festival
Words: Phil Suriano
Photos: Yamaha Motor Australia, Royal Enfield, Phil Suriano
In a depressed motorcycle market, it’s a pretty ballsy move to run a motorcycle expo. It’s even ballsier to do it at a new venue, do it outdoors at the mercy of the weather and do it with an unproven format. But that’s exactly what Troy Bayliss Events (TBE) did on 9-10 November with the ‘Australian Motorcycle Festival’.
That title sounds grandiose, but based on my time at the event, it came very close to living up to its name.
The Good
First reason for the success of the Australian Motorcycle Festival was the location – Lang Park in Wollongong – that allowed for numerous activities and fan engagements, including stunt bike displays and test rides from several brands. The Wollongong Harbour waterfront location allowed Personal Watercraft to be part of the show, too, and like the bikes, test rides of the PWCs were available, with pillion rides on offer if you didn’t have a jet ski licence.
Second reason was that most of the major motorcycle brands were in attendance. Yamaha dominated, but the likes of Kawasaki, Royal Enfield, Honda, Harley-Davidson and CFMoto had impressive displays, too. Dealer-sponsored stands from KTM, Ural, Indian, Suzuki, Ducati and others ensured most brands were represented. In fact, only BMW and Triumph were notable by their absence.
The third reason for the event’s success was combining the expo with the third round of the Australian Supercross Championship. TBE run both, so it was a pragmatic – and clever - move to hold them together and there’s no doubt in my mind that the two events fuelled each other. Punters going to the supercross at WIN Stadium called into the expo beforehand, while many going to the expo on Saturday were no doubt tempted to extend their day with an evening of supercross action.
Fourth and final reason was that the festival wasn’t just a static show. As well as the aforementioned test rides, there was lots of action in the form of stunt riding from Matt Mingay, Dave McKenna and Lukey Luke. Plenty of kids were getting their first taste of motorcycling on the courses set up by Oset bikes and Yamaha’s bLU cRU. Yamaha also had their Tenere 700 virtual reality experience for punters to try and there was even a Yamaha kids’ fishing workshop!
The Bad
As good as it all was, there were a few areas that could be improved and no doubt TBE took a lot away from this festival to apply to future events.
Firstly, traffic was a bit of a nightmare. I rode my BMW R1200 GS up from Sydney and was glad I did. Not only was it easier to lane filter through the traffic; there was free parking on site for motorcycles - a great move! But anyone who drove would have spent a LOT of time getting to the venue and even longer finding somewhere to park. I think the traffic and logistics caught TBE by surprise, but I’m sure they’ll iron that out next time.
The food and drink vendors were excellent, but there were too few of them, leading to long queues for coffee and a bite to eat. Same goes for toilets and that’s something that will need to be addressed.
While things like this can be fixed relatively easily, the great challenge for TBE – and indeed anyone organising a major bike show - is getting the industry on board.
A decade ago, we seemed to have bike shows everywhere, but we had a much healthier industry then. Now, the local arms of most brands don’t have the same sort of cash to splash on shows and events. There’s no magic wand you can wave to fix that, but having smaller presentations, like the dealer-backed displays seen at Wollongong, is one solution in ensuring that there is at least some form of representation for all brands, so consumers like you and me get a better idea of what’s available in the two-wheel world.
The Awesome
Being so close to EICMA, there wasn’t much in the way of new metal debuting at the Australian Motorcycle Festival, but it was good to see Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire and the Yamaha Tenere 700 - especially after the latter’s WTF moment last year when a cargo crate was presented.
The other new metal of note was the production (or very-near production) version of the C Series electric bike from Savic Motorcycles. Having seen the concept/prototype at the 2018 Melbourne Moto Expo, I can attest that Savic have come a long way in 12 months. The C Series looks a lot more “complete” and much more aesthetically pleasing than the concept. The price is pretty tasty, too, starting at just under $13,000. They still have a way to go, but the young, energetic crew at Savic look like they’ll get there. It’s exciting to see this Aussie startup move forward.
My other takeaway from the festival was how well the test ride element was embraced by showgoers.
There were Honda, Harley-Davidson and Yamaha bikes to try. The latter brand saw more than 160 riders enjoying a winding 45-minute test route on a fleet of 17 bikes, from the NMax scooter and multi-wheel Niken, through to the new 2020 YZF-R1.
Speaking to staff from Urban Moto Imports (Royal Enfield, Benelli, MV Agusta, Peugeot, Super Soco), they were rapt, too - for every bike on display they had a demo bike as well, so if you liked the look of something from their range, you could also take it for a ride to get a sense of how it felt. UMI said they averaged 75 test rides each day, with two specially set up courses: one shorter for the Super Soco, smaller Benellis and Peugeot scooters; and a longer course for larger Benellis, Royal Enfields and MV Agustas.
UMI also presented the six entrants in the Royal Enfield ‘Busted Knuckles Build Off’ competition. If this one slipped past you, earlier this year, six Royal Enfield dealerships were called on to create a custom based on the Continental GT 650 and Interceptor 650 twins. Dealerships from around Australia and New Zealand took part, with each producing their custom twin to a specific theme.
I’m sure the Busted Knuckles builds were a big reason why the Royal Enfield display was packed with people each day.
Speaking of people, there were close to 20,000 attendees across the weekend. That’s pretty good for a first-time event held outside a capital city.
Future Template
So, has the Australian Motorcycle Festival set a new template for bike shows – a more interactive event paired with other attractions (like supercross) in regional areas? It’s too early to tell, but this first festival was so good that I’d be very surprised if Wollongong doesn’t host another in the future. If it gets up and goes again, that’s got to be a good thing for the industry and consumers alike.
