2023 Las Vegas AIMExpo
Nearly 4,500 attendees from 39 countries gathered in the Las Vegas Convention Center in February for AIMExpo 2023, the powersports industry’s three-day annual trade show. More than 300 companies participated, bringing new bikes, gear, apparel and services for motorcyclists and powersports enthusiasts.
“Fueled by the new product unveilings and educational sessions and presentations, the energy on the floor was incredible,” said Cinnamon Kernes, vice president of market expansion for the Motorcycle Industry Council.
WRN staff, who live on opposite coasts of the U.S., enjoy a rare opportunity to hang out together at the Ride With Us area during the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) after party. Pictured is editor Tricia Szulewski (left) and Co-Chairwomen Sarah Schilke (middle) and Erin Sills (right). Ride With Us travels to motorcycle events across the country with a goal to get “more riders, riding more.” Event attendees can sign up for the 45-minute ride experience (geared especially for those who have never been in the riders’ seat) and take a spin on an electric bicycle before riding the course on an eMotorcycle. Photo courtesy of Sturgis Buffalo Chip COO, Robert Pandya.
Sarah mingles with industry power women at the Main Street Moto Party hosted by owner Tara Pierce along with
Marilyn Stemp of Iron Trader News and Penny Osiecki of Lucky Penny Marketing. Other women in attendance include moto event announcer Jacqui Van Ham, Jill Parham of the National Motorcycle Museum,
Theresa Contreras of Real Deal Revolution with Jessi Combs, Celine Gonzales and Jayme Gunderson of Red Rock Harley-Davidson, Emily Dury (coach for
Polaris Women’s Snowmobile Adventure), Jessica Shine of Brands that Shine, Mama Dee, Tiffany Bennett, Maggie Hicks, “Mean Jean” Bolinger, Jan Norskog, and Kendra Liechty.
Brittany Olsen enlightens editor Tricia about the correlation between the Iron Lilly Project’s main character and her own story. The future feature film is set to highlight the life of motorcycling pioneer Lillian Farrow, who’s story goes well beyond owning the oldest Harley-Davidson dealership in the world. For more information check out IronLilly.com.
We were super excited to meet up with some of our favorite on-air celebrity ladies. Pictured here is Liza Miller (left) and Miss Emma Boonton (right) of Re-Cycle Garage and the Motorcycles & Misfits podcast. No one can rock lavender coveralls quite as well as our friend Jacqui Van Ham (middle), announcer and podcaster of All Things Motorcycle.
Jacqui and her crew get ready for a broadcast for industry publication Motorcycle & Powersports News.
Sarah sits down for an interview with fellow industry veteran, Tigra Tsujikawa, of industry magazine Dealernews. The two talked about the latest trends in motorcycling and motorcycle products as well as what is coming up at WRN.
Incidentally, last year the publication named the WRN team (Genevieve, Erin, Sarah, Tricia) and many of our contributors (Kirsten Midura, Porsche Taylor, Alisa Clickenger, RedSpade, Jean Turner, Tigra, Marilyn Stemp, Cris Sommer-Simmons, Gin Shear, Sue Slate, Jenny Lefferts) to its roster of the Top 100 Women in Motorcycling.
Editor Tricia meets Ashley Lusky from KickStandsUp which is helping enhance WRN’s Women’s Motorcycle Calendar of Events to help you find cool rides and events.
Riding Gear For Women
Liza and Erin spend time checking out the cool graphics of woman-owned JustRide5 base layer and mid layer shirts. JR5’s Chris Briggs and Jenn Guerriero are peeking through the selections.
Always on the lookout for great new motorcycle gear for all kinds of riding, Erin spots the Dainese booth and tries on one of its women’s textile jackets for size.
Anya from Atwyld holds up one her favorite items—the Rennix Moto jacket. The jackets, pants, and jumpsuits they craft are all high-quality original designs
made for women by this small women-owned company.
We are excited to see some companies with women’s gear that we’d never seen before, and find a wider selection of women’s gear here than at past
AIMExpos. This is one of WD Motorsports’ women’s textile jackets. This company also has riding jeans, leather jackets, and an armored flannel jacket made for women.
Gunswear is another company with excellent wares designed for female riders. Erin tries on one of her favorites—“Racing” of course!
Jenn and Jon from
Hightail shows off some cool new fabric with fun designs for their helmet hair protectors.
Sarah split her time with the folks at SW-Motech. She is presenting the latest technology in luggage systems, bike protection, and rider ergonomics for everything from cruisers to sportbikes to the latest ADV motorcycles to Brian and Shira from Backroads magazine.
Cool New Bikes
Erin loves the design and seating position on Suzuki’s all new 2023 GSX-8S motorcycle. The 776cc streetfighter starts at $8,849 and offers modern technology like ride modes, traction control, ABS, and a smooth clutch-assist system.
Benelli surprises us with how many motorcycle genres they have. ADV, standard, sport, cruiser, scooter, and electric motos are all represented. In the foreground (green bike) is its parallel twin-powered 302S. The white bike is its 500cc Adventure bike, the TRK502.
Meeting a Legend
Kerry Graeber of Suzuki Motor USA interviews keynote speaker Angelle Sampey, one of the winningest NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racing champions, having won 46 event victories, the most wins for any female in both NHRA competition. She speaks about her retirement and subsequent return to racing as a mother, and her perspective on being a woman on the motorcycle racing scene, and how to use the unexpected to break down barriers and achieve success in life and business. Her legendary Hayabusa racebike graced the stage as well.
The WRN team enjoys this amazing and rare opportunity to pose with the racer.
Sarah has been a big fan of Angelle since she started riding. Angelle was the first woman motorcycle racer she had ever heard of and was thrilled to hear about her re-emergence on the racing scene, so Sarah was literally the first in line to meet her after the speech. We hope to do an interview with the legendary drag racer later this year.
The WRN team steps into the selfie station at the AIMExpo industry party to wrap up a fun 2023 event.