Features

Third V-Twin Expo expands

The third annual V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati next month is expected to have about the same number of exhibitors as last year—about 270 companies— but they’ll be strutting their stuff in much more space.
The V-Twin Expo will be held Feb. 1-3 in the
Albert Sabin Convention Center, Cincinnati. For registration information, see www.vtwinexpo.com. The Expo focuses on American V-twin parts and accessories.
The show has signed up for the last bit of floor space available in the Convention Center, adding room for about 70 more booths.
Last year, 269 companies rented 566 booth spaces for the three-day show, according to Jim Betlach, show manager. This year, as of Dec. 16, 642 booth spaces were rented to 261 exhibitors. Betlach is vice president of Paisano Publications, the show’s owner. By comparison, he said, the first year the show had 188 exhibitors in 340 booths.
“Exhibitors are expanding their presence at the show,” he said in an interview with Powersports Business magazine. “We’ve had some large increases; very few have decreased their size.”
One of the largest expansions, he said, involves Chrome Specialties and Custom Chrome, which last year had 12 and six booths, respectively. This year they have combined their efforts into one 36-booth space.
Also growing this year, Betlach said, is the popular Custom Bike Showcase which features bikes made by small custom builders. “The response last year was really good,” says Betlach, “so we expanded it this year.” The space has grown from 20 x 60 feet last year to 20 x 100 feet this year.
Betlach also is looking for an attendance increase this year, although he says it’s too early to estimate what that might be since so many registrations come in at the last minute.
Last year, he said, attendance was 5,305, but only 71%—3,766—were dealers. The remainder were exhibitors and other non-dealers.
New this year is the Power Panel, a seminar bringing together leading V-twin performance experts who will discuss ideas on developing V-twin power.
Among the performance specialists scheduled to serve on the panel are: Danny Fitzmaurice, Zipper’s Performance Products; Tom Pirone, TP Engineering; Nigel Patrick, Patrick Racing Engines; Jim Sekora, Merch Performance; and Scott Sjovall, S&S Cycle.
The panel is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

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