2013 International Motorcycle Show, San Mateo: Part 1 – The People

As a hardcore motorcyclist, it doesn’t get much better than living five blocks from the venue for the Progressive International Motorcycle Show.

Although Geico and Allstate would disagree, Progressive suggests you “Go with the Flo”

The show visits twelve cities each year and my home city of San Mateo, California is the first of the annual tour schedule.

I feel sorry for the truck drivers going between show venues which criss-cross the U.S.

Last year, I posted photos from the show for everyone who is not as fortunate to live nearby one of the cities that host the show. I got a lot of encouragement from the visitors to that post, so this year, I spent two full days at the show and took many more photos which are posted here. I spent most of my time taking pictures of the people who visit the show instead of just the bikes. I found it interesting to chronicle the general motorcycling public and see what they enjoy.

Paraphrasing the famous Honda ad campaign: “You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle.” Here are some of them from the show. You can roll-over photos to see captions, or click any photo to enter full-screen slide carousel mode:

“And my feet even touch the ground!”

ATGATT

Balls

The infamous “Bocci” on a KLR650

The infamous “Bocci” on a BMW GS

Another view of the infamous “Bocci”

“But does it wheelie?”

“But you said it would be THIS birthday!”

Checking out the merchandise

Colors

Decisions, decisions

“Does it come in plaid?”

Dueling cameras

“That’s wooonnnderful, Honey.”

You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle

“Hmmmmm…eight whole horsepower?!”

Hold still

“HOW much?!!”

“Mmmmmmm…Yamaha”

“Nice ride”

No school like old school

Old school, through and through

“Once…at Moto camp…”

“Hmm…only $129 a month.”

“Ooooooo…mama!”

Specs, specs…and more specs

“Sweeeet!”

“Three wheels…now you’re talking’!”

Drizzle, druzzle, drazzle, drone…time for this one to go home

Too much excitement

“Yeah, that’s what I’M talkin’ about.”

And not to be left out, here are some of the valiant workers that create a great experience year after year at the show:

Advertising “below the fold”

“Ausgezeichnet!”

”Nuff said

Celebrities on stage

“How does that Harley feel?”

“Is it lunchtime yet?”

Look at all that shiny chrome.

“My feet hurt already!”

Old school – new school

“Shouldn’t you be working?”

Sister Golden Hair

“But that’s not all…”

The 510 Color-Werks crew

“Those are some mighty fine brochures.”

This year, the show featured a really great rock band, the school of rock all-stars. It made for a great vibe:

But the people aren’t the only stars of the show, there is also the food:

The real reason to attend the show

Up next: Part Two: The Bikes