After months of preparation, we finally have a huge scale event besides the many bike week organised all over the nation. Although bike week is very regular in the country, however the primary focus on bike week is mainly for easy riders with those awesome rumbling sound from the exhaust.So IMF take the 1st step to organised a grand event that caters for all bikes.
International Motorcycle Fair is said to be promising, and I believe will move the market. After months of painstaking promotion and preparation, the inaugural International Motorcycle Festival 2014 kicked off on 19th December 2014 at Bukit Jalil.
MOS had the chance to work together with IMF hosting the inaugural months long convoy ride. Our convoy spearheaded many other weekly convoyed which is a part of promotional activity by IMF. Our convoy of 57 bikes ended in Ducati HQ for a preview which coincidentally Ducati’s 1st time is hosting it. So as usual, our team of writers were so excited and all of us looked forward to this market changer event.
So we went. Upon stepping in, I was required to buy a ticket so I question the crew. I remember very well this was supposed to be a free entry event as per advertise since day 1. The crew calmly answered you will get a free ticket with a purchase of a drink. Although it’s not much of a money, but I was annoyed by the hidden clause which is not as per advertised. But that not our main motive there. I was there to cover this event.
Remembering day 1 when the promotion began, I remember there’s 3 halls available. However, I notice 2 halls were missing. As I stepped into the hall, I am saddened to see only 30% is bike related. The rest is either empty or rented to non-bike related business i.e. jewellery, casual shirts and even food! What happened to the market? Why can’t we support a local event?
When it comes to outside, I must applause IMF as they had their enduro track setup very nicely. With tonnes of dirt, mud andsome custom iron works; it is not easy to have the enduro track setup in matters of days. Well done to that.
And besides the main hall, IMF placed quite a numbers of booth outside and and KTM has the most prominent booths (since they were main sponsor for this event). As I walked around, I spotted few familiar brands. Sigh of relieve. Unlike the shocking experience I had in the main hall, at least it looks more like a bike fair outside. We have BMW, Chear Motorrad, Aprillia, Ducati, Victory, Naza Bikes and few others. However, the bigger player like Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki is no where to be seen.
Day 1, the crowd is low as expected as it’s a working day. So I was hoping that Saturday could bring more crowds. However, on Saturday (Day 2); thanks to the traffic jam caused by the AFC Football Final between Malaysia and Thailand, the traffic practically stood still. And the weather did not give any mercy to IMF; it pours non stop since noon. I guess many expect to have overflowed crowds thanks to football match, but that is not a genuine crowd we all hoped for. However, in the morning, I see quite a number of bikes parked at the assigned zone. But most of it left when it started to rain.
So we put hopes to the final day of IMF which is Sunday. With better traffic, the genuine crowds might be better, like we all hoped for.
