30 • March 2025 • Powersports Business

AIMExpo has been to Orlando , Columbus and Vegas in its 11-year history , and in 2026 it will move to Anaheim , California just before the SMX A1 race , according to show organizers . “ The King ,” Elvis , would ’ ve been 90 years old .

BY BRENDAN BAKER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In January , music fans celebrated Elvis ’ s 90th birthday , and what ’ s more Vegas than The King of Rock-n-Roll ? The American International Motorcycle Expo , better known as AIMExpo , has certainly tried to integrate itself with Las Vegas for the past four years . And by all accounts , it worked reasonably well for the MIC , which owns the show ( with its OEM member companies ).

The good news for the industry and MIC members was that the event ’ s last show in Vegas hit all the right notes with a bigger dealer turnout and overall industry attendance than the previous year .

During the Vegas event , AIMExpo had signage to announce they are moving to Anaheim , California , in early January 2026 , marking its fourth city to host the annual powersports trade event since its inception in 2013 .

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AIMExpo began with the intention of becoming the American version of EICMA , the 100−plus-year-old motorcycle show in Italy that is the gold standard of motorcycle industry events . The creators of the U . S . event aimed ( pardon the pun ) to offer something for consumers and dealers . While AIMExpo includes a little bit of everything from OEM launches to new products and educational sessions , it ’ s like walking through an online marketplace where one can be easily distracted and lose focus . It ’ s best to have a plan and stick to it .

BIGGEST , BEST YET Boasting some of the biggest numbers ever for exhibitors and attendance , the MIC Events team is looking ahead toward moving AIMExpo to Anaheim , California , following a four-year run in Las Vegas . The tradeshow will move to early January in 2026 .

AIMExpo staff says the final show in Vegas was the biggest and best one yet , as the annual tradeshow will open the SMX season in Anaheim next year . “ Thank you for making this year ’ s show the best one yet ,” says Cinnamon Kernes , MIC vice president of market expansion – in a message to attendees and participants . “ The energy was exceptionally high , the feedback overwhelmingly positive , and attendance by dealers and industry leaders the strongest we ’ ve seen .”

Inside the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center last month , AIMExpo reports it hosted more than 2,400 dealers , representing over 1,000 dealerships and more than 400 exhibitors – including more than two dozen OEMs and nine distributors . In total , there were 5,347 powersports professionals who attended the final show in Vegas .

On Wednesday , Feb . 5 , in the South Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center , AIM- Expo kicked off with a slew of new product presentations on the media stage , and a guided OEM tour on the show floor . The

tour included Suzuki , Moto Morini , the Piaggio Group , the KTM group of brands , Zero Motorcycles , Royal Enfield , and Segway .

Wednesday ’ s highlights included an AIM- Expo kickoff session on protecting and promoting powersports , an update from NPDA , and a presentation on how to streamline your service department , among others .

AIMExpo Kickoff Session : Protecting and Promoting Powersports . Sam Dantzler and Tony Gonzalez , founders of Garage Composites , led the discussion with trainers Jordon Schoolmeester and Jolene Krizan on today ’ s industry trends and where the industry is headed . They also interacted with the audience , which had their own questions , insights , concerns , and ideas discussed on the stage .

NPDA shared how the dealer association is helping to protect your investment . Lightspeed offered a session on streamlining the service department , and Rollick presented how to use AI to win and keep more customers .

Other presentations on the show floor included a live taping of Powersports Business ’ popular podcast Power Hour , where we spoke with F & I expert Rob Greenwald and Alex Reyes of Broward Motorsports .

The AIMExpo Industry Party powered by Turn 14 Powersports was excellent , as always , for meeting up with friends old and new after a busy day on the show floor . We met some friendly exhibitors from the U . K . who were kind enough to share their space around a faux campfire with our team as we joked , laughed , and made fun of each other ’ s dialects .

Personally , I think the timing of the 2026 event is a bit off . It was better in the fall , if you ask me . With the show being held in January , EICMA and ( every other year ) INTERMOT steal the thunder from the new product launches . Part of the fun of going to a big show is being the first to see the new launches . To be fair , AIMExpo had a few , and the media tour on the opening day is a good way to wrangle attention and see what ’ s happening with the OEMs .

Something I ’ ve never understood about AIMExpo is why its MIC member companies ( you know , those ‘ leading brands ’) don ’ t put on their own dealer events at the same time . Many OEMs do this in Europe during EICMA and INTERMOT . But we get almost no cooperation between the big member companies other than to agree to