"Motozima 2017": exhibition review

The “Motozima” exhibition is a relatively new event and it is only being held for the third time, and counting “MotoSpring” - for the fifth time, but it is rightfully considered one of the most important events in the Russian motorcycle world.

If you have already been to Motowinter 2016 or MotoSpring 2017, then you probably know that in front of the pavilions you can traditionally meet stuntriders of all stripes. They came this time too, however, in addition to traditional motorcycles and pit bikes, this year you could also see trikes, the rear wheels of which were inserted into scraps of plastic water pipes.

Despite the sub-zero temperature, there were many people who wanted to watch the stuntrider show

In recent years, drift trikes have become a fashionable trend - investments in the construction of such a device are minimal, it begins to skid almost immediately, and the engine does not need high power. At the same time, the entertainment and pleasure from the rides is immeasurable - an ideal combination of qualities for a sports trend that claims to be popular. That is why, despite the chilly wind and cold, the performance traditionally attracted many spectators.

Performance by stunt riders at the Motozima 2017 exhibition in Sokolniki

In the first pavilion, where the exhibition began, although it was crowded, there was no excitement. Large manufacturers, for the most part, bypassed the exhibition, concentrating all their efforts on preparing for EICMA 2021.

Motorsports fans were also not deprived of attention - Russian superbike teams were presented at the exhibition

For example, Yamaha[/anchor] brought almost the entire range of motorcycles presented in Russia to Sokolniki, as well as several jet skis, outboard motors, and off-road equipment - ATVs and buggies.

The Niken trike, the concept pickup truck and the new flagship tourist, shown at the Tokyo Motor Show, have not yet reached Russia, but the new products of this year could be touched, and some even sat on: MT-10 SP, updated MT-09, new, in general, everything what you can go and buy.

The entire range of motorcycles and scooters is presented at the Yamaha stand

But BMW, on the contrary, despite the large stand, decided to make the exhibition thematic, presenting the Heritage line, consisting of factory custom BMW R NineT. The motorcycles are certainly beautiful, but not exactly new. Among the premieres - a luxurious version of the K1600 and a bagger, somewhat different from the prototype that the Bavarians brought to Los Angeles a little less than a year ago.

In addition, the Russian representative office of the company, together with the Moscow Department of Transport, is holding a competition “Moscow is a city for motorcyclists”, the winner of which will receive a full set of BMW motorcycle equipment.

In addition to various versions of the neoclassic R NineT, motorcycles from the K1600 family can be seen at the BMW stand

Directly opposite the German stand was Bikeland, which presented almost the entire KTM model line, including the flagship 1290 Adventure, 1090 Adventure, motocross and enduro motorcycles, as well as the new Duke 390. In addition, at the company’s stand you can choose motorcycle equipment for any type of motorcycle.

Bikeland's stand is the second in size and quantity of equipment presented.

But the rest did not take the exhibition so seriously: (Stels brand) brought several ATVs and snowmobiles, including the “Moroz” snowmobile, shown to the general public for the first time, leaving motorcycles without attention. Rolling Moto had to take the rap for everyone, building an excellent exhibition of Kayo motocross bikes and high-quality Fly equipment. Nearby there was a stand with Chinese motorcycles.

A stage with musicians, a dozen stands of companies selling equipment, fuels and lubricants, rubber, tools and pit bikes. In addition to them, it’s worth a look at the IZH electric motorcycle in police livery, which justified the most caustic comments of evil tongues and turned out to be an Irbis TTR pit bike with an electric motor, clumsy tail and archaic instrumentation.

Special correspondent Dmitry Fedotov is skeptical about the products of the Kalashnikov Concern

But the second pavilion, where the custom show took place, justifies the money spent on the ticket to the last penny. And even though the Ural stand, located at the very end, looked modest, for the domestic motorcycle industry this is a huge step forward. Just three motorcycles, a banner, a sofa and a TV, which showed our video review of “Gir-Apa”. For the first time in many years, Ural appeared at a motorcycle exhibition, it is alive, it is cheerful, it wants to fight for our hearts and wallets.

The main focus of the custom show at MotoZima 2021 was motorcycles with side trailers

But still, the main thing is the exposure of the custom show. The organizer of the exhibition, Dmitry Khitrov, admitted that the idea of a themed custom sidecar show was born at the last moment, but hit the mark: the times when a motorcycle with a sidecar was something indecent are long gone, and there are more and more sidecar lovers every year. And not only as winter transport, but also as art objects. How much does a Ducati Diavel with a side trailer cost? The entire pavilion was filled with strollers of all ages and makes, among which was the combat K1100LT, in which Dmitry Fedotov conquered the North Cape and actively logged kilometers last winter.

The famous Great Red Shark BMW K1100LT that conquered the North Cape

Five years ago, no one could have imagined such a stir! This fact was noted by many other prominent enthusiasts and fans of sidecars, for example Vasily Biryukov, founder of the TruMotor company specializing in the repair and tuning of Ural motorcycles, admitted that even during his arrival at the exhibition he was stunned by the number of sidecars.

Custom Jawa by Zillers Garage

So is it worth going to the Motozima exhibition? Definitely, especially if you want to keep your finger on the pulse and closely follow the trends in domestic motorcycle culture. The event is significant, without any discounts.

Video review of the exhibition “Motozima 2017”:

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Just recently I happened to go to the motorcycle winter 2017 exhibition. I’ll give my impressions and some photos below the cut.

The exhibition turned out to be not as big as I imagined. There are only two pavilions, small in area.

In the photo above I am perched on a Batovskaya beha. My impression of the plastic is that of a ship. There is a lot of flat plastic at the front, which gives the impression of the incredible width of the motorcycle. There, next to them on the left, stood an electric motorcycle from the Kalashnikov concern. As a traffic police representative told me at the exhibition: “they were made and purchased to ensure order in crowds and parks, since their engine does not make noise and will not irritate people in the crowd. And it can accelerate to a maximum of 130-140 km/h, so there are no plans to use them in the city and on the highway. For the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it is planned to equip the traffic police with fifty of these motorcycles.” The idea, of course, sounds good, it remains unclear to me, but for what purpose is order in the crowd and parks given to the attention of the Road (!) Patrol Service... Well, you can come up with a lot of answers, but still there is a part of the illogicality here. Among the famous participants I noticed BMW, KTM and Yamaha. I may have missed the others, but these were the ones that stood out the most. At the KTM stand I sat on an adventure game. Surprisingly, with my height (186), I could not reach the floor with my feet. Either the suspension was well unloaded and he stood higher, or this is a motorcycle completely for tall travelers. At the Yamaha stand I was able to sit on the brand new P6. Well... as Bolt says: sport is like sport. It would be more interesting, of course, to test all its electronic bells and whistles live.
By the way, about Bolt. And he was there, and we managed to take a photo with him and chat with him: The BMW stand was located almost in the middle of one of the pavilions. There were many models presented there, for some reason most of them were given to cafe racers, which turned out to be not comfortable for me: the seat went into the tank somehow... too wide or something. In general, the legs and knees were not very comfortable. Well, why not climb on motorcycles: In the second pavilion there were numerous shops with paraphernalia, hardware, chains... in general, everything that makes you feel like a chopper rider from the films. In the same pavilion there were also choppers, which, alas, it was impossible to sit on... In general, if I take my subjective opinion as a student, there was nothing to do at the exhibition for 500 rubles. I could similarly drive through motorcycle showrooms during the season, spending much less on gas, and also stopping at Kawasaki and Honda. So, for those who haven’t been yet and are thinking about going, I hope my post will help you make some decisions, depending on what exactly you are interested in.

“Motozima” does not close the season

PHOTO Mikhail SIMONOV

Motorcycles with sidecars are a narrow class for the elite. Such equipment is practically not produced in series; if you want to ride on three wheels, you have to either buy a not very modern Ural, or build it yourself from a single one. Both options could be seen at Motozima. The Irbit Motor Plant, the last of the world's major manufacturers of motorcycles with sidecars, exhibited fresh models in retro style, but with modern components, including from the best international factories. Modern Urals drive much better than Soviet ones, but they also cost a lot.

PHOTO Mikhail SIMONOV

Most of the specialized stroller hall consisted of motorcycles of its own design. Simpler examples had modified Soviet-era “cradles” attached to modern two-wheeled vehicles. More complex devices were completely redesigned, even to the point of creating entire units of their own design. Thus, the first place in the custom competition was taken by the Ducati Diavel, a very fast “Italian” with a light, streamlined side trailer. The modification not only did not spoil the appearance of one of the most beautiful motorcycles of our time, but also made it more expressive.

Unlike most exhibits of two-wheeled custom shows, the self-built stroller was made with active use in mind, including in winter, when three support points work better than two. Therefore, most motorcycles came with some kind of story. For example, the bronze medalist in the tourism category put his BMW K 100 LT on car wheels, for which he had to seriously redo the chassis. And then I got on it with a friend in Severomorsk and drove to Vladivostok. Everything would have been fine, but the journey began in January and lasted a month. And the winner in the touring competition built a motorcycle from a very rare off-road Harley with drive not only on a regular rear wheel, but also on a sidecar wheel. And in winter he set off to conquer the Far North, where not every jeep can travel. Moreover, he not only drove himself, but also pulled his one-wheel drive companions out of the snowdrifts.

PHOTO Mikhail SIMONOV

The creative part of the motorcycle crowd was grouped in the hall with sidecar motorcycles: artists, tattoo artists, customizers. And in the neighboring pavilion there were stands with factory equipment, equipment, tuning and other related products. A new modification of one of the most expensive motorcycles in the world, the P51 Combat Fighter, worth about $200,000, was shown by Confederate Motorcycles. Among the more affordable equipment, Japanese manufacturers were present, as well as neighboring competitors from the European Union BMW and KTM. At the Yamaha stand, for the first time in Russia, one could see the Sidewinder turbocharged snowmobile with 180 horsepower. The Bavarians showed several new products at once, including the long-awaited bagger K 1600 B. The Italian concern Eni showed a new line of motorcycle chemicals. To make it more convenient for a motorcyclist to transport liquids, they are packaged in soft containers, which take up less space in a backpack or case.

PHOTO Mikhail SIMONOV

This year, Motozima brought together all the major Russian motorcycle manufacturers. The world premiere of “Stels” was held by Moroz. This snowmobile is built according to the “Buran” principle, with one ski and two tracks, and is distinguished by good finishing, modern components and a low price, from 250,000 rubles. The Kaliningrad company Baltmotors showed a family of motorized towing vehicles, universal working machines for little money. The young brand Dragonfly exhibited Russian snowmobile, ATV and motorcycle equipment. Unlike many, his clothes are made not in China, but in Yekaterinburg. The manufacturer uses membrane fabrics and other modern technologies and at the same time keeps prices noticeably lower than those of imported analogues.

PHOTO Mikhail SIMONOV