AIMExpo shuts down Polaris exhibit

Let’s just say that got my interest.

It also caused some hard feelings with Polaris.

In addition to the indoor booths at the show, there’s an outdoor area for demo rides. Along with the more typical demo rides, Polaris brought its Slingshot “Joyrides,” an attraction it has offered before at venues such as the Black Hills Classic event in Sturgis, South Dakota, and Daytona Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Slingshot is a three-wheeled vehicle introduced in 2015 that combines elements of a car (a steering wheel and side-by-side bucket seats) and motorcycles (no roof, no doors) and the “Joyrides” event pairs passengers with professional drivers who burn out and drift their way through a road course.

Polaris planned to offer Joyrides for the duration of the AIMExpo, but the event was shut down after the initial two trade- and press-only days. It was not permitted to operate during any consumer-facing show days. A Polaris spokesman said the company had invested time and effort into promoting the event, was concerned consumers would blame the company for not offering the rides as promised, and argued that the Joyrides activity is exactly the kind of thing that really engages customers and is what the industry needs right now.

Larry Little, Vice President and General Manager of the AIMExpo confirmed the shutdown, and said it was necessary.

“This is on us," Little said. "We didn’t know about the volume of tire smoke the exhibit would create. It was non-stop, and we didn’t know that the wind direction would be working against us. This year we were constrained on demo space, and though we love tire smoke, it was becoming a health issue… some other demo teams showed up the second day with surgical masks. We’re as disappointed as Polaris was, because as show promoters, we love this sort of thing.”

Why this got my attention

All this piqued my interest. Apparently, this damn Slingshot is so adept at laying down rubber that the whole exhibit needed to be shut down for two days?! This is news, people.

Since its inception, there have been questions as to what the Slingshot actually is. (In some U.S. states, like Montana, Wisconsin and New York, it’s considered a motorcycle and in others it has been classified as an autocycle. Some states had to create a new category for it because it fit into none of the definitions on the books.)

We wrote a piece or two about the Slingshot back when it came out and Lance also wrote about this thing, so even if you don’t think the Slingshot is a motorcycle, I can make a strong argument there’s room for it to take up a few more bits and bytes on Common Tread. I don't give a rip what it is; a rose by any other name smells as sweet. I am interested in finding out if I can lose traction in new and creative ways. If you ain’t slidin’, you ain’t ridin, or something like that, right?

So in the interest of journalistic curiosity, I asked Polaris to send us one of these to test before snow flies up here in the Northeast. They’ve agreed, so expect to see some stupidity in vehicular testing that’s a little out of the norm for us here at Common Tread.

I have a feeling I can invite a shutdown or two of performances of my own.