Portland, Oregon is home to the One Moto Show, now in its eighth year in 2017. Held February 10-12, it has doubled in size each year due primarily to its founder, Thor Drake, his staff, volunteers and a plethora of manufacturers such as BMW Motorrad, Indian Motorcycle, Ducati, KTM, Ural Motorcycles, Alta Motors, and the year 2017 had presenting sponsor, Harley-Davidson.
Thousands stood in line patiently waiting to get inside on opening night, and despite the rain, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd one iota.
“Our driving force to keep this going was the feeling that we were adding to something that we loved. We want to give back to motorcycling. We want to be inclusive and inspire people to participate. As things progressed, the show got bigger. We’ve been in multiple locations, and have been lucky to work with some of the most trusting sponsors within the world of motorcycles,” said Drake.
Along with the bike manufacturers, they were joined by parts, accessory and lifestyle companies, from Icon, Wyotech and Bell Helmets, to Red Clouds Collective, Danner, Fox Racing’s Moto X LAB, Alpinestars, Ship John, Roland Sands Design, Iron & Air, LED Lenser USA, American Flat Track, Meta Magazine, and newcomers like Pack Animal, ATWYLD, and Velomacchi Privateer Gear.
According to Ural Motorcycles’ Matt Trigaux, “Whether it’s camping, casual riding, or off-roading, we see customers utilizing the capabilities of our sidecar and on-demand 2-wheel drive to compliment their lifestyles and activities. We see strong growth in both the outdoor markets and with casual riders. What’s exciting is the universal appeal we see from customers with varied backgrounds. They imagine how Ural can fit into their lifestyle, and approach purchasing with activities in mind of how they’ll use the product in different ways.”
Launched in July of last year, women’s motorcycle gear and apparel brand ATWYLD was inspired by the void in gender specific gear. Founded by Anya Violet, Jaime Dempsey and Corinne Lan Franco, ATWYLD was created to put a layer between female riders and the road that is both stylish and functional. “We created the word ATWYLD to represent the single moment that exists between fear and thrill. It’s that moment when you are on the absolute edge of your comfort zone and your adrenaline is pumping. Riding a motorcycle is, for us, about reaching this ATWYLD moment as often as possible,” stated Lan Franco, ATWYLD’s creative director.
San Francisco-based Fictiv, a rapid prototyping and distributed manufacturing company, used this opportunity to introduce FOSMC: Fictive’s Open Source Motorcycle. With FOSMC, 57 open source modular part designs can be accessed, easily assembled with no welding, and produced with standard prototyping technologies. Designed to work with Amazon Web Service’s innovative new IoT (Internet of Things) platform for motorcycles, Fictiv states that in a weekend, a custom-designed, street-legal motorcycle can be built with a wrench and some hand tools.
“Our driving force to keep this going was the feeling that we were adding to something that we loved. We want to give back to motorcycling. We want to be inclusive and inspire people to participate. As things progressed, the show got bigger. We’ve been in multiple locations, and have been lucky to work with some of the most trusting sponsors within the world of motorcycles,” said Drake.
Drake, the 1Moto Show’s founder and creative force, somehow found time to collaborate with Fox Racing’s Moto X LAB, the engine for new products and ideas that drives innovation across both performance and cultural spectrums, linking products, athletes, and culture with a fresh perspective.
Products with the LAB moniker are created with a special amount of thought and ingenuity, developed outside normal day-to-day constraints. The Moto X LAB serves both their Fox and Shift brands.
Brisbane, California’s Alta Motors designs and manufactures some of the most advanced electric motorcycles in the world. Their goal is to create bikes that are easier to ride fast than anything else out there, with instant throttle response, and flat, endless torque. The ST displayed at the 1Moto Show is their latest.
With 154 days of measurable rain per year in Portland, the 1Moto Show seems impervious to the weather, as they concentrate on what is within their control, which is making the event different and exciting each time. Quite possibly, this is the best show on two wheels.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the August 2017 print issue of the Drive Magazine.
