Motosalon 2020: the most packed year in the fair’s history

 

The eleventh year of the Motosalon international fair for motorcycles, ATV’s, accessories and clothing took place this year at the Brno Exhibition Centre between 5 and 8 March 2020. The traditional start of the motorcycling season was, according to preliminary information, had approximately 55 000 visitors. The largest number came as usual on Saturday.

“I was very much surprised by the huge range on offer of all the brands, including those that had earlier not taken part. Visitors came from the whole republic, despite the warnings against taking part in mass events. Motosalon 2020 was the best in the 11 years that we have directed it,” said Jiří Kuliš, the general director of the BVV Trade Fairs Brno company. 180 journalists were accredited in the printing centre.

The Motosalon occupied the Halls P and F of the Brno Exhibition Centre. Other voluntary events concerning motorcycles and motorcycling lifestyle took place in Hall Z and the surrounding area. All in all, the Motosalon occupied 23 000 square metres. The Brno Exhibition Centre has the only grounds in the country where it is possible to organise such a large motorcycle fair.

160 exhibitors with almost 400 brands took part in the fair. For the first time in the fair’s history, the number of exhibited motorcycles, scooters and ATV’s exceeded the magic number of 1000. All the major brands that exist on the Czech motorcycle market presented models at the Motosalon. Many of the exhibitors also took into account the current trend of lowering emissions and many brands had vehicles with electric propulsion.

Traditionally, the fair was opened with an emphasis on motorcyclist safety, a topic that was seen throughout the accompanying programme. Most often spoken about was the responsibility of motorcyclists, the state of the roads and also safety equipment, for example the airbag vest.

Even at this year’s Motosalon fair, visitors could, with the mobile app BVV Trade Fairs, scan QR codes on individual motorcycles, scooters and ATV’s and save the product list of the exhibit onto their mobile phones. This year, visitors could scan QR codes of over 400 motorcycles, scooters and ATV’s.

New additional events: 100 custom builds, 40 thousand burgers and a stunt championship

The custom build competition Czech Custom Grand Prix had its premiere at Motosalon. The starting line included 102 competing conversions, originally modified motorcycles. The modified machines presented themselves in ten categories. The high level of the competition was commended by other organisers of world AMD competitions, who had come from the Netherlands and England. In terms of the number of motorcycles it was the largest exhibition of its type in central Europe.

Hall Z was occupied by the largest Czech indoor food festival, Burger Arena. Motosalon visitors ate an unbelievable 40 thousand burgers in four days, with many thousands of other meals and drinks produced by the suppliers.

For the first time, the Czech Stunt Riding Championship took place together with Motosalon. The prestigious event was brought to Brno by the organiser of the Ostrava Czech Stunt Day and by one of the best Czech motorcycle stunt riders, Adam Peschel. More than 20 of the best Czech riders took part in the race programme.

The new accompanying programme was completed by the traditional Show Arena, including stunt riders from Crazy Day, gymkhaners and motorcycle instructor Míra Lisý. On Saturday, the Harley drivers from the Harley-Davidson Club Brno arrived on the grounds. The visitors also praised the humorous Saturday race of motorcycling celebrities riding historical 50 cc motorcycles Jawa Babetta and Jawa Mustang.

Czech Motorcycle Brands

After last year’s exhibition of the project BÖHMERLAND 21, this year included two functioning prototypes, one with a combustion engine and the other with an electrical engine. Another Czech brand, JAWA, presented both their new models produced in the Czech Republic and the retro Jawa 300, produced in India.

Motorcycling Figures

On Thursday 5 March at 1:30 p.m. the ceremonial opening took place in the Hall F. General Director of BVV Trade Fairs Brno and other guests wished visitors a happy and primarily a safe journey. In the second part of the opening, the actors Pavel Liška, Jan Révai, Lukáš Langmajer, Monika Leová, Eva Decastelo and Bára Mottlová took to the stage. For many of them, it was not their first time at the Motosalon and they arrived on stage on stylish motorcycles.

2020’s motorcycle of the year is the HONDA AFRICA TWIN ADVENTURE SPORTS

On Saturday 7 March, the results of the survey Motorcycle of the Year 2020 in the Czech Republic (Motocykl roku 2020 v České republice) were announced at the ceremonial evening. 33 models in five categories were registered, ranging from scooters through Enduros, classical motorcycles, naked bikes to road motorcycles. The absolute victor of the survey was the HONDA AFRICA TWIN ADVENTURE SPORTS, which also received points in the category of Enduros, including travel models. Honda had further successes in the category of scooters and mopeds with its HONDA SH125i and in the category of road motorcycles with its model HONDA CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP. The category of choppers and cruisers was dominated by the Harley-Davidson Low Rider® S and the category of naked bikes was won by DUCATI STREETFIGHTER V4S. The Motorcycle of the Year 2020 in the Czech Republic survey is proclaimed by the Svaz dovozců automobilů (Association of Automobile Importers) and organized by joint-stock company BVV Trade Fairs Brno. Since 2015, the survey has been connected with the Motosalon fair.

Next year’s Motosalon fair will be organised by the BVV Trade Fairs Brno company between 4 and 7 March in the PVA Letňany grounds. The greatest motorcycle holiday will return to its “home field” in Brno in March 2022.

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What they said about Motosalon

Josef Pokorný, secretary of the Association of Automobile Importers (SDA)

The best year of Motosalon

To end the whole event, I must give great thanks to the organisers and also to all the visitors, who helped make this the best year of Motosalon and of the 2020 Motorcycle of the Year survey, despite the complicated situation surrounding the coronavirus in Europe and the connected worries concerning preventive measures. The huge amount of interest, an unexpectedly large number of visitors and the sales statistics for last year, which rose, unlike for example automobile sales, are all good signs for a successful motorcycling season in 2020.

 

Adam Žert, Vespa, Piaggio, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi

Motosalon calmed the situation

We are very happy that the fair actually took place and we think that it generally calmed the situation in business. The media bubble is one thing, but reality tends to be a little bit different. I would especially like to thank the team of organisers for the brilliant service, including communication and PR.

 

Filip Tichý, Chairman of the Expert Jury of the survey Motorcycle of the Year 2020

The linking of Motorcycle of the Year and Motosalon was once again successful

The large number of new motorcycles registered in the competition and the numbers of those voting in the survey Motorcycle of the Year show that interest in motorcycles is still on the rise among the public. The choice of this year’s finalists and of the final winner wasn’t easy, since even single-track machines are slowly starting to see electric propulsion and new technology such as turbo-diesel engines. The connection of the Motorcycle of the Year survey with the Motosalon fair was once again very successful and the visitors could see real models in the exhibits and based on that, vote for their favourite nominated motorcycles.

 

Ondřej Hrůza, organiser of the Czech Custom Grand Prix

BVV Trade Fairs Brno did their job well

We are really satisfied with the Motosalon fair and we liked the arrangement of Hall F, full of premium brands. The cooperation with the exhibition and competition of custom builds was also successful and interested a similar group to that of owners and fans of Indian Motorcycles. I visit a lot of similar events all around the world, and I must say that Motosalon can hold its own among the best international events. It is obvious that the BVV Trade Fairs Brno do their job well. We could see a lot of enthusiasm in the visitors and we liked the idea of cooperation with the Burger Arena, which worked well on Friday as a place where visitors could have something to eat in the shelter and warmth of the period pavilion.

 

Bedřich Snášel, organiser of the Burger Arena

I respect Hall Z

At the Motosalon, we organised the largest indoor burger festival in the Czech Republic, in which over 70 sellers took part. According to rough estimates, 40 000 burgers were eaten. At first, I was worried about being in the Hall Z, but in the end, everything went brilliantly – I must say, I respect Hall Z.

 

Adam Peschel, organiser of the Czech Stunt Grand Prix

Motosalon is a holiday for motorcyclists

I am glad that we organised the championship as part of this fair, which is a true holiday for motorcyclists. The atmosphere was perfect, the visitors saw our new programme and came repeatedly throughout the day. There were many viewers and the riders were brilliant, they managed the situation perfectly.

 

Michal Fric, Harley-Davidson

In Brno, there is just a better atmosphere, comfort and service

At the Motosalon, one could see that motorcyclists are just a different kind of people – all of them arrived. We value the cooperation with the Burger Arena, providing refreshment for not only us from Harley-Davidson, but also for our customers. Next year, I would like to see some ladies who do pole dancing – we would really like that.

 

Petr Kříbala, Honda

This year was truly successful for us

We give this year a very good rating. We won the Motorcycle of the Year survey and all the people, who were truly interested in our motorcycles could come and see them. We value the brilliant accompanying programme, including the new Burger Arena with refreshments. This year, there was a greater interest in testing out scooters and we are glad that the BVV Trade Fairs Brno helped us and provided us with personnel.

 

Petr Krajča, BMW

True fans of motorcycles won’t be stopped by anything

We see the fair as very successful. With the current situation, when we didn’t know until the last moment whether the fair would take place, we were a bit worried. However, true motorcycle fans showed us that they will always arrive.

 

 

Tomáš Loukota, Suzuki

Everything went according to plan

I am satisfied. The current situation led to a smaller number of children at the fair, which suits us.

 

 

 

Martin Tománek, Yamaha

After the Motosalon, all the people from Prague would stay in quarantine in Brno and happily do so :)

We are happy that the event took place, because there was a really large amount of stress just before the beginning. However, the atmosphere here is truly friendly, and though we are competitors, there is no problem for us to sit down at one stall. Our customers also arrived, which is good. And we were joking that in the end, all of us Prague citizens will stay in quarantine in Brno.

 

Peter Chudý and Petr Doža, KTM

We value the great cooperation with the Burger Arena

For us, it was a brilliant event, we did not know how it would go down until the last moment, but everything ended up how it should. We also think that the cooperation with Burger Arena and other accompanying activities was a brilliant idea.

 

 

Radek Klimeš, Triumph

For us, all is in order

This year, we are in the classic’s hall in Hall F and do not feel somehow pushed out. The fair is going according to plan. For us, all is in order.

 

 

 

Petr Knobloch, Böhmerland

Motosalon is a guarantee of good atmosphere

Amazing atmosphere, pleasant people, a constant huddle of visitors surrounding our motorcycles and the fact that together with Motosalon, we had huge publicity, all of it made us very happy. For us we value the very professional approach from both sides and for us, maximum satisfaction.

 

Jiří Kraft, Jawa

We entice visitors not only with our beautiful motorcycles, but also with our beautiful hostesses

From the very beginning of the event, we are swamped by people, who have different questions and in general are interested in our motorcycles and in our Indian manufacturing. It is positive that people no longer criticise us, but rather see us as producers of retro motorcycles in the classic volume class. After a long time, we can present our machines and entice visitors not only with our beautiful motorcycles, but also with our beautiful hostesses.

 

Libor Nevima, Nevima Group

Enough visitors and customers

This year is great, there is a sufficient number of people here. We have good-looking machines at our stall, so we have many visitors. The model Benelli Leoncino garnered the most interest.

 

 

Jakub Šafránek, BRP – Can-am

Motosalon helps us build our brand

For us, the fair is a matter of brand. We must show that we exist and that we are still on the market. We liked the spread of visitors throughout the individual days and the general service by BVV Trade Fairs Brno.

 

 

Martin Šrámek, Royal Enfield

Huge interest in series motorcycles and conversions

I believe that the number of visitors signifies success. The interest in our motorcycles is at a stable high. I am glad that we brought not only our series motorcycles, but also conversions, which were a source of great interest. The greatest interest was focused on our main models, the two-cylinder motorcycles, TWINs and the Himalayan model.

 

Libor Hubík, PSí Hubík

I was surprised by the good mood of the visitors

I rate it as one of the best, or maybe even the best year of Motosalon out of the times that we have visited the fair. People are really interested, despite the situation that exists at the present. After dilemmas and worries, concerning whether Motosalon would actually take place and if people would come, I have been happily surprised by the number of visitors and the atmosphere here. At our stall, there was interest both in the products and travel and in the season as a whole. In my opinion, it was perfect.

 

Tomáš Kopřiva, SUMOTO

The fair gets an A from us

After great fears up to the last moment, the fair was great and gets an A from us.

 

Diana Pětíková, Motocentrum Barth

For the first time at Motosalon with great success

The atmosphere is brilliant, we really like it here. There is a lot of interest in motorcycles and rental, so we are totally enthusiastic.

 

 

 

Pavel Efler, GBOX

The atmosphere was brilliant

We wanted to address the wider motorcycling community and so we chose for us the most effective method, which was taking part in Motosalon in Brno. The number of visitors was good and the clients were interested in our product, which is the transport of motorcycles.

 

 

Pierre Coppa, MV69

We visited Motosalon for the first time and we certainly want to continue this trend

We are very happy; have a good spot and I think that we will certainly want to continue like this. So, brilliant. All the clients that bought a motorcycle from us in the past ten months came to visit us.

 

Petra Hrůzová, press spokesperson for the Regional Directorate of the Jmk Police

Motosalon is for us the beginning of the motorcycling season

We are here every year and Motosalon is for us the beginning of the motorcycling season, which is connected with road safety. We really liked it here, it was simply amazing.

 

 

Pavel Liška and Jan Révai

We are the tail among motorcyclists

It was perfect, because we took part mainly for the people. In the opening ride, we intentionally stayed at the tail, with the oldest motorbikes. We also feel like the tail among motorcyclists.

 

Martin Písařík

At the Motosalon, I won second place in the Babetta race

The people showed that they aren’t easily manipulated by mass hysteria and didn’t let themselves to be discouraged from going to something they are interested in. We presented the travel series Po jedné stopě here and thanks to my honest boy-scout approach to the marked track, I gained second place, just seven laps behind Míra Lisý :-)