Culture Notes Vol.5: The Trophy Was a Guitar — One Person’s Taste, Placed at the Centre of a Trade Show

Last time in this column I wrote about SEMA adding a custom motorcycle category — the giant four-wheel aftermarket show creating one more judging seat. Almost as soon as that piece went out, the North American powersports industry's own trade show moved in the same direction. AIMExpo announced The Builders Cup Fueled by Drag Specialties for its March 3–5, 2027 edition in Orlando, Florida. The bikes will sit in a dedicated show-floor space called The Builders Club, right in the middle of the aisles walked by manufacturers, distributors, dealers and media. Drag Specialties is the title sponsor, and S&S Cycle is said to be involved in a substantial way. Something that lived outside the show has been invited inside.

Trade shows have not really been builders' territory until now. They are where you negotiate with the people who supply your parts, not a floor where you park the machine you made and let it be looked at. So custom announcements always split cleanly in two: shows were shows, trade shows were trade shows. Now a section named The Builders Club appears, and the bikes will sit along the routes walked by dealers and media. A change in who lays eyes on your work is, quietly, a big change for the person who made it.

What drew me in most was the award. The Sturgis Buffalo Chip will present the Spirit of the Chip Award, given to the machine that best embodies the freedom and individuality at the heart of motorcycle culture. This award is not new to AIMExpo. It was there for the February 2024 edition in Las Vegas, and the judging then was refreshingly plain: Buffalo Chip president Rod "Woody" Woodruff picked the bike that fired him up the most. That was the whole method. The trophy was shaped like a guitar, and it came with two week-long passes to the Sturgis rally. Instead of putting the criteria into words, they handed over an invitation. It is the same as the thirteen Sturgis shows I wrote about in Vol.3 — that place does not go looking elsewhere for approval.

The industry comments attached to this announcement, on the other hand, are written in an entirely different language. Cinnamon Kernes, vice president at the Motorcycle Industry Council, said custom builders have long served as an early indicator of new styles and technology before they reach the market. Paul Langley, chairman and CEO of LeMans Corporation, said that when builders have access to the right products and support, they do not just create incredible motorcycles — they inspire the entire industry. Both are warm, and I think both are sincere. But the moment a culture is called an "early indicator," it becomes a little bit of data. A builder's aesthetic starts being read as a trailer for next season's best sellers — when what a builder cut away and what they kept is really not a market story at all, but a story about what that person finds beautiful. The way that mood shifts scares me slightly. Although if the support means more people get to build at all, that is straightforwardly a good thing too.

Which builders get in, what format the competition takes, how the judging works — none of it has been announced. It is due in the coming months. So what I can say right now is roughly half anticipation and half caution. Still, there is one thing I am optimistic about: the trophy is a guitar. Not a craftsmanship score, not a count of social media reactions — an object handed over purely because one person's heart raced, placed in the very centre of an industry trade show. As long as one unmeasurable thing survives in there, I do not think the energy of that scene dies. Sturgis needs no one's approval, SEMA hands the judging to its own Top 10, and AIMExpo is importing one man's racing heart wholesale. With three circuits of approval lined up in a single year, I suspect we will look back on 2026 as something of a turning point. In March 2027, which machine will it be? More than the judging criteria, that is what I want to wait for.