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Why HasThe Mid-West Become A Spyder Rally Wasteland??????

MikeT

Member
I'm a Hoosier and bought my first Spyder RT Limited in 2015, after years of riding H-Ds and GL1800 trikes. At that time there was a handfull of Spyder Rallies in the Mid-West that we could choose to go to. I bought my second RT Limited in 2021, and there were still Spyder Rallies in the Mid-West. Now that we're in 2026, all but one rally still exist in the Mid-West(Zanesville, OH). On it's website in announces that the 2026 Rally will be the last one. Leaving the Mid-West with no Spyder Rallies within a 3-5 hour trailer ride. This leaves the other rallies 10-12 hours away one way pulling a trailer. For a whole host of reasons( gas prices, crazy freeway traffic), we've decided that it's not worth it to drive a day for a 3 day Spyder event.
 
Geographically speaking, is Indiana really mid west? I hear that about Wisconsin and I chuckle. Me personally, I consider WY, CO, NM, OK, KS, NE, SD, ND, TX and MT to be true mid west 😆
 
I’m in UT. They say we are in the west. That’s as might be, but it’s still a long way to the seaside. This country is huge. Having been born on an island where you can’t get more than 63 miles from the coast, theoretically, it’s weird. And when this half of the country is like 15% of the population, it’s even weirder. So to me, the mid west is everything from a few hundred miles to the east until you get to like PA, NY or NJ.

As for Spyder rallies any one of them would have been a three day trip just to get there. It’s a shame, as I’d like to have gone to one, but it would have been a trek I think a lot of these things were down because of Covid and such things never recovered as owners start to age out. It’s not a young person’s vehicle in the main..
 
I'm a Hoosier and bought my first Spyder RT Limited in 2015, after years of riding H-Ds and GL1800 trikes. At that time there was a handfull of Spyder Rallies in the Mid-West that we could choose to go to. I bought my second RT Limited in 2021, and there were still Spyder Rallies in the Mid-West. Now that we're in 2026, all but one rally still exist in the Mid-West(Zanesville, OH). On it's website in announces that the 2026 Rally will be the last one. Leaving the Mid-West with no Spyder Rallies within a 3-5 hour trailer ride. This leaves the other rallies 10-12 hours away one way pulling a trailer. For a whole host of reasons( gas prices, crazy freeway traffic), we've decided that it's not worth it to drive a day for a 3 day Spyder event.

I've been asking the same question as some annual rallies have gone to occasional rallies. I think part of the issue is vendor attendance is less at these rallies...which is one of many reasons I attend them. Less quality vendors, less reason for people to attend. Part of the reason I go is the opportunity to have custom service done on my Spyder that I can't get through my dealer. I think for vendors, attending the rallies have become less profitable and more hassle than what they provide through E-Commerce and their local shops. There are other factors of course.
 
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