Words: Bill Bryant  /  Photos: Geoff Kowalchuk

What started out about a decade ago as a parking lot sale has evolved into a full-on happening. January is the perfect time of year when there are not many competing events, we’re all pretty over the holidays and So Cal weather is generally good enough to make travel from colder climes worth doing. This year the weather didn’t quite cooperate and we got some heavy rain in the afternoon but that’s why we hold it indoors at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Even with some gloomy weather, this was the best year yet!

Originally, we needed an outlet to sell Biltwell products that had been returned or had damaged packaging, etc. You might be surprised how many things we get back because of the tiniest scratch. Selling this stuff helps us out and stoked our local customers who get a deep discount one time per year. In recent years we’ve reached out to our friends like Dixxon and Rusty Butcher who bring their closeout stuff as well. The idea was to make it kinda like the old Ski Shows where you could buy perfectly good gear that was a year or two old.

The sale is really just one component of the Expo nowadays. For 2023 we had 60 custom bikes on display and over 50 vendors. Winners from four categories walked away with a cash prize of $1000 and we even raffled off a custom-built Softail by Speed-Kings Cycle.

On Friday night, since we all had to be there for load-in anyway, we decided to host an “Industry Workshop” where me and four other guys got on stage, talked about moving forward in today’s business climate and then took questions from other vendors. It seemed well-received and we are going to grow this next year to make it even more beneficial to entrepreneurs and brands of all sizes. We came up in the Action Sports industry before starting Biltwell in 2006 and several old salts told us that P&L reminded them of the early Action Sports Retailer shows.

Like always, we’ll do an AAR and figure out what we can polish and improve on for next year and we’re not afraid of constructive criticism so leave any comments below. More info if you'd like to be involved next year: www.partsandlaborexpo.com

Josh Burkey, Best Modern/Wang Sport 

Thanks to our friends at J&P Cycle who helped put on our Parts and Labor Motorcycle Expo this year. Continuing with their support of the DIY/backyard builder, they’re offering a 15% off discount when you use the code PARTSANDLABOR on their website: www.jpcycles.com
Exclusions apply: www.jpcycles.com/promotion-exclusions