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For years I’ve manned booths at the IMS and covered it as a member of the media, and for the life of me I could never figure out why anyone would pay $15 a head ($6 for kids 6-11) plus another $10 for parking ($52 total for a family of 4 before tacking on wildly overpriced food and beverages) just for the privilege of dry humping the same bone stock bikes that they could have dry humped for free at a dealership. In today’s economy? For reals? When every OEM not named Ducati isn’t even putting out a single all-new model for 2011? I just figured it was meant to remain one of life’s little mysteries to me, like how Brittney Spears can even see where the hell she’s going when her eyes are farther apart than a hammerhead shark’s.

But it’s a new era at the IMS, and while dropping the better part of a Benjamin for a family day of communal HOG-ercise banging out reps of the “straddle, wiggle, and thrust” maneuver always seemed ludicrous to me, I have to admit that there’s now some serious eye-candy to tempt your wad out of your wallet. No, sadly they haven’t increased the booth bunny quotient. Heck, vendors haven’t been able to afford those since 2008. But the addition of the Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show to this year’s itinerary has done wonders for the scenery, and in my eyes brought it on par with other events worth paying to attend.

Judging is done by the entrants themselves, although a “People’s Choice Award” is given to the build that gets the most votes from attendees. Three cash prize winners are awarded for freestyle, modified Harley, and performance custom, at each of the 12 regional shows, and out of the 500 total entrants, $90,000 total in cash prizes will get doled out. An American Championship winner will be crowned at the Daytona Beach IMS held during Bike Week, and as a result some of our finest metal benders are contributing their artistry.

According to Progressive International Motorcycle Shows VP and General Manager Tracy Harris, “Our partnership with Biker Pros Media and affiliation with the AMD World Championship, coupled with the built-in visibility from more than 600,000 motorcycle enthusiasts who attend our motorcycle shows, has positioned this contest to be a must-enter for custom bike builders. No other competition will offer this much exposure to custom bike builders or the chance to become the definitive American Championship of custom bike building.”

Add on top of all that chunky glitter goodness, a stunt show, demo rides from H-D, Victory, Star, Triumph and others, and you have a pretty enticing proposition. After all these years, I think I finally get it IMS, or to put it more accurately… I think you guys finally got it.