Dealernews back issues from March 2007:
Exhaust Notes
Mar 01, 2007; ... Shafer Not Helping I thought your magazine's function was to promote and help dealers. It appears more and more that you only want to promote those that sell their products online. What wilt those people be selling if there are no more brick-and-mortar dealerships? I just ...
New $$$ in Sportbikes
Mar 01, 2007; ... It can be safely said that the vitality of a market segment can be judged by the activity of the aflermarket that serves it. In this case, the sportbike segment is alive and doing quite weli. It wasn't that long ago that the aftermarket for sportbikes was pretty limited. It consisted ...
FOR THE RECORD
Mar 01, 2007; ... * Todd Shafer, "Selling Online": After writing my sidebar on Motorcycle Superstore (January), some readers may have gotten the impression that it was a Web-only operation ....
Polaris: 2006 Was 'Disappointing'
Mar 01, 2007; ... Company hopes for rebound in second half of 2007 Polaris Industries CEO Tom Tiller describes 2006 as a "disappointing" year for the company. It was, he says, a year in which "the negatives outweighed the positives." Victory motorcycle sales increased 13 percent over 2005, to ...
H-D Union Strikes (But At Least It May Reduce Inventories)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Nearly 2,800 union workers walked off the job Feb. 2 at Harley-Davidson's York, Pa., production facility, a move that proved to have a snowball effect on the manufacturer's other assembly operations. Anticipating the walkout, Hariey-Davidson one day earlier shut down York's Touring and ...
Yamaha: Business Conditions 'Worrisome'
Mar 01, 2007; ... Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. ended 2006 with record net sales and income, but company officiais say a slowdown in motorcycle sales in North America and Europe last year may cause concern if it continues through 2007. Yamaha net income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, was 77.2 billion yen, up ...
Honda Forecast: Full-Year Cycle Sales Up 1.8%
Mar 01, 2007; ... Honda Motor Co. Lid. expects to sell about 10.460 million motorcycles and ATVs in its fiscal year ending March 31, up 1.8 percent from 10.271 million units sold last fiscal year but still below the 10.476 million units sold two years ago. The company said it had net sales of 948.8 ...
Arctic Cat Lays Off Workers, Expects Profitability to Drop
Mar 01, 2007; ... Minnesota-based Arctic Cat Inc. cut about 65 jobs in February in a move company officials say "reflects the realities" of the snowmobile market. "We are right sizing the business to lower our cost structure, strengthen our profitability and increase our long-term competitiveness/ ...
Int'l News
Mar 01, 2007; ... Japan's Cycle Production Down in 2006 Japan's four main motorcycle manufacturers produced 1,771,386 units in Japan in 2006. down 1.1 percent compared to production in 2005. The results reflect a production decrease after two years of growth, says the Japan Automobile ...
BMW Achieves Record Sales in 2006
Mar 01, 2007; ... BMW sold 100,064 motorcycles worldwide in 2006, 2.7 percent more units than the 97,474 units delivered to customers in 2005 and the first time sales have exceeded 100,000 units. BMW Motorrad USA, the distributor of BMW motorcycles in the United States, retailed 12,825 units in 2006, up ...
KTM Q1 Sales Up 18.1%
Mar 01, 2007; ... KTM Power Sports AG had sales of 129.5 million euros for its first quarter ended November 30, 2006, up 18.1 percent from sales during the same three-month period in 2005. KTM says an improved model mix featuring a higher ratio of two-cylinder models and ...
Across the States
Mar 01, 2007; ... California A Sacramento Superior Court judge denied a request by environmentalists to bar vehicles from a popular Imperial County off-road area known as Truckhaven. Conservationists want the entire area added to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park with the goal of protecting sheep ...
BRP Debuts Three-Wheeler
Mar 01, 2007; ... Bombardier Recreational Products has been saying for years that it would be on the road some day. That day could come as soon as this fall in certain states when the company begins shipping its new three-wheeled Spyder. The Spyder is classified as a motorcycle, but looks something like a ...
Snippets
Mar 01, 2007; ... Case Aims for World's Largest Honda Dealership Rick and Rita Case are preparing to build what they say will be the largest Honda motorcycle dealership in the world. The $15 million, seven-story, 275,000 sq. ft. store near Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., will be quadruple the size of their ...
Lane Changes
Mar 01, 2007; ... Ducati North America recently made several internal promotions and new appointments in sales and parts departments. Jason Chinnock, recently an Area Sales Manager covering the Midwest, has been promoted to the position of national sales manager, overseeing all aspects of Ducati sales in ...
Dealer-Friendly Brands
Mar 01, 2007; ... Stock strong products that earn their space Some big brands are well known and easy to sell, but do they have good customer and dealer support behind them? Are they profitable, or are they overly saturated in the territory or too available in the growing world of discount mail order? Has ...
Recognize Your Regulars
Mar 01, 2007; ... How many of your online customers return for more? For the past two columns I've focused on measurements that gauge the success of your e-commerce operations. I'm going to finish up this series with a two-part segment looking at one last measurement: repeat customers/visitors as a ratio ...
Powersports Catwalk
Mar 01, 2007; ... Fashion shows highlight apparel in real-world setting One popular attraction at a motorcycle consumer event is a fashion show. It's a great way to show off new product to customers. A fashion show can be used for so much more than exhibiting the latest gear. Not only can it be an ...
Special Report: The Top 100 Dealers of 2007
Mar 01, 2007; ... Harley-Davidson dealerships take 1, 2, 3 in this year's competition Harley-Davidson dealers hit a trifecta, winning the top three awards in the 2007 Dealernews Top 100 program. Doc's Harley-Davidson, based in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, won the grand prize for its ...
Hometown Heroes
Mar 01, 2007; ... Doc's Harley-Davidson partners with St. Louis' favorite sports teams and wins Consider this; The top Harley-David son dealer in the Midwest could have ended up a Walgreens. Now ask yourself the following: Does the world need another Walgreens? Back in 1999 Patty Bush decided the ...
Hiring Your Coach
Mar 01, 2007; ... A sales team feeds off the competency of its manager The first people customers usually see when they enter your store are the sales staff. Now that our new dealer principal has purchased the existing dealership, written the business plan, and upgraded the landscaping and some of the ...
SALES ON FIRE: Sportbike Sales Rocket Up
Mar 01, 2007; ... From stunters to track bikes, customs to canyon carvers, now's the time to reach the sportbike crowd If you read last month's column by Don Brown, you probably weren't surprised by his conclusion that Sportbike sales are on fire with Suzuki leading the pack with sales of about 63,000 ...
SLAMMED, but Not Raked
Mar 01, 2007; ... Dealers should take notice of the customized sportbike scene remember the chopper craze? by Dennis Johnson Remember the days when chrome and billet were strictly the purview of the V-twin crowd? When slammed and stretched came with 45 degrees of rake? When unsprung weight meant ...
Chasing TOMMY HAYDEN
Mar 01, 2007; ... Track days and schools tap into growth of sportbike market dealers can too On a motorcycle, there's very few places where one is in a controlled environment. Outside the space inside our helmets, it's mostly a free-for-all filled with murderous minivans and thoughtless pot ...
Piaggio '07: Focus on Service
Mar 01, 2007; ... OEM targets higher sales, better dealer relationships Piaggio Group Americas (PGA) had three major goals in 2006 - to improve infrastructure and service capabilities, enrich product offering, and enlarge its distribution network. PGA president Paolo Timoni says the company "made ...
Vespa Dealers Critical of Piaggio Expansion Efforts
Mar 01, 2007; ... A growing number of Vespa/Piaggio dealers report they are unhappy with the company's expansion efforts in the United States, saying that the OEM is poaching its already small customer base and cheapening its brands with the rapid growth campaign. The problem started when the Piaggio ...
Copycat Crisis
Mar 01, 2007; ... Patent infringement a bigger and bigger problem Troy Lee Designs (TLD), Corona, Calif., recently reached an agreement to settle a patent and trademark infringement lawsuit against Viva Motor Sports Inc., Vernon, Calif., relating to TLD's Speed Equipment (SE) helmet. But the story ...
Polaris Launches 'Muscle' UTV
Mar 01, 2007; ... Utility-terrain vehicles were designed, as the name implies, to offer more capacity for utility use than a standard all-terrain vehicle. By design, the UTVs are heavier than ATVs, slower than ATVs, and appear to be configured for a rider who opts for more creature comforts in his or her ...
ATV Competition Heats Up in 2007
Mar 01, 2007; ... Kawasaki and Suzuki plan to enter the 2007 ATV racing scene with updated crews. The Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team looks to the all-new 2008 KFX450R sport quad and three experienced riders to bring home a championship. William Yokley will compete in the ATVA/AMA Grand National Cross ...
Honda Recalls TRX450ER/R
Mar 01, 2007; ... American Honda Motor Corp. Inc. last month recalled about 11,000 units of its 2006TRX450ER/R. The company says the front suspension arm bail joints could have been contaminated during production, resulting in rapid wear of one or more of the ball joints and possible ball joint ...
Canada Updates ATV Council
Mar 01, 2007; ... The Canadian All-Terrain Vehicle Distributors Council has kicked off 2007 with a new look and a new name. The national nonprofit association is now officially recognized as the Canadian Off-Highway Vehicle Distributors Council (COHV). "As the voice of the industry, and in our ongoing ...
KYMCO Growing Pains
Mar 01, 2007; ... Taiwanese OEM fights low-price competition In 2006, KYMCO USA retailed nine ATV models, 15 scooters and one motorcycle model. Dealernews recently interviewed KYMCO USA president Eric Bondy and KYMCO USA vice president of sales and marketing Bruce Ramsey while they were in Taiwan ...
China Begins UTV Production
Mar 01, 2007; ... China's Jiangsu Linhai Power Machinery Group Corporation is offering what could be the first utility-terrain vehicle to come from China. Unveiled last year at EICMA in Italy, the Linhai 300, available in green and "Deepwoods" camouflage, is powered by a liquid-cooled 300cc four-stroke ...
Honda Offers $10 Million Contingency
Mar 01, 2007; ... The Honda Riders Club of America (HRCA) is posting $10 million in racing contingency awards for 2007. Honda-mounted amateur and professional ATV and motorcycle riders will be eligible at nearly 700 events across the country, including AMA-sanctioned supercross, motocross, ...
Bosski Debuts the Trailers for Trails Program
Mar 01, 2007; ... Bosski Inc. has launched a new program to help nonprofit associations and ATV dubs in the United States and Canada expand, maintain and enhance the safety of ATV trails through the use of ATV Wagon trailers. "Many trail organizations have contacted us wishing they had one of our rugged ...
Clymer Debuts Suzuki LT-Z400 Manual
Mar 01, 2007; ... The latest Clymer repair manual is for the '03-'07 Suzuki LT-Z400. As usual, the manual provides step-by-step procedures based on the complete disassembly of the vehicle. Hundreds of original photos and illustrations guide the reader through every job ....
High Marks for H-D
Mar 01, 2007; ... Consumer survey ranks Harley-Davidson above industry average for thorough sales process, follow-through Harley-Davidson salespeople are more likely to fully engage a customer, a virtue that earned the OEM's dealerships high marks in a recent consumer survey. H-D's sales folk ...
Head Out to the Smoke Out
Mar 01, 2007; ... Add another rally to your to-do list for the year and get an inside look at a driving force in the V-twin industry - The Horse Back Street Choppers Smoke Out East. Blowing into the Rowan County Fairgrounds near Salisbury, N.C., June 22 and 23, the Smoke Out East has gained legendary ...
But Will It Be Tie-Dyed?
Mar 01, 2007; ... Showroom and service department space, a larger parts department, a tattoo parlor and an outdoor bar area are all part of a 16,000 sq. ft. expansion planned for Rick Fairless' Strokers Dallas. The addition to Fairless' 35,000 sq. ft. biker bonanza will increase showroom floor space ...
Existing In Limbo
Mar 01, 2007; ... V-Twin Expo reveals snapshot of an industry in flux Will S&S Cycle own the future aftermarket engine market? Has the V-twin crowd finally accepted fuel injection technology, or has it been forced down their throats by the government like a teaspoon of castor oil? Have emissions ...
New PRODUCTS
Mar 01, 2007; ... BIG TWIN DEALER Pampered Passenger North County Custom's leg risers provide a secondary foot location so that passengers can change their position without shitting their butt and, with it, the driver's balance. The secondary peg location is approximately 8.5 inches higher and 4.5 ...
Cross-Functional Harmony
Mar 01, 2007; ... Every department should have equal sway in decisions I just returned from Harley-Davidson's winter dealer meeting in Orlando, Fla. While there I had the pleasure of speaking to dozens of people. The question I asked almost all of them: "How's business?" The answer I received most often: ...
Tucker Rocky Rolls Ahead
Mar 01, 2007; ... More suppliers, closer relationships prove beneficial Tucker Rocky Distributing is a company in a constant state of metamorphosis, which upon closer examination is probably good for a supplier of trend-rich powersports parts, garments and accessories. Five years ago the company ...
TR Builds on Sport Sales
Mar 01, 2007; ... Tucker Rocky Distributing president Steve Johnson says increases in business in 2006 came largely from ATV parts and accessories and a boost in sportbike product offerings. For 2007, the company plans to expand those categories as well as a few others with 88 new ...
Too Many Questions
Mar 01, 2007; ... These are interesting times - the end of one year, the beginning of another. But will '07 be another record year for motorcycle sales? Not likely. Downward pressures on sales have finally spilled over and put just about every segment in the red. How much red ink? That's a big question! * ...
Sled Heads Die Hard
Mar 01, 2007; ... Snowmobilers optimistic despite poor riding conditions OK, there hasn't been any snow to speak of this year - again - in the big snowmobile states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, where about two-thirds of new sleds are sold. And it hasn't snowed much on the East Coast, ...