Top 5 OEM Updates of 2015
Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec (February issue) Yamaha Motor Corp., USA hosted a rather impromptu media tour in January ostensibly to highlight the company’s UTV manufacturing capabilities in its Newnan, Georgia, plant. It also provided a perfect backdrop to roll out the brand new 2016 Wolverine R-Spec model. Tough to tell which is more impressive! First, a
Best of 2015 Pit Pass
Crashing Shoei’s Top Secret Hornet X2 Pre-Launch Party (January issue, page 56) A couple days before the North American premier of Shoei’s newest helmet at the International Motorcycle Show in Washington, DC, a “top-secret” pre-launch press event was held in the wilds of Southern California… literally. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park played host to
Polaris RZR UTV World Championship Returns to Laughlin, Nevada in 2016
The four-day event format will once again feature one full day of racing, contingency and tech in downtown Laughlin, demo and enthusiast rides, and a business-to-business UTV industry summit.
Shifting Gears December 2015
Our friends at MotorcycleIndustryJobs.com report a record year for the number of “Help Wanted” ads placed in the past 12 months. We have tracked some of the highlights of this year’s new hires going back to January.
AMA Motorcyclist of the Year for 2015 is Wayne Rainey
The American Motorcyclist Association has announced its 2015 Motorcyclist of the Year: AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend Wayne Rainey. Rainey, three-time world champion, two-time AMA Superbike champion and now president of MotoAmerica, leads a team that has revitalized professional road racing in the US.
Shifting Gears – November 2015
Michael Lock is the new CEO for AMA Pro Racing. After serving as a strategic business consultant during the 2015 flat track racing season, the board decided to bring him onboard full time.
INTERBIKE
Interbike is the largest bicycle industry tradeshow in North America, hosting the two-wheeled world for five full days of product demonstrations, education and industry networking in mid-September. However if you didn’t notice the lycra instead of leather in the apparel booths, a dealer could be fooled into thinking this was a motorcycle trade event.
World Debuts from Orlando
The 2015 American International Motorcycle Expo kicked off in Orlando with some significant global and North American debuts of new motorcycles from some the industry’s top manufacturers. We highlighted a few unveilings here.
Western Power Sports
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD! Many companies can claim to treat their employees like family. Others proclaim their passion for the powersports industry or their ability to do things better than the competition. However, at some point it all starts coming across as contrived – or at least a well polished script. That is not the
MAG Announces Executive Shifts
The Motorsport Aftermarket Group (MAG) has appointed Kevin Strawbridge to head its Retail and Media Groups. The parent company to both online retailers Motorcycle SuperStore and J&P Cycles, as well as Motorcycle-USA.com and “America’s Motorcycle Weekly” CycleNews, recently consolidated its retail operations in Irving, Texas.
Yamaha Celebrates 2015 Championships and 60th Anniversary at Ironman GNCC
Yamaha celebrated the 2015 season and 60th anniversary at the GNCC Ironman finale displaying a complete line of 2016 ATVs and motorcycles along with the all-new YXZ1000R.
Lazer Star Lights PreRunnerLED Line
Lazer Star Lights will be debuting an all new line of LED light bars at the 2015 SEMA Show. The new line, called PreRunnerLED by Lazer Star Lights, will feature quality LED light bars built for recreational use and offered at an economical price point.
Petersen Automotive Museum Announces Re-Opening Schedule
Following a 13-month total transformation and $125 million capital campaign, the beloved Los Angeles institution will unveil the museum of the future this December.
SEMA 2015
SEMA offers powersports dealers a one-stop marketplace for all the new products and services offered by some of the leading powersports manufacturers. It also offers automotive parts and accessory retailers and distributors new opportunities to add complementary cross-over products and services.
Tucker Rocky Distributing
From Ed Tucker’s humble beginnings selling oil to dealers in Dallas in the late 1960s to Bob Nickell taking over in the 1970s and the acquisitions of leading competitors in the 1980s, contraction in the 1990s right through to last year’s merger with the Motorsport Aftermarket Group (MAG), Tucker Rocky Distributing has been deep in the heart of the powersports industry from day 1.
Printing All The News That Fits
Ducati dealers mark your calendars: on January 1, 2016, Jason Chinnock will become the new CEO of Ducati North America (DNA). Current DNA CEO, Dominique Cheraki, will be moving back to Borgo Panigale (Bologna, Italy) to take over as Ducati network development director at Ducati HQ.
