AMD 253 August 2020 American Motorcycle Dealer 253 | Page 12

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NEWS
BRIEFS
It looks like the annual
Custombike Show at Bad
Salzuflen, Germany, in
December each year may yet
survive the bankruptcy of
publisher Huber Verlag, with the
owners of the expo center at
which it is staged in
negotiations to take over
operation of the event.
Meanwhile, news from Carsten
Heil and Katharina Weber - as
long-term former employees
and buoyed by reader response,
they are going to be able to
take an IP license from the
bankruptcy administrator to
keep two of Huber's magazines
in production - Custombike and
Dream Machines.
Cycle World has reported that H-D
has filed a patent for a new
gyroscope based self-balancing aid.
Rider assistance systems are not new
thinking as such, with Yamaha,
Honda and BMW all known to have
been investing in ideas to address
what has been seen as a barrier to
entering the sport among young
riders for a long time. Harley’s idea is
for a traditional, spinning-mass gyro
bolted inside the Tour-Pak top case,
to help keep the bike upright at slow
speeds and when stationary.
Originally slated for July 10-12
at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
in Lexington, Ohio, the AMA has
postponed its 2020 Vintage
Motorcycle Days with a new
date to be determined.
Previously purchased tickets will
be honored on the new date.
Established in 1990 and held at
Mid-Ohio for the past 24 years,
AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days is
hailed as an annual celebration
of America's motorcycling
heritage, welcoming thousands
of enthusiasts and hundreds of
vendors for bike shows, racing,
seminars, the country's largest
motorcycle swap meet and
more.
Spain based MotoGP rights owner
Dorna has had to abandon its plans
to stage a rescheduled U.S. MotoGP
at the Austin, Texas Circuit of the
Americas (13-15 November). This
means that Moto America has had to
abandon its intention of making the
weekend the season finale for its
2020 Superbike series.
>
of the nine directors are independent)
and "44% diverse" - and Harley does
not allow its directors to be on what it
describes as an "excessive number of
boards."
I have largely skipped over one
important aspect of the report - Social
Responsibility - on the basis that
compared to many corporations, US
and otherwise, Harley does do a good
job in that respect, especially locally - it
always has (Muscular Dystrophy etc).
However, Harley does appear to be
aware that it could and should do even
better; everyone always can, right?
So where is this headed, why should I
care and what's in all this for me?
Well, if you are a regular reader of
AMD, then the chances are that you are
either quite, very or entirely dependent
on Harley-Davidson. Therefore, the
answer to that question is that,
potentially, you have a lot riding on it -
in the short, medium and long-term.
Anyone with shares, anyone who
works for Harley, owns or works at a
'address climate
change'
Harley store, buys and rides a Harley
product or whose livelihood is
supported by selling product for its
bikes needs Harley to be successful,
and as alluded to, that means we need
Harley (and the other corporations we
need in our lives) to be able to find new
customers.
Now, although I personally remain
unconvinced not only about the rush to
electrification in general but about
Project LiveWire specifically, the report
makes a good case in terms of context
against which its baby steps so far
could (should?) be judged. Despite the
AFT has filled in the details of
its final TBA races for 2020 with
confirmation that the 2020
Charlotte Half-Mile
doubleheader races will run
Friday, October 9 and Saturday,
October 10, on the same
weekend as the NASCAR Cup
Series Bank of America ROVAL
400.
This three-day racing
extravaganza will be the first
time in history these two
historic motorsports will run
races in the same market, at
the same venue, on the same
weekend.
With over 60 years of racing
history to its credit, Charlotte
Motor Speedway (CMS) has
become known as "America's
fact that there are, actually, others that
are ahead of them, the report goes on
to state that "in 2019, we asserted our
leadership in the electrification of
motorcycles with the launch of
LiveWire, our first electric motorcycle,
as well as our IRONe electric balance
bicycles for kids.
"Our commitment to leading the
electrification of motorcycles includes
launching a broad portfolio of electricpowered
two-wheelers – ranging from
high performance motorcycles to new
forms of lightweight electric twowheelers
and pedal assist eBicycles.
"During 2020, we will continue to
advance the electrification of
motorcycles. We will also continue our
multi-pronged approach to meet our
long-term objective to grow our
business without growing our
environmental impact.
"This includes continuing to improve
fuel economy, pushing for zero-waste
to landfill in all our facilities, and
addressing the emissions associated
not only with our own operations but
throughout the supply chain. We will
Home for Racing." It will
further solidify this title by
hosting three back-to-back-toback
opportunities to witness
high-speed motorsports action.
On Friday and Saturday at
CMS's The Dirt Track at
Charlotte, the athletes in all
three classes of American Flat
Track will spend two nights
vying for a spot in the AFT
championship hunt. The
weekend's action will culminate
on Sunday with NASCAR's
also continue our progress in
traditional areas of social impact and
corporate governance.
"And we will also lean into the positive
impacts of riding – the sense of
freedom and being at one with
yourself that comes when traveling
down open roads and city streets on
'intergovernmental
Panel on Climate
Change'
your Harley-Davidson motorcycle."
So, what has all this got to do with the
price of face masks? Regardless of the
detail, and there is plenty of that in this
report, and remembering that this
direction of travel is informed by a pre-
COVID-19 world view, even if we as
individuals don't much like it at this
time, we all need Harley to learn how
to speak Millennial (and Centennial)
just as well as it has been speaking
Boomer - if this is what it takes, then
so be it - bring it on!
AFT to Join NASCAR Cup Series in Charlotte
premier class, as its worldfamous
drivers attack the
unique ROVAL 400 on the CMS
road course.
Michael Lock, AFT CEO: "AFT
and NASCAR are the two most
American and most iconic of all
motorsports, so we are
delighted to be partnering with
the team at Charlotte Motor
Speedway to bring race fans
this unprecedented and unique
weekend of two and fourwheeled
racing. The Dirt Track
at Charlotte is one of the
favorite destinations for our
teams and riders as the
facilities are outstanding and
the famous Charlotte red clay
makes for high speed thrills all
evening."
12 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - AUGUST 2020
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