American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 205 August 2016 | Page 64

NEWS

BRIEFS
Harley-Davidson Athena of
Athens, Greece, (owned by
Paschalis Tsalamagkas) has won
this year’s Harley EMEA region
“Battle of the Kings” authorized
dealer customizing competition,
based on a Sportster Iron 883.
Over 200 dealers entered from
more than 10 countries, with
consumers voting online to
choose 12 finalists that were
then jury-judged at this year’s
Wheels & Waves rally at Biarritz,
France.
Cliff Vaughs, 79, has died in
California. Vaughs, along
with his friend Ben Hardy,
was co-designer of the
‘Captain America’ and the
‘Billy Bob’ bikes for the
1969 Easy Rider movie.

Indian to go Flat Tracking again
Indian Motorcycle has announced that
it is to re-enter Flat Track racing with a
2017 factory effort in the AMA Pro Flat
Track series, its first since the 1950s.
The team will compete using the allnew proprietary Scout FTR 750
liquid-cooled 750cc four-valve V-twin
competition engine, specifically
designed for flat track and engineered
into a specially built chassis.
Indian has a significant history in flat
track, at one time dominating the sport
with legendary riders and motorcycles,
with the Indian Motorcycle Wrecking
Crew, consisting of Bill Tuman, Bobby
Hill and Ernie Beckman, perhaps best
known.
Multi-time AMA Grand National
Champion Jared Mees will join the
Indian Motorcycle racing team as a test
rider this year, racing the new
motorcycle at a circuit to be determined
in preparation for a full season of

competition in 2017. Mees, 30, won
the AMA Grand National Twins
Championship in 2009, AMA Grand
National Singles Championship in
2012, the unified AMA Grand National
Championship (GNC1) title in 2012,
2014 and 2015, and is current X
Games gold medalist.
“I can’t express how excited I am to be
the guy to bring Indian Motorcycle
back into the forefront of AMA Pro
competition,” says Mees. “We will
have a lot of work to do to develop a
100 percent new race platform, but I’m
committed and excited at what I have
seen on the drawing boards and what
the plans are for Indian Motorcycle
racing. This is history for the brand, and
being a part of it is truly exciting for me
and this sport.”
“We are very excited to return to the
AMA circuit,” said Steve Menneto,
President of Motorcycles for Polaris

Industries. “We have established the
new Indian Chief and Scout model
series as the cornerstones of our
production line-up, and now is the time
for us to return to racing in a big way.”

Indian's all-new liquid-cooled Scout
FTR 750cc four-valve V-twin
competition engine will be mated to
a newly engineered racing chassis

The excitement caused by the
upward ‘blip’ in Harley’s share
price just before the 4th July
holiday weekend in the United
States most likely turned out to
be some share price boosting by
profit raiders and not, after all,
the first shots in a take-over
battle. The price shot up by some
20 percent from around $45.00
at its close on June 30 to peak at
$54.20 on Friday July 1; only to
drop back to $48.37 when
trading re-opened after the
holiday weekend on Tuesday July
5. As this edition of AMD
Magazine went to press (July
15), Harley shares were trading
at around $48.10.
Vance & Hines has
announced the introduction
of an updated design of
quiet baffle for its Pro Pipe
Chrome and Pro Pipe Black
applications.

Jared Mees will join the Indian Motorcycle racing team as a test rider in 2016. Mees, 30, won the AMA Grand
National Twins Championship in 2009, AMA Grand National Singles Championship in 2012, the unified AMA Grand
National Championship (GNC1) title in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and is current X Games gold medalist