American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 240 July 2019 | Page 26

NEWS HardDrive Announces
BRIEFS Distribution of TBR
V-Twin Exhausts
The Motorcycle Industry Council
(MIC) in the United States has re-
elected well known motorcycle
advocate Paul Vitrano of Indian
Motorcycle/Polaris Industries as its
chairperson, Chuck Boderman of
Honda as vice chair and Jim Woodruff
of National Powersport Auctions as
secretary/treasurer. The 12 directors
also retained/elected Tim Buche as
MIC President and CEO. Buche has
served as the leader of the MIC’s staff
since 1996. Jeff Brown of EagleRider
motorcycle rentals and Tim Calhoun
of Helmet House were recently
elected new members of the board.
Established in 1914, the MIC HQ is in
Irvine, CA., with a government
relations office in Washington, D.C.
BMW has announced that it
produced its 3 millionth
motorcycle at the Spandau,
Berlin factory in April this year -
a S 1000R. The facility, which has
2,100 employees, started
producing motorcycle
components in 1939. BMW
switched complete production
of all bikes there in 1969. One
million motorcycles have been
produced there since 2011.
BMW also has motorcycle
production facilities in Brazil,
Thailand, China and India.
While recent research suggests that
47% of consumers in the
Netherlands would consider
switching to some form of Electric
Mobility for commuting in the future
('Pedelecs' mostly), such survey
findings are still decades away from
getting the showroom doors
swinging. Market acceptance is
especially soft in the major markets -
some 39% would do so in Spain,
33% in Italy, but only 21% in
Germany, 15% in France and as few
as 11% in the UK.
According to International
Dealer News (IDN), motorcycle
registrations for the 'Big Five'
largest motorcycle markets in
the 28 nation EU accounted for
84.2% (206,386 units) of the
total number for Q1 (244,991
units). The next largest markets
with over 1,000 units registered
were, in descending order,
Belgium (6,519), Portugal,
Greece, Austria, the Netherlands,
Czech Republic, Sweden and
Poland (1,356).
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Boise, Idaho based HardDrive
American V-Twin Parts
Distribution has announced the
expansion of its partnership
with TBR and will now be
offering the brand's full V-twin
exhaust and accessory line.
"I'm excited about the
opportunity to have HardDrive
on board. All the members of
the HardDrive team have been
pushing hard to bring quality
brands to their dealers, and the
effort is paying off. I feel TBR
will be represented very well
with this new partnership",
says Mark Jacobs, President of
Two Bros Racing.
"HardDrive is committed to
furthering our relationship with
TBR by distributing their V-twin
line through our warehouses,"
National Sales Manager Ronnie
Wehr explained. "TBR is a
trusted brand that aligns
perfectly with HardDrive."
In additional news, HardDrive
has also added the full range of
the Cyron Motor's LED lighting
range and has moved to update
its 2019 main catalog with a
supplement catalog for dealers.
Featuring "hundreds of new
products including exhausts,
headlights, skid plates and
much more," featured
companies include TBR, Cyron
Motor and Pathfinder LED
among others. "Our 2019
supplement is the perfect
resource for dealers to do a
mid-year stock up with products
that have since been added to
the HardDrive program.
"We build the supplement to
ensure that no matter where a
dealer is at for the year, they
have the opportunity to stock
some new HardDrive products,"
explained HardDrive Product
Director Gunnar Heinemeyer.
"We are constantly expanding
brands and products
throughout the year."
HardDrive is the specialty
American V-Twin division of
Western Power Sports (WPS)
and offers V-twin products to
dealers throughout the United
States nationwide through its
Boise, Idaho headquarters
warehouse and regional
distribution centers located at
Fresno, California; Memphis,
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - JULY 2019
Recent new products from the Santa Ana, California based manufacturer Two
Brothers Racing include a ceramic black H-D Street 500/750 'Comp-S' full
exhaust system that delivers "top-end horsepower improvements" and
'Shorty' turn out 2-into-1 full systems for Dyna
and M-8 Softails available in stainless, black or
polished "light weight stainless steel systems
with CNC machined billet aluminium turn
out end-caps and head shields".
Tennessee; Elizabethtown,
Pennsylvania; Ashley, Indiana
and Midlothian, Texas.
Meanwhile WPS is nearing
completion of its Boise, ID.
corporate HQ warehouse
expansion, adding 105,000 sq ft
- just one of several growth
driven increases to its
distribution space footprint
planned at this time.
"The new space will be used for
overstock to feed a new
expanded pick module to get
more products out faster and to
meet the growth in demand we
are continuing to see," says
WPS CEO Craig Shoemaker.
"This will bring the WPS
headquarters to over 380,000
square feet, with the new office
expansion being completed by
spring 2020."
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