American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 243 October 2019

25 Years of OptiMate It was 25 years ago that TecMate introduced its first OptiMate battery charger, diagnostics and maintenance tool as a response to the more powerful and compact AGM (absorbed glass mat - a sealed valve regulating lead-acid battery) that were being introduced into the powersport industry in the late 80s, early 90s. AGM batteries are still lead-acid batteries, but with a difference, the acid is absorbed into mats (i.e. sponges) which effectively made it a 'dry' battery that could be turned upside down – no more acid spillage, the bane of the biker at the time. Unfortunately, AGM technology also proved to be more difficult to recharge, and especially to recover it from a low voltage/sulphated state. Motorcycle OEMs, of course, wanted a charger for their riders mainly to ensure that the battery outlasted its warranty - but TecMate took it a few steps further, making those batteries last much longer than intended, some even up to 10 years! The result? Millions of happy AGM batteries that "have lived longer and performed stronger thanks to OptiMate's unique charging algorithm - one designed for AGM, but that works equally well on any type of lead-acid battery," says CEO and CTO Martin Human. A reliable high-performance battery charger and TecMate's stable multistep reselling strategy, along with the engineering group's design acumen, have become the basis of a successful co-branding and ODM program that continues to gain partners. One of those partners is Drag Specialties, who chose to co-brand OptiMate battery chargers. Drag Specialties OptiMate 1 and 3 sell internationally, and the most recent addition is the OptiMate 5 Power- Charger. "The Drag Specialties OptiMate 5 Power-Charger is specifically designed to help riders out of that 'classic' jam - ready to go ride, but the bike's battery is 'dead'. With 4 amps of constant current on tap, this Power-Charger will bring that battery to 40-50% in an hour or two, enough to crank and start even the most stubborn V-twin engine. "As a rider I need to know when I can start the engine and get on the road, so we added lights to say when." The first light is marked WAIT! (charging) and the second is marked GO RIDE! (and still charging), indicating that it is time to do just that if you are in a hurry to get on the road. "If not, then the third light is the 24-7 OptiMate maintenance mode that lights up once the battery has reached full charge and then keeps it at 100%, so the next time there is no need to wait to be able to get riding." The Drag Specialties OptiMate 5 ships with a swivelling hanging hook so that it does not have to live on the floor and be a tripping hazard, and it keeps those important indication lights in full view. "That's the point of OptiMate battery chargers, they guarantee you can go ride at any time. OptiMate has been trusted by the powersports industry since 1994," says Martin. www.tecmate.com www.optimate1.com adjustments," said Jim Barker, Tucker's Vice President of Marketing. "Generating margin growth opportunities for Tucker dealers and strengthening Tucker's ability to serve our customers are our key priorities," stated Sebastian Bretschneider, CEO of Tucker Powersports. "We will continue to implement initiatives that protect and grow the profitability of our dealers and the powerful brands they provide their consumers." Bretschneider emphasized that "profitability is the key criteria for any business decision we make for our dealer customers and Tucker. With that we combine a great passion for powersports and its enthusiasts with sound and logic business principles." The company went on to say that it continues to focus on profitability with dealers and brand partners - "this is another way of following through with the commitment of protecting dealer margin for Tucker dealers." Tucker says that it has posted a list of the affected products and part numbers for its dealers at: dealer.tucker.com Tucker Tariff Protection Policy Fort Worth, Texas based Tucker Powersports has moved to "protect the profitability" of its dealers in the face of the impacts of tariffs on Chinese made product sold under its own brand names. "Following several initiatives targeted to generate profitable growth opportunities for our dealer customer base and to strengthen our ability to offer superior services to them, Tucker is announcing that it will increase the retail sales prices on goods sourced from China as of October 1st to offset the cost of tariffs on these products recently imposed. "To protect the relationships with dealers, Tucker 'Exclusive Brands' will adjust their MSRP to maintain dealer margin. This step is another example of Tucker's commitment to its dealer partners. Tucker is in discussions with other brand partners whose 24 products the company distributes to coordinate similar steps. "While dealers will see a cost increase on the specific products with tariffs, they will also see the MSRP increase to maintain the current dealer margin on these products. "The ongoing and looming tariffs have dominated the headlines of our media and trade journals across many industries for weeks. While tariffs reach rates in excess of 30%, the price increases we implement will not exceed half that rate," according to Alejandro Huerta, Tucker's Chief Financial Officer. "Our exclusive, high-quality premium Tucker brands have strong market positioning to avoid significant change in demand as a result of the price AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - OCTOBER 2019 www.AMDchampionship.com

American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 243 October 2019 | Page 24