American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 247 February 2020 | Page 16

Mitas 'Custom
Force' Cruiser
Range Honda-Hitachi to Acquire
Showa, Keihin and Nissin
Mitas, part of the Trelleborg Group, is
on a mission - to continue its journey
to offer a complete range of tires for
all the highest volume sectors of the
motorcycle industry.
Founded in 1947, and in powersports
industry terms originally best known
as an off-road tire manufacturer, Mitas
is building on its successful expansion
into the street, adventure and scooter
sectors by entering a completely new
sector with the launch of its new
'Custom Force' range of custom cruiser
tires.
'Custom Force' tires feature "all the
important characteristics of a high-
performance custom cruiser tire:
durability, stability, comfort and an
attractive design. Entry into the Having reduced its once controlling
interest to a 33.5% stake some years
ago, Honda has announced that it is to
buy up all outstanding shares in Showa
and two other well-known Japanese
motorcycle component industry majors
in which it also has significant stakes -
Keihin and Nissin - in a massive deal
with automotive supply giant Hitachi
Automotive Systems (HAS) to create a
new combined business that will
swallow up all three of the component
makers.
The new business will be jointly owned
by Hitachi, who will own 66.6% of the
shares in the combined business, with
Honda owning the remaining one
third. Honda currently owns 33.5% of
Showa, having once held a controlling
interest, 34.86% of Nissin and
41.35% of Keihin. It is reported that
the combined business will have
around 1.8 trillion yen in sales ($16.5
billion).
The deal will bring together, into one
integrated business, three areas of
component manufacturing -
suspensions, fuel management and
brakes - that are increasingly
interdependent; a trend that can only
increase in the future as automotive
and motorcycle systems themselves
become ever more integrated and
economies of scale become ever more
important.
The merged company will focus on
developing components for EV and
self-driving systems, along with new
on-demand mobility services,
combining their scale in a bid to come
up with products more quickly and
efficiently.
Hitachi said that the increasing
complexity of vehicle technologies
Front
Rear
130/90-16 67H TL 170/80B15 77H TL
100/90-19 57H TL 130/90B16 73H TL
80/90-21 54H TL
150/80B16 77H TL
custom cruiser tire segment represents
a new chapter in the Mitas journey to
becoming a full range motorcycle tire
manufacturer.
"The new range has been extensively
tested under the most strenuous
conditions possible in the U.S. as well
as in different countries across Europe,
to ensure the best performance."
Ksenija Bitenc, Director of the Mitas
Motorcycle Tires division, says:
"Premium materials, along with a
robust carcass, ensure great riding
performance at different speeds, under
all weather conditions and on different
road surfaces. Particular attention was
taken during the development stage to
ensure best-in-class braking and
handling under wet conditions. No
detail was left to chance to ensure the
full satisfaction of riders even on
longer journeys with a pillion rider and
luggage.
"The attractive tread pattern design,
with its elegant grooves, is in the
shape of a moving snake, a fantastic
complement to the tire for real custom
cruiser riders."
www.mitas-moto.com
16
required bigger R&D capabilities and a
bigger global footprint and access to a
bigger pool of talent. "The merged
company will be a mega supplier and
will deliver competitive advanced
technologies and solutions," Hitachi
Executive Vice President Keiji Kojima
told reporters. "We will leverage our
strengths and our scale to expand
globally."
The new business will be known as
Hitachi Automotive Systems in what is
being termed an "absorption-type
merger," with the Showa, Keihin and
Nissin names likely to disappear
altogether in time. Showa's OEM client
roster currently includes Harley-
Davidson, Kawasaki and Suzuki, with
Nissin supplying those and Yamaha. It's
not known how this merger will affect
current OEM customers of the trio.
Honda has said that "this merger will
enable combination of the respective
advanced technologies of Keihin's
powertrain business, Showa's
suspension and steering business, and
Nissin's brake system business with the
strength of HAS."
Keihin needs little introduction as a
once dominant and still legendary
name in carburetors, and though best
known in 'metric' markets, Nissin is
believed to have equipped more
motorcycles with brake calipers than
any other manufacturer.
Showa has a storied history in the
motorcycle industry, not least with its
historic connections to Harley-
Davidson. These days Showa is known
as a purveyor of suspension products
to Harley, but its links with Milwaukee
go back to the 1950s, and using
'Honda' front ends (i.e. Showa front
ends) was a significant pawn in
Harley's 1985 near death experience.
Founded in 1938 as a manufacturer of
aircraft suspensions for the pre-war
Japanese military, in 1950 Showa
acquired Rikuo Motorcycle, which
made licensed versions of Harley-
Davidsons in the 1930s and 1940s. The
Rikuo brand lasted until 1962.
When Harley was in deep trouble in
1985, Showa front ends became a
bargaining chip in Vaughn Beals' and
the United States Trade
Representative's financial and tariff
dealings with Honda (and Yamaha).
Electric World Speed Records Smashed
MADMAX team rider Zef
Eisenberg raced into the record
books in the UK in September
2019, setting four new
motorcycle records at the
Straightliners ACU/FIM
(Fédération Internationale de
Motocyclisme) World Speed
Records event at Elvington,
North Yorkshire, on board the
Nottingham University Isle of
Man TT zero bike.
Subject to FIM ratification,
international multiple ACU
Motorbike speed record holder
and self-proclaimed 'Speed
Freak' Zef Eisenberg achieved
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - FEBRUARY 2020
four FIM world records for an
electric motorbike (unfaired),
with an 'average kilometer'
speed of 185 mph, and peak GPS
speeds of 197 mph - securing the
title for the fastest electric
motorbike in the world (naked -
no fairing). The four new ACU
national category records
include: the FIM Flying Kilometre
speed of 185.103 mph, with best
one-way speed of 194.086 mph,
with GPS peak speeds of 197
mph; the FIM Flying Quarter Mile;
the FIM Standing Quarter and the
FIM Standing Mile and ACU
Flying Quarter Mile.
Photo courtesy of
MADMAX Race Team
www.AMDchampionship.com