International Dealer News IDN 113 July 2013 | Page 11

THE AMERICAN REPORT
ARNETT Tool & Engineering has announced the launch of its new website. The site now offers product information and applications for virtually the entire line of Barnett products including clutch kits, baskets, pressure plates, covers, cables and more. The site also covers the custom

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cables the company produces alongside clutches and cables for classic vintage bikes and modern machinery, and street or off-road. The new ‘Product Look-up’ feature allows users to find all Barnett products available via vehicle make and model with just a few clicks. www.barnettclutches.com

HE California Air Resources Board (CARB) continues to flex its muscles, with Yamaha and Piaggio the latest to be hit with fines. Piaggio Group Americas has been hit with a $175,000 fine for selling a number of Aprilia motorcycles that had not received official state certification and for manufacturing various Aprilia models with readily adjustable [emissions] calibrations that were not declared during on their certificate applications. Yamaha Motor Corporation was fined $44,625 for “unintentionally importing and selling 23 portable generators that weren’t in

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compliance with small off-road engines, and for mislabelling manufacture dates and model year on 96 ATVs”. Yamaha is said to have voluntarily disclosed both violations to CARB. California channels such fines to funds aimed at decreasing air pollution through education and the advancement and use of cleaner technologies; these fines follow those to have hit a number of aftermarket vendors this year, including Vance & Hines and Akrapovic.

ANUS Motorcycles are a Goshen, Indiana based manufacturer of hand-built motorcycles that take their design references from the kind of motorcycling that recalls a bygone era. There’s nothing too unusual in that in America, a market where the ‘retro style’ has largely dominated custom bike design for a decade now, and where heritage is King. However, what is unusual about the Janus project, in American terms, is that these hand-built bikes are not replicas of a specific age or model, and are not big-inch proclaiming themselves as American in cultural and component terms. These are small cc motorcycles, mostly ranging from 125 to 250cc, that are being built with many European sourced parts and as much of a reference to vintage European styling as anything that was ever familiar to prior generations of US riders. The brainchild of founders Devin Biek, founder of ‘Motion Left Mopeds’ in 2003, a business created to serve the growing international vintage moped

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movement, and Richard Worsham, holder of a Master’s degree in classical architecture. They share some 15 years of small engine tuning and custom bike building experience, and having designed and built a number of high-end custom bikes and performance parts, decided to design, build and market a completely original motorcycle based on the idea of simplicity, ease of operation and maintenance, and extreme lightweight. hey say that their bikes “are not replicas, we haven’t designed them to exactly emulate a period from history. They are contemporary, practical machines that celebrate some of our favourite aspects of motorcycle design over the last century. “We are building motorcycles for all ages of men and women who may not see themselves as a “biker”, or doing 150 mph, but who love the freedom, joy and mobility that a motorcycle allows, especially if they can work on it themselves. “We hope that what we are trying to accomplish is a step

towards building a younger, broader generation of American riders. We are currently in production of a limited number of our first model, the 50cc “Halcyon”, an homage to 1920’s and 30’s record breakers such as the Brough Superior, Indian, Triumph and Zenith. “We are a federally licensed vehicle manufacturer and each of our bikes comes with a VIN number and is titled and road legal in the United Sates. We design and build everything by hand, including the frame, fuel tank, exhaust system, leather seat and saddlebags, handlebars, and wiring harness. “ We use rims and brakes manufactured to our specifications, EBR hydraulic forks, and a great Spanish-designed 2-stroke motor. The highly upgradable engine is a water-cooled 6-speed unit based on the Derbi Senda that produces about 10 bhp in stock form. “Every bike comes with both kick and electric start, as well as an oil injection system, turn indicators, high and low beam, speedometer, mirrors and a top speed of 55 mph.

www.janusmotorcycles.com

INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - JULY 2013

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