International Dealer News IDN 113 July 2013 | Page 13

Words and photos by Robin Bradley

Jean-Luc Marchand bought Marolo Test in 2000 and has seen sales grow in France and internationally as a result of a massive investment in new product designs

IDN publisher Robin Bradley visited specialist workshop equipment manufacturer MaroloTest, whose future-facing designs and motorcycle workshop services owe their origins to what is believed to have been the first ever motorcycle-specific dynamometer in 1958
ASED near Nantes in the west of France, MaroloTest was founded in 1958 and has been proudly designing and manufacturing its products in France ever since. Back in the 1950’s motorcycles were, of course, much simpler beasts, but as post war austerity gave way to consumer economic empowerment, the motorcycle industry saw radical change in the following 20 years. Change that would see the number of European manufacturers and brands consolidate, but see the enthusiasm for motorcycle racing and the lust for performance it triggered provide fertile ground for the Japanese superbike revolution. That revolution in turn impacted on customer expectations and consumer attitudes to the ownership and riding experience. This was the environment in which the motorcycle performance and tuning culture in Europe started to embrace the first generations of workshop diagnostic and tuning products, creating an important and highly competitive market sector - one that still offers dealers and tuners opportunities and profits. Indeed, in strategic terms it can be argued that the revenues generated by service and tuning are now

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ModuLift with the front open to work on the front of the bike (wheel, brake, fork)

INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - JULY 2013

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