International Dealer News IDN 119 June/July 2014 | Page 16

THE AMERICAN REPORT
POWERSPORTS
INSIDERS
Arctic Cat has parted with CEO
Claude Jordan. Former CEO and
Chairman Chris Twomey, a 24
year Arctic Cat veteran who had
remained on the board, will come
out of retirement to take the hot
seat while a permanent
replacement is found. Sales
increases have not prevented the
company from posting a fourthquarter net loss and reduced
gross profit margins were down.
Arctic Cat was sued in December
by Polaris for a patent violation.
Husqvarna is returning to
Supercross and Pro
Motocross racing in 2015,
after a 14 year absence. The
Rockstar Energy Racing
Husqvarna Factory Team will
include reigning 250 West
Supercross champion Jason
Anderson on a Husqvarna
FC 450.
Husqvarna was an integral
part of American motocross
in the 1960’s. The first and
last time the manufacturer
fielded a Supercross effort
was in 2001.
PowerSports Business has
reported that a new analysis of
preliminary state data released by
the Governors Highway Safety
Association (GSHA) suggests that
US motorcyclist fatalities are
projected to have decreased in
2013, for only the second year
since 1997 - by probably
7 percent.
Black Book editorial director
Ricky Beggs has said that
used motorcycle prices in the
United States increased
significantly from March to
May, with "prices up across
the board by fairly large
amounts for most
segments".

Continued from page 15
businesses".
Lacy Diversified is somewhat of an
American institution, certainly an
Indianapolis institution, owing its
origins to a business founded there
in 1912 by Howard Lacy. The Lacy
Diversified name was adopted in
1972 to reflect the evolution of the
group and now, 102 years since it
was founded, it is still owned and
operated by the Lacy family, with
Andre Lacy as Chairman and his son,
John A. Lacy, representing the fourth
generation of the family to be
involved in the ownership and
operation of the group.
Famously, Tucker Rocky owes its
origins to Texan Ed Tucker's 1967
wholesale motorcycle oil business
and subsequent expansion and
diversification following Bob
Nickell's purchase of the business in
1972.
The business became Tucker Rocky
(TR) in 1986 following the purchase
of Rocky Cycle, and was acquired by
Lacy Diversified Industries in 1989.
NEMPCO, a specialist New England
based Harley aftermarket parts
business (founded in 1971 by Larry
Coppola) was bought by Tucker
Rocky in 1992 in order to give the
group strength in a then fast
developing custom parts industry

J A Lacy is the fourth generation of
his family to head up Indianapolis
based Lacy Diversified Industries
(LDI) and will become CEO of the
combined company, which will
operate under the Motorsport
Aftermarket Group name (MAG)

is being assumed that Ackerman and
former MAG company owners such
as Terry Vance, Byron Hines, Tom
Rudd, Perry Sands, John Parham and
others are among the "legacy"
shareholders referred to by LDI, thus
meaning, given the deal and holding
company structure that has been
announced, that they now, in effect,
have a (albeit modest) stake in
ownership of Tucker Rocky.
www.ldiltd.com
www.maggroup.com.
www.tuckerrocky.com
www.bikerschoice.com

Saddlemen acquires Phantom Pad
RANCHO Dominguez, California based Saddlemen,
the leading motorcycle seats and luggage
specialist founded in 1987, has acquired exclusive
rights to the Phantom Pad range of products.
Based on removable suction cups to provide a seat
pad for passengers, Saddlemen will manufacture
the complete line of Phantom Pad products, and
the business becomes the third company owned
and operated by Saddlemen, with All American
Rider bought in 2012 and American Kargo having
been launched earlier this year.
“The addition of Phantom Pad has been a step in
the right direction for Saddlemen. With companies
like Phantom Pad, All American Rider and American
Kargo we are able to give consumers what they
want, more variety and quality products. It’s an
exciting time to be here at Saddlemen”, states
CEO David Echert.
Phantom Pad's proprietary suction cups are said to

The controversy surrounding
motorcycle-only check points in
the US continues - according to
the AMA federal, state and local
governments spent more than a
half million dollars on them in the
last two years. Some fifty
congressmen and five senators
have now signed on to sponsor or
co-sponsor bills that would end
that funding.

16

that had already seen the emergence
of several strong specialty
distribution brands.
Tucker Rocky re-branded NEMPCO
as Biker's Choice (itself a NEMPO
own brand) in 1998, and the
business is a strictly wholesale
operation that claims it sells over
100,000 products to all sectors of the
motorcycle and wider power sports
market, through seven domestic US
distribution centres.
MAG was founded in 2000 by
Arnie Ackerman and his partners in a
San Francisco based equity
investment fund managed by Duff
Ackerman and Goodrich (DAG). The
specific intention of the fund was to
acquire, finance and develop leading
motorcycle aftermarket parts and
accessory brands and manufacturers.
As the man who had largely
guided the acquisition strategy and
driven development of the Group,
Ackerman retained a shareholding
in MAG in 2006 when DAG’s
interest was acquired by Leonard
Green & Partners - a Los Angeles
based equity investor with current
involvements in well known
consumer brands such as Petco, The
Sports Authority, J Crew, Top Shop,
Lucky Brand Jeans and the Palms
Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Though details are confidential it

INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - JUN/JUL 2014

be non-abrasive and
designed with dual
cavity and quick tabs.
"Unique features
such as Neoprene
fender liner, an injection mold, ABS base plate and
shock-absorbing orthopaedic memory molding
foam all go to make Phantom the leading
passenger motorcycle pad design out there", said
Echert.
All Saddlemen produc