News Briefs

Buzz Kanter has announced that he has had to wave the white flag and suspend publication of American Iron due to the collapse in advertising revenue during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Kanter bought AIM in 1991, which had been launched in California two years earlier in association with HOG. It was conceived as a family-friendly antidote to the dominance back then of T&A titles - not least Easyriders Magazine. The focus was on "the tin and not the skin."

AFT has partnered with KICKER Performance Audio as the Official Sound System of the 2020 AFT series. "Starting nearly 50 years ago as a two-man operation specializing in professional systems, KICKER has evolved into the benchmark for all audio systems, including personal products for digital media devices." KICKER will be producing a custom PA system to work with existing jumbotron and victory lane equipment "to enhance the fan experience at AFT events."

Former MIC Chairman and Cycle World publisher Larry Little is retiring after more than 40 years in the powersports industry. In recent years Little is best known for conceiving and founding AIMExpo at Orlando, Florida. A one-time AMA Rider of the Year, it was Little who engineered the MIC's acquisition of AIMExpo and the establishment of its Events division. Little's original vision was for a European style joint consumer and trade, OEM and aftermarket expo. That has not worked in the 21st century American motorcycle industry context, and in January 2021 AIMExpo will be staged at Columbus, Ohio, as a three-day industry and dealer only expo.

Following Paul Aiken's decision to close Aeromach, his Charlotte, NC., based manufacturing and distribution business, Milan, Italy based exhaust manufacturer Manuel De Liso of QD Exhaust and V-Performance fame is looking for a new distributor in the USA for his line of handmade, high-performance H-D, Victory and Indian FTR exhausts.

It looks like the annual Custombike Show at Bad Salzuflen, Germany, in December each year may yet survive the bankruptcy of publisher Huber Verlag, with the owners of the expo center at which it is staged in negotiations to take over operation of the event. Meanwhile, news from Carsten Heil and Katharina Weber - as long-term former employees and buoyed by reader response, they are going to be able to take an IP license from the bankruptcy administrator to keep two of Huber's magazines in production - Custombike and Dream Machines.

Cycle World has reported that H-D has filed a patent for a new gyroscope based self-balancing aid. Rider assistance systems are not new thinking as such, with Yamaha, Honda and BMW all known to have been investing in ideas to address what has been seen as a barrier to entering the sport among young riders for a long time. Harley’s idea is for a traditional, spinning-mass gyro bolted inside the Tour-Pak top case, to help keep the bike upright at slow speeds and when stationary.

Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news