The controversy surrounding Harley's choices of Independent Board Directors shows no sign of abating. As campaigned for earlier this year by investor and Hedge Fund H Partners, Directors Sara Levinson and Tom Linebarger have now retired from the Board. Harley's first female Board Member, Levison was a successful former entertainment, media (MTV), sports (NFL) and technology industry executive has served on the Harley board since 1996. Linebarger, a former investment analyst and Chairman/CEO of Cummins (until 2002) joined in 2008. Both served on the Human Resources, Nominating and Corporate Governance and Sustainability and Safety Committees. Their replacements as independent directors are Daniel Nova, a General Partner of Highland Capital Partners, a venture capital fund; and Matt Reintjes, President and Chief Executive Officer at YETI Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: YETI) - a Texas based seller of YETI brand products for the outdoor and recreation market - FMCG (low price, high volume) products like ice chests, vacuum-insulated stainless-steel drinkware, soft coolers, dry bags and the like. In a release, Presiding Director Troy Alstead "talked both appointments up" of course, but neither has an engineering, manufacturing or motorcycle industry background or any discernible directly relevant segment experience.
Parts Unlimited has added a new sales rep for the South-Central region covering Georgia and Alabama - Ryan Kessinger. He comes to comes to Parts Unlimited with experience in parts sales at the dealer level. His experience comes from a stint at Stark Future based in Barcelona, Spain.
In its 'late-model' annual, pre-Christmas incarnation, INTERMOT (Cologne, 4-7 December 2025) is promising "maximum visibility, high-quality contacts, long-term customer relationships - in person". The organizers (Koelnmesse and IVM) state that "this is where you can connect with your target groups - and bring even more industry success within your grasp. High purchasing power meets direct sales" with "an audience fully focused on new models, products and brands" backed by "unrivalled specialised trade, community and new target groups digital reach and powerful live experiences"; www.intermot-cologne.com
Irvine, California based Performance Brokerage Services (PBS) has announced the sale of Harley-Davidson of Carroll in Iowa from Terry Ruchti to Steven Towers. Ruchti has owned H-D of Carroll for over three decades and helped establish the annual "Rock-N-Ride" event some 20-years ago. This is the fourth Harley dealership that PBS has helped Steven Towers acquire. Terry Ruchti and his wife Zoe are retiring. Towers' first dealership acquisition was of Boneyard H-D in Winterville, NC in 1923.orth Carolina, followed by Frontier H-D in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2024, and Historic Harley-Davidson in Topeka, Kansas in 2025. H-D of Carroll will be renamed Towers' Legendary Harley-Davidson, but will remain at its current location at 1327 Plaza Drive in Carroll, Iowa; performancebrokerageservices.com
Indian Motorcycle has appointed 'Revolutions' as its newest full-service Indian Motorcycle dealership in Scotland - at Perth. A family-run business with a long history of specializing in heritage brands, Revolutions' 8,000 sq. ft. facility is located just off Perth's renowned "Motor Mile" - just 90 minutes or 90 miles from 90% of Scotland's population. Revolutions is Scotland's only official dealer for Morgan, Caterham and Norton Motorcycles, and is a Royal Enfield dealer; www.revolutions.uk.com
A national study by Moto Canada and the Canadian Quad Council (CQC) has found that Canada has 88,485 miles (142,000 km) of powersport trails for ATV, SxS, MX and adventure motorcycle use - making its off-road trail network is among the largest in the world. The study also revealed that the off-road market has a CAN $10.3bn annual economic impact, generated $4.2bn of tourism spending, saw 184,000 volunteer hours annually and had 663,300 registered trail users in 2025 with 1.2 million off-road vehicles recorded in Canada; www.motocanada.com
Finnish electric motorcycle manufacturer Verge is to offer its rim mounted motor drive concept to other manufacturers. The company has created a division called Verge Next for this and other components that it thinks can be propagated across the electric PTW ecosystem. The motor is mounted firmly on the rear frame, around which the spokeless (and therefore hubless) rear wheel rotates - as if on rails. The concept was developed by partner company Donut Lab, and the motor is available in various sizes; www.vergemoptorcycles.com
