The Return of the King – AMD’s International Aftermarket Directory
We’ve been promising for 18 months, and with software and compilation issues now a thing of the past we are finally grinding our way towards completion of the 2014/15 edition of AMD’s acclaimed International Aftermarket Directory.
The 200+ page AMD Directory is the world's only specialty in-print (and now also digital) contact finder and buyers guide for the international v-twin custom motorcycle and aftermarket parts, accessory, performance, workshop, service and tuning industry.
If your inbox has not already been pummelled into submission by various missives from us on the subject, imploring you to check your listing with us, enhance your listing with our $195 special package or buy ad space in the Directory, then now is the time to do so!
With so many changes in the vendor landscape since the last edition was produced, now is your opportunity to update the data we hold for your company. Altogether we will be listing nearly 3,000 businesses that are involved in the v-twin industry in some 100 or so countries worldwide.
Loaded with new features such as integration of the AMD Builder Book data and available for the first time as a platform-optimized digital edition and searchable download to the device of your choice, we are now into “final call” territory for opportunities to make this unique and uniquely powerful v-twin specific aftermarket reference source work for you.
For further information, or to view, amend or update your company information simply email sara@dealer-world.com
Custom Bike Show
Norrtällje, Sweden
7 June 2014
The 40th annual Custom Bike Show held in Norrtällje’s Societetsparken, featured 240 bikes entered in 7 classes and over 12,000 visitors from around Europe.
Organised by Twin Club MC this is one of the oldest custom bike competitions and shows in the world, and this year was also the tenth anniversary of its affiliation to the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building. Competing builders travelled from across Scandinavia and Europe, and this year included an entry from Japan and two from Australia.
Three separate judging systems are used to determine the winners, with a jury of industry professionals deciding on three World Championship affiliate prizes and Best in Show, the competitors themselves voting for the class prizes, and a Public Choice winner - the prize being a RevTech engine courtesy of Custom Chrome Europe.
Finland again featured prominently amongst the awards and provided two of the three Best in Show winners who will travel to Cologne to compete at the World Championship held at INTERMOT in October.
The Best in Show and Chopper class winning bike, “WSA” by Veikko Sikiö of Juupajoki, Finland, was entirely hand-built - including the engine.
The runner-up prize went to Sweden’s Eddie Gustafsson for “Speedy”, a street racer based on a modified speedway engine.
Finnish club Aliens MC provided last year’s winning bike built by Alpo Varis and he will be joined in Cologne in October by club-mate Lunka who won the Custom class and scooped Best in Show 2nd runner-up prize with his Sportster-derived creation “Seahorse”.
All three winners gain automatic entry to the World Championship of Custom Bike Building and a 2,000 euro prize to be used against the expense of competing at INTERMOT in Germany later this year.
Our thanks, as always, to Twin Club MC for their meticulous organization, Custom Chrome Europe, Motorcycle Storehouse and W&W Cycles for their support of the event, and the City of Norrtällje management for their biker-friendly attitude towards this popular annual event, and for use of the central park for the bike show.
www.custombikeshow.se
Harley's dealer-based riding academy program to use power limited Street 500s
THE Motor Company has trained more than 350,000 new riders over 14 years and has now changed its training program with the launch of its new Harley-Davidson Riding Academy –the only national rider training program hosted by Harley-Davidson dealerships and conducted on an all-new Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Since its inception in 2000, Harley’s rider training program has successfully trained more than 350,000 new riders with a premium Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF)-approved rider training experience, and now the Harley-Davidson Riding Academy’s New Rider Course provides nearly everything needed to take the first step towards motorcycle riding, including MSF-certified instructors, use of a motorcycle to learn on, and a minimum of 20 hours of combined classroom and range training with a guaranteed 6:1 student/instructor ratio. All the students need to supply is appropriate riding gear.
Harley-Davidson Street 500 motorcycles will be provided for the training rides.
Additional features developed specifically for use in the Harley-Davidson Riding Academy include an industry-first ‘Power Limit Calibration’ that puts a ceiling on the vehicle’s low-gear speeds, allowing only the maximum rate a student needs in the course, and a unique ‘Vehicle Protection Kit’ that allays student fears of damaging the vehicle in a tip-over.
“Instilling confidence is vital to preparing new riders to move from the classroom to the open road,” Angela Thundercloud, Harley-Davidson Rider Training Manager, said. “We designed everything – the experience, the curriculum and the equipment – to inspire that needed confidence and empower new students to have a ton of fun learning to ride on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.”
In many states, completion of a Harley-Davidson Riding Academy course can exempt riders from needing to take an additional road test before becoming licensed, and many insurance providers offer discounts to graduates.
In addition to changes in the US, where more than 180 Harley-Davidson dealers offer training courses, Harley-Davidson Riding Academy is expanding globally into Mexico, China and South Africa.
www.h-d.com/ridingacademy
An injection of Horsepower
It is all too easy to think of fuel injection as being a very recent development in the v-twin market, however, Harley-Davidson has been selling fuel injected bikes since the turn of the century and Horsepower Inc. has been offering upgrades for those bikes for nearly as long. HORSEPOWER Inc. came into existence in 2002 as the direct result of changes made by Harley-Davidson to its induction systems.
As the Motor Company was making the move from carbs to fuel injection, owners were already exploring ways to improve the performance of the factory fitted systems. Among those looking at ways of increasing the fuel injected bikes’ potential were the machinists in the machine shop of Mary Jo Light - they were using the facilities after hours to make parts for themselves for their own FI bikes.
Mary Jo was a smart enough business women to realize that the work her employees were doing could be turned into a new revenue stream, and so she set about creating Horsepower Inc., which at that time was the first company to manufacture an aftermarket throttle body and intake replacement for Harley- Davidson engines.
Today Horsepower Inc. is spread over two sites -the original facility in Eire, Pennsylvania, where all the machining is done using state-of-the-art equipment, and a second operation, opened in 2012 by Mary Jo’s son Jimmy Light, in Indianapolis, Indiana, where sales, customer relations, and shipping and receiving to dealers and distributors is handled.
When HPI began it concentrated on throttle bodies, and now, as the business has grown, so has the range of parts it designs and manufactures.
The product offering now includes not only a wide variety of throttle bodies, but also intakes and air cleaners through to complete EFI performance builds.
“Our American made units provide a crisp throttle response and are flow bench tested for unparalleled dyno-proven performance. The result is that we can create increased airflow and substantial increases in horsepower and torque,” says Jimmy Light of the company’s product line.
In order to produce these results each HPI big bore throttle body is CNC machined and then hand-ported internally, a process that HPI believes is unique to their company. The bodies feature a split shaft design that is black zinc-coated to prevent corrosion, and are completed with a precision sealed roller shaft/bearing assembly. Additional features include the use of factory bolt patterns, and cruise control to make them fully compatible with stock components, for ease of installation, and they are offered in many bore sizes with extended deck lengths and port configurations to match any head.
When we asked Mary Jo about the development of new products alongside improvements to throttle body designs, her answer reflects the attitude that was responsible for getting Horsepower Inc. (HPI) started in the first place “A lot of us here at HPI are basically a bunch of 'motor heads', so we spend a lot of time reading about, thinking about, and talking about all the things that are going on in the motorsports business. We know what's coming down the road for new engine designs, and we keep a sharp eye on the latest developments in CAD/CAM technology, too, so we can continue to introduce components for the latest Harley engine designs before others in the industry are able to catch up.”
Among these gear heads is Eric Henderson, who is the company’s head machinist and head of design and testing of new products. He is assisted in the manufacturing and inspection work by Kyle Layton and Mike Regan.
However, such is the high level of quality control at HPI that the company also employs Ian Ross as head of assembly and final inspection quality controller in their automotive division - the company not only deals with products for the V-twin market but also caters to the needs of automotive, racing and fire industries.
One man whose sole role is V-twin related is Bryan Salisbury, HPI’s hand-porting specialist, the process HPI believes makes them a stand-out in the V-twin industry.
Over at the Indianapolis location, owner Jimmy Light is Head of Sales, and contributes to the design process and new product development, along with handling all technical support with customer service, in which he is aided by his wife Laura, who is Head of Marketing and Sales.
The type of new products that are created by this team at HPI include being one of the first businesses ready for Harley Davidson’s adoption off throttle-by-wire technology, as Eric explains: “In 2008, Harley came out with a drive-by-wire version throttle for its Touring models that had been in use in cars for a long time, so we knew it would be used on bikes sooner or later.
"Without the ability to do reverse engineering and make a part compatible with Harley’s own, we would have been stopped in our tracks, but because we kept up on technology and software we were able to do that first before anyone else did.
"Now there are a few other competitors who have introduced a version of this product, but it is our best selling part. Most recently we came out with a Sportster throttle body kit that has also taken off as the Sportster model line has made such a strong comeback in the industry in recent years.”
The throttle-by-wire application for ’08 and onward Touring models offered by HPI consists of the company’s Max Flow 55mm throttle bodies, which is machined from 356 aluminum castings, and is fitted with the stock electrics before being matched to a CNC ported and hand-finished 58mm manifold.
The package is then completed with double sealed bearings, O-ringed gaskets and billet intake flanges and seals. Once installed Horsepower Inc. claims it will offer horsepower gains between 10-15hp depending on what other modifications have been done to the engine.
Horsepower Inc began with its high performance throttle bodies program, and down the years has developed their own brand. They remain the only company to offer a throttle body upgrade for every make and model of Harley-Davidson motorcycles after adding the Sportster throttle body earlier this year. Their technology and quality in parts is unmatched and it shows in their product. "We are all performance driven with ‘Made In The USA’ quality as our main objective," said proud owner Mary Jo Light.
As Jimmy explains, the range of applications that the company offers can be tailored to is very extensive range: “We offer all popular port configurations on all of our throttle bodies. They are OEM compatible, including cruise control, whereas a lot of other brands are not. In addition customers of other companies must also buy their air cleaners or other components to use the product, which is not the case with ours.”
One of HPI’s newest products, and believed to be the only Sportster throttle body upgrade on the market, the HPI 51mm and 55mm bodies, provide significantly more airflow compared to the stock 45mm unit. Each HPI Sportster kit includes a Billet-Pro air cleaner equipped with a K&N lifetime warranty air filter element.
When it comes to getting the new products, such as the Sportster kits, to market, HPI is a firm believer in new technology, having fully embraced social media, using both Facebook and Twitter to market new lines.
Jimmy’s wife Laura, who takes care of the company’s marketing, says: “Social media is sometimes the fastest and easiest way to get new things out there. We also have a website which we update with the latest news, and we send out new product e-mails as well.”
While the majority of its sales are to the domestic market, the company has dealers in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England and Japan. The company usually sells directly to dealers, but does have some distributors in place, when there is no dealer close to a potential customer, it is willing to retail directly to the end user too.
HPI also offers a pricing package that is favorable to its qualifying dealers, with the added advantage that those dealers can also generate more revenue by installing the products and then dyno-tuning the bike once the install work has been done.
As part of its evaluation of new products in development, HPI has its own dyno, which is not only used for in-house testing, but as it is Erie County’s only certified DynoJet tuning center, HPI offers seasonal tuning services, and has had customers travel to use it from all across the US. The facility is also used by the local H-D dealership and Erie Harley-Davidson as its dyno tuning center, which gives HPI quick access to new models as soon as they are released.
Indeed, such has been the success of HPI’s use of dyno tuning that a second unit is currently being set up at the company’s Indianapolis location this year.
Looking further to the future, Jimmy says: “We are always working on new products and thinking of ways to improve. Right now we are focusing on our Sportster throttle body, but we will have more new products ready in the next few months.”
HORSEPOWER INC
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Tel: 317 757 8668
info@horsepowerinc.net
www.horsepowerinc.net
Primo open belt drive for Touring models
RIVERA Primo has made its new open belt drive a narrow unit to allow it to be used on ’07 and later Touring models that are fitted with floorboards. The 2in Primo Brute IV Extreme 2007/8 Touring open drive is supplied complete with a 3/8in thick billet aluminum outer guard and a Rivera Pro clutch (the company recommends the use of a Rivera TPP variable pressure clutch for big inch motors).
The Primo belt drives utilizes a high performance, heavy duty 8mm belt drive, which runs on forged 6061 aluminum pulleys. The motor plate is machined from 6061 billet aluminum and includes the heel toe shifter shaft support, which can be unscrewed from the motor plate for applications without floorboards. The outer guard is also machined from billet aluminum stock and polished as standard, and matt black is a finish option.
RIVERA PRIMO
Whittier, California, USA
Tel: 562 907 2600
info1@riveraprimoinc.com
www.riveraprimoinc.com
New Badlands module
Since the acquisition of the Badlands line of lighting modules a few months ago, NAMZ has been merging the product range into their existing offer, and getting a new website up and running.
Dealers and consumers can now buy online and download brand new color coded installation instructions and wiring schematics.
NAMZ is now announcing the release of the IHL-04 Badlands module for 2014 models.
The new module is 100% Plug-n-Play and enables customers to have left and right only turn signals, running and brake lights along with license plate illumination and a ground wire. Owner, motorcycle electronics author and leading designer Jeff Zielinski said that "now you can run amber turn signals since this module separates the brake functionality from the rear turn signal output. The possibilities are endless."
NAMZ is celebrating its 14th year in business providing “World Class” electrical components, fluid transfer lines, custom installation supplies and Badlands lighting modules.
NAMZ/Badlands products are available through Drag Specialties, Parts Unlimited, Custom Chrome Europe, Mid USA, J&P Cycles, Bikers Choice, Zodiac, Motorcycle Storehouse, SK Imports, V-Twin, Les Importations Thibault, Rollies Speed Shop, or directly from the company's website.
NAMZ Custom Cycle Products
Oreland, Pennsylvania, USA
Tel: 877 277 6169
info@namzccp.com
www.namzccp.com
CV Performance Premium Harley carb tuner kit
CV Performance, a H-D CV carb tuning specialist, is now offering its Premium Harley CV carb tuner kit to allow riders to unleash the full potential of their bikes.
Available for all constant velocity CV carburetors used on ‘89 – ‘06 Harley Big Twin, Twin Cam and all Sportster models from these model years, each kit includes a number of CV Performance exclusively engineered parts and components that have been developed through extensive research and development and real world testing. Those parts are CNC machined from aerospace quality billet materials and produced to CV Performance's exacting specifications.
Special applications for heavily modified bikes and for custom builders are available upon request.
Alongside its CV carb tuner kits, CV Performance is selling its EZ-Just Mixture Screw, which has been designed to make it easier to tune a Harley fitted with a Keihin carb. Once installed, the company states that all that is needed is a quick turn, which can be done by hand, to adjust and fine-tune the air idle mixture, giving better idle control and low speed performance, while eliminating hesitation.
Available for all Constant Velocity CV carburetors used on ‘90-‘06 Harley Big Twin, Twin Cam and all Sportster models.
CV PERFORMANCE
Glendora, California, USA
Tel: 626 914 1875
ken@cvperformance.com
www.cvperformance.com
Harley-Davidson dealers report slow store traffic
The latest quarterly AMD/Baird authorized Harley-Davidson dealer survey (April and May 2014) reported “weaker than expected retail, largely as a result of depressed traffic trend.”
Citing weather as a factor that continued to play a role especially in the early part of the survey period, Baird are now projecting in the region of 6 - 7 percent US retail growth for the year, but that by excluding the impact of Street bikes shipped into the Rider Academy training program, Baird is modelling 3 – 4 percent retail growth.
66 percent of dealers surveyed said that customer traffic in April and May was worse than expected, with 36 percent saying that new bike retail sales failed to meet expectations.
However, Baird are reporting that used bike sales in April and early May were running at some 7 percent up year on year.
Internationally, Baird’s research suggests that new unit retail sales were down in Canada, but strongly up in Europe and other international markets.
Dealer sentiment was mixed with one telling us that the “Rushmore bikes [are] having little spill-over to other models,” and another saying that they were “down this year about 25% in new bike sales.”
One dealer stated that “floor traffic is down 5%,” and another that they were “down 20% in floor traffic”; however, another dealer reported “April traffic was up 23%” and that by mid-May their MTD (Month to Date) was running at +5%.
The one thing that all dealers are agreed upon is the impact of the weather, and by way of a wider perspective one dealer told us that he had just attended a MotorCo Town Hall and that “most sentiments are the same – current conditions and outlook ratings are up across the board after being down since the economy took that hit.”
Dealers indicated that new bike inventory remains generally lean, with 83 percent indicating that it is “too low” or “about right” for this time of year.
However, dealer responses suggest that the delayed start to the spring selling season has resulted in pockets of excess inventory in some models, but that Rushmore inventory remains “tight.”
Used bike inventory appears appropriate for this time of the year, with 69 percent of dealers reporting that used inventory is “too low” or “about right.”
Baird say that overall lean channel inventory levels are leaving dealers willing to stock more units, which they believe makes full year shipment forecasts robust.
Dealers remain broadly unimpressed where promotions are concerned with one dealer saying that they would “like to see more co-op dollars” and another saying that “Harley has not been proactive enough to help dealers sacrifice margin to help sell bikes.”
One dealer commented that “inventory levels of Rushmore bikes are a bit low. We can’t get enough of the hot selling bikes i.e. FLHTK and FLHXS. Used bikes are down due to lack of trade-ins and lack of new bike sales.” However, another dealer said that “I wouldn’t want any more bikes as I have lived through high demand and low inventory, and also low demand and high inventory. High demand and low inventory is definitely more profitable and fun.”
In terms of new bike pricing, 57 percent are saying that they are selling bikes below MSRP – a smaller proportion of dealers relative to last year, suggesting that dealers remain confident that retail will improve, despite a condensed selling season.
One dealer told us that there is “a lot of competitive dealing going on” and that it “seems like the number one focus is on volume.” Another said that “dealers are still giving significant discounting” despite market growth. Yet another dealer told us that “dealers are taking the hit on pricing. For the first time I’m cancelling orders,” with another telling us that “dealers from outside territory are coming into other territories and discounting hugely to gain a sale. It is not about the customer experience to them, it’s all about stealing the sale at any cost.”
Finance availability continues to ease according to survey respondents, with the overall consumer financing environment remaining stable – 89 percent of dealers report credit availability as being less difficult or unchanged compared to the year ago period.
However, one dealer believes that “HDFS is difficult to deal with. Something [has to] change. From underwriting to funding, they are way behind other lenders in all categories. H-D needs to look into a better dealer operation system than Talon and Connect”.
Baird recently established a Harley-Davidson Dealer Sentiment Index, capturing both current and longer term (3-5 year) dealer sentiment. They asked dealers about their current outlook as well as their outlook at this time last year.
Harley dealers hold an optimistic outlook based on current conditions, as dealers reported sentiment levels of 82 versus 70 last year. The 3-5 year outlook remains remarkably positive as well, as dealer sentiment is 82 versus 70 last year.
For context, sentiment readings can range from 0-100 with 50 providing a “neutral” outlook. Overall, Baird’s Harley-Davidson Dealer Sentiment Index is indicating a high level of dealer confidence.
On average, dealers are expecting retail sales to improve approximately 5 percent in 2014, but when asked to rate the retail impact of the 2014 models while results for the Rushmores were overwhelmingly positive (13:1 love/hate ratio), retail impact for the Street and Low Rider/SuperLow models was more mixed.
It would appear that whilst many dealers are excited about the Street models, lack of availability at retail has triggered negativity, and while the off-cycle release of the Low Rider/SuperLow reflect improved R&D processes at Harley, dealers are reporting less of an impact from these models as a result of the launch timing.
One dealer told us that “Rushmore has been huge. The Street is a bust until we get one. We’re going to miss all the beginning spring bike sales. Poor planning on Harley;” another one told us that “we haven’t been able to order a Street 750 or 500 for several months – very frustrating. SuperLow is way overpriced. No significant demand for Low Rider.”
Robert W. Baird & Co Inc is an employee owned wealth management, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm that was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company says that it currently has $105 billion in client assets.
Any AMD readers who would like to see this or future AMD/Baird quarterly Harley-Davidson dealer surveys in full, or wish to nominate who should receive the survey forms at their store, can contact AMD’s Information Editor Sara Viney by email (sara@dealer-world.com).
