HardDrive

Now HardDrive Has Brass Balls

HardDrive American V-Twin Products continues to expand its list of products available to V-twin dealers across the United States with the addition of Brass Balls Cycles products.
Brass Balls Cycles designs and creates premium custom parts and has been hand-crafting uncompromising American motorcycles since 2006. The company “lives, loves and breathes motorcycles and has been honored with numerous awards, including winning the Production Bike World Championship at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building twice.

“Brass Balls has developed parts for the Dyna, Softail, Sportster and now the Touring bikes. They’ve also developed parts for Indian and will be introducing a significant number of original and cool Bagger parts into the Brass Balls parts line as well. The Brass Balls parts line includes items such as its Moto floor boards, Moto grips, master cylinder covers, derby covers, air cleaner kits and handlebar top clamps, to name just a few. 

“Look for Brass Balls Cycles products in the 2018 HardDrive American V-Twin Products catalog, available to dealers from HardDrive’s six regional warehouse locations. HardDrive is the American V-twin division of Western Power Sports (WPS) and has been in the powersports distribution business for 58 years. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, HardDrive offers V-twin products to dealers nationwide through its six regional warehouses located in Boise, Idaho; Fresno, California; Memphis, Tennessee; Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; Ashley, Indiana; and Midlothian, Texas. HardDrive welcomes Brass Balls Cycles to its family of vendors.”
www.hdtwin.com
www.brassballscycles.com

Magnum Shielding

Magnum - 35 Years of Maintaining Quality Control

Scott Hurwitz, CEO of Pittsford, New York based control cable specialist Magnum Shielding, says he and his “employees believe that quality matters”! 

Kevlar winding and twisting

Recognized worldwide as a premier manufacturer of matching braided brake lines, control cables and now handlebars, Magnum has a history of quality stretching back more than 35 years. That quality has resulted in longevity: Magnum has been a Tier 1 Harley-Davidson P&A supplier and an exclusive Drag Specialties supplier for decades.

Brake hose braiding operation

“Our company’s ISO-based Quality Management System, CAD design and engineering department and vertical integration of in-house processes enables Magnum to control quality at every level. The result?  Magnum is consistently able to deliver premium products with great looks and stellar performance to the Harley-Davidson industry, dealers and enthusiasts. 

100% brake line assembly pressure testing

“To support the company’s commitment to the industry, all necessary processes to control quality are done right here in-house at Pittsford, New York. This ensures all cables and lines always match in both color and weave, whether the Sterling Chromite, Black Pearl or Polished Stainless upgrades are purchased today, next month or next year.”
Magnum even designs and manufactures its own ABS and non-ABS brake hoses for making brake line assemblies. Their in-house capabilities include enamelling and wire fabrication, Kevlar twisting and winding, braiding, extruding, induction brazing, tube bending, machining, polishing, assembly operations using lean manufacturing cells, and DOT FMVSS-106 compliance testing. 

Magnum Shielding says its new 1.25” Caliber Bagger or Ape Hanger handlebar kits are the only complete kits with matching Sterling Chromite II or Black Pearl braided cables and DOT brake lines

MAGNUM SHIELDING
www.magnumshielding.com

Motorcycle Storehouse

New Brands in the Storehouse

Cult-Werk have been at work
Austrian parts and accessory manufacturer Cult-Werk are exactly that in Europe, well regarded cult, whose product designs turn up on some of the finest custom bikes and are selected by some of the most discerning customizers. Seen here a new headlamp mask and 6-piece fork tube cover kits for the 2018 FXBR/S Softail Breakout, triple tree bolt sets for 2018 Sportster and Breakout, and also a 6-piece fork tube cover kit tailormade for the ’10-‘15 XL 1200X Forty Eight.

Rusty Butcher - Harley Thrashers
From Corona, California based Rusty Butcher comes apparel such as Hoodies, T-shirts, caps, pins, wallets and chains, socks, loads of stickers and hard parts such as points and derby covers and bars. ‘JG’, Mr. “Rusty”, says: “I would like to think that we thrash Harleys the hardest out of anyone, so we made it our mission to make products that can withstand the abuse – all our parts are wheelie, race and jump tested to perfection”.

Get ROEG?
Available exclusively through Motorcycle Storehouse, ROEG gear takes its inspiration from the custom motorcycle lifestyle. The range includes casuals, vests, gloves and the ROEG ‘JETT’ (half shell) helmet.
Available in three fiberglass shell sizes to keep the helmet as small as possible while still meeting ECE-R22.05 regulations, they come with removable cheek pads, padded chin strap and classic double D-ring closure, plus integrated snaps for visors/shields.

MOTORCYCLE STOREHOUSE BV
www.motorcyclestorehouse.com

JIMS

“Mighty Bite” crankshaft lock for M-8

 

The JIMS “Mighty Bite” is designed to lock the crankshaft when doing service work. Competitively priced, this tool is easily justified compared to trying to lock the engine in other ways. The new Milwaukee-Eight has a unique crank position sensor location and requires a different profile to lock the flywheel. This tool specifically locates and locks the flywheel in the new Milwaukee-Eight engine and has an added O-ring to prevent oil seepage.
JIMS, USA, www.jimsusa.com

Andrews Products

Andrews Additional M-8 Camshaft Grinds

Mount Prospect, Illinois based Andrews Products has added to its available line-up of camshafts for M-8 engines with two new camshaft grinds for “more torque and horsepower” as well as new transmission pulleys “to better put that power to the ground.”

Andrews’ General Manager Mike Pederson says “the new M462 cam is a perfect choice for heavy touring bikes with the 107” or 114” Milwaukee-Eight engines, while the M464 cam is an excellent choice for the CVO 117” engines. 

“Adding the new 31-tooth transmission pulley will allow heavy touring bikes to take off easier while also being able to shift into top gear at a lower mph. For those wanting to lower the rpms on the highway, the 34-tooth pulley will do the trick for smooth cruising.”

ANDREWS PRODUCTS
www.andrewsproducts.com

Lowbrow Customs

King P-Nut Gas Tank for Sportsters and Customs

Known for its line of popular custom gas tanks, the latest design from Brunswick, Ohio based Lowbrow Customs is this King P-Nut gas tank. 

Made by Lowbrow, owner Tyler Malinky says it was “designed for universal custom use or to simply bolt on to ‘86-‘03 Harley-Davidson Sportsters using our Lowbrow gas tank adapter brackets – a genuine bolt-on, there is no welding, drilling or modification necessary.” 

In addition to fitting to a Sportster, this gas tank can be mounted on any motorcycle frame with basic fabrication techniques. One such method is welding some threaded ‘tophat’ bungs into the backbone of the frame.
Tyler says the King P-Nut is unique in that it allows full use of its 2.4 gallon capacity because of the left-side 1/4 inch NPT petcock bung and the small gas filler moved up high on the tank. Being that this is a Frisco mount gas tank, it has a shallow tunnel and sits high up on the backbone of the frame; if the filler cap is back too far, the tank can't be filled to the top without the gas overflowing.

LOWBROW CUSTOMS
www.lowbrowcustoms.com/pnut

Platinum Air Suspension

Platinum Air Bleed Feed Mono Shock Kit for 2018 Softails

Fullerton, California based V-twin air suspension pioneer Platinum Air Suspension has announced a new version of its popular ‘Bleed Feed’ air shock for the 2018 M-8 Softails.
The company’s complete Mono Shock Kit includes all the components necessary to convert the stock 2018 Softail into a “luxury ride with top flight handling and the ability to fully adjust the ride height.”

The minimum retracted shock length is 10 7/8”, with a maximum extended shock length of 12 7/8”, resulting in a wide range of actual ride heights from “slammed” to “full handling” mode with a full 4” height range.
For California Softails, simply remove the EPA canister from the transmission, install the canister to the Platinum Air Suspension compressor/valve box, and install the entire assembly to the back of the transmission.
This kit covers the full range of 2018 Softail models and is backed by a one-year limited warranty on all material and manufacturing defects. Owner Mike Ferris says that “we stand behind the brand as “it’s all about the ride” and value the satisfaction of our customers above all else.”
Founded in 2004 by Oscar Sanchez, Platinum Air Suspension began by working on a custom bike project and developed into a complete “air ride system”.  Fast forward to 2018, and owner and designer Mike Ferris has developed the company and product into a “world class industry standard - truly the yardstick by which all others are measured.”
The ‘Bleed Feed’ system is Mike’s flagship technology, controlling both ride height and rebound. The system is controlled by positive pressure at all times and easily adjusted at the “flip of a switch for complete comfort” based on rider weight, road conditions and the operator’s riding style.
The ‘Bleed Feed’ system includes air cylinders machined from 6061 T-6 billet aluminum, air-control valve, DOT-approved 1/4” line and fittings, switch/electrical harness, air compressor, hardware and line cutter.
Platinum also offers a simple, lower cost system, which features the same high level of quality components as the ‘Bleed Feed’,  but does not include rebound control. The system controls ride height through pump and release pressure.
All Platinum Air Suspension shocks are available in a wide variety of finishes - options include chrome, polished, powder-coated or satin with specific color; special order powder-coating also available.

PLATINUM AIR SUSPENSION
www.platinumairsuspension.com

Comment by Editor-in-Chief, Robin Bradley

The Management of Decline

Harley had a lot at stake on its first quarter financial performance announcement and, sad to say, it hasn’t lifted the weight of expectation from its shoulders.
Worse in fact. Management has been gradually painting itself into a corner, and the big “initiative” that came out of Q1 appears simply to have been some “new initiatives” to announce this coming summer (“a plan to have a plan” as one Harley dealer put it to me a few months ago) really puts a sell-by date on the faith that investors will continue to have in their ability to reverse the firm’s decline.
They really have now painted themselves into that corner because if the announcements to come this summer aren’t compelling and convincing in equal measure, then they have simply set themselves up to fail in 2018/2019, rather than by 2017, when we’ll have seen the full fruits of the last great announcement – the one from January 2017 that rocked our world with the excitement of 100 new “high impact” motorcycles and two million new riders by 2026.
That plan and the subsequent announcements and financial performance of the following 15 months - even with the M-8 Softails being a part of that timeframe – has left Harley’s investor community still in search of beef.
To back up a tad, for me the critical and painfully disappointing remarks in the Q1 announcement (see pages one and six of this edition of AMD Magazine) were those that hinted at major “feel good” announcements to come this summer.
Apparently, not being overburdened by the busy-ness of crafting new motorcycles or crafting new riders, the company is now “crafting strategy accelerants” that will be designed to “deliver significant value through 2022.”
So from that we can deduce one of two things. Either that the announcements about the two million new riders, the 100 new models, the increased dealer network, the factory in Thailand, the desire to see 50 percent of sales achieved internationally, and the M-8 Softails were not designed or expected to “accelerate” market or balance sheet performance, or else, more likely, there is now the dawning realization that the existing strategies just aren’t going to deliver.
 
 “if your marketing is so good, where’s the growth?”

Given that none of these previously planned “accelerants” address any of the core issues confronting the wider motorcycle industry or Harley in particular, ‘quelle surprise’.
But it’s okay now, because the company says that it “plans to leverage its core business more fully and expand in new directions to accelerate value creation as it pursues its long-term objectives.”
Well that’s okay then, phew, I’m glad we got that cleared up.
Levatich is quoted as saying that “our view of the highly competitive global motorcycle market is grounded in a realistic assessment of risks, opportunities and capabilities needed to inspire ridership and grow our business”. Now maybe I am just hopelessly out of touch with ‘Corp-Speak’ and too grounded in the realities of meeting the payroll to breathe the same air, but that sounds to me very much like an acceptance that the initiatives required to turn the company around are too risky, the opportunities available in the market too alien and, anyway, we just don’t have those kind of capabilities.
The statement issued under his name (and personally I’d instantly fire whoever wrote this BS for him) goes on to say that “our data-driven insights compel us to enhance and accelerate our strategies to ensure we deliver on our long-term objectives as we build the next generation of Harley-Davidson riders.”
Okay, so it’s really cool because they have now got some actual, you know, data – real knowledge and information about where they are going wrong, and they are reading it very, very carefully, and the conclusions are going to be really, really exciting -  they don’t know what they are yet, but they think they’ll be really, really interesting.
Well yes, they will be - namely that there are other kinds of bikes they could also be making for other kinds of customers. Wow. Gosh. Whodathunk.
In discussing just how “adjacent” Harley is prepared to go in search of its golden tomorrow, one analyst totally stripped the King of his clothes. In various places the company and its CEO have stated that they are prepared to be “bold”, “creative”, “imaginative”.
However, rather than being intent on reinterpreting the meaning of its brand for new generations of consumers, it looks very much like the company is resigned to having it weigh on them like a bag of rocks - baggage rather than opportunity - stating that whatever it does will be “in keeping with who we are as a brand.” In other words, we realize we are held back by our heritage, but are caught in the headlights by the prospects of actually being able to do anything about it.
Which brings us back to Harley’s marketing deficit. Either Matt Levatich or John Olin (I’m not quite sure whose voice it was in the conference call I was listening to) said that they thought that no, the nature of their products wasn’t what was holding them back (as they are so well received, so popular and doing so well for them!) and that no, it wasn’t a marketing problem either, because “our marketing is fantastic.”
Hello? Well, no actually, I am sorry to say that you could not be more wrong. Your marketing is abysmal, woeful, toe-curlingly bad and so off-target and outmoded that it stands out as by far the poorest of the leading dozen or so motorcycle manufacturing majors.
Believe me, as someone who sees the PR and marketing output of all of them all the time, and has done so for nearly 30 years, that includes some pretty low bars that Harley is failing to clear. If it was well conceived, well executed and well targeted, then where’s the growth?
So where managing to find customers and speak to those who could increase the number of products you are selling is concerned, just exactly how are these excellent platforms and “fantastic” marketing programs working out for you Harley?