American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 213 April 2017 | Page 13

Polaris to replace Victory ‘ Empulse ’ with longer distance Indian branded E-bike

Having wound down production of Victory Motorcycles , including its ‘ Empulse ’ E-bike , Polaris has confirmed that it will now develop a new electric motorcycle under the Indian brand . Expected to cover 120-140 miles on a single charge , compared with 75 miles for an ‘ Empulse ’, in a recent interview with Reuters , Steve Menneto ( President of Indian Motorcycle ) said : “ We want to attract new riders with " fun " electric motorcycles . The characteristics of the ( new ) powertrain are going to be more applicable to be able to ride a bike in pleasure and twisties ,” differentiating the planned new offer from the purely short-cycle urban mobility market that has largely been the province of E- bikes so far . The company will be continuing to leverage their late 2014 acquisition of Ashland , Oregon based E-bike manufacturer Brammo , but Menneto declined to give pricing details about the new bike – except to say that it
www . AMDchampionship . com would be priced “ competitively .” The company ' s suggested retail
Steve Menneto : “ We want to attract new riders with " fun " electric motorcycles ”

Harley-Davidson appoints new directors to Board

Harley-Davidson , Inc . has announced the appointment of Troy Alstead and Allan Golston to the company ' s board of directors . Alstead is retired from
Troy Alstead
Starbucks Corporation where he most recently served as Chief Operating Officer , and Golston is the President of the U . S . program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . " We are delighted to have two new talented professionals join our board ,"
said Michael Cave , non-executive chairman of the board of Harley- Davidson . " Troy and Alan bring valuable skills and have important perspectives as leaders in their fields that will be assets to the company ." Alstead is founder of Harbor O5 and the Ocean5 Foundation . He worked for Starbucks for more than 24 years in finance , operations management and international business roles . Prior to joining Starbucks , Alstead held various finance roles at NCR Corporation and Egghead Software . Alstead is on the board of directors of Levi Strauss & Co . and TopGolf . Golston , who has been with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since 2000 , previously served as its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer . He is a certified public accountant and has held positions with Swedish Health Services in Seattle and the University of Colorado Hospital . Golston is a member of the board of directors of Stryker Corporation , and is a member
price for the Brammo derived Victory ‘ Empulse ’ was upward of $ 19,999 . Harley is believed to still be some time away from being able to capitalize on the hype it generated with its “ Livewire ” prototype in 2014 . Menneto also told Reuters that he expects the company ' s revenue from its motorcycle business to grow to $ 1 billion in the next five years from $ 708.5 million last year , and confirmed something that he told AMD Magazine in January , namely that the Indian product line will expand to include smaller displacement models .
Allan Golston
Despite its race success at the Isle of Man , the range of the Victory ‘ Empulse ’ meant it was aimed at the short-cycle urban mobility market
of the Stryker Corporation Audit Committee . The appointments of Alstead and Golston by board action brings the total number of directors to 13 . Their terms will expire at the company ' s 2017 annual meeting of shareholders .

NEWS

BRIEFS

The “ Battle of Sturgis ” continues with the now decades old controversy about “ Sturgis ” rights ownership taking a new twist . There have been many strands of dispute that have resulted in claims and counter claims over intellectual property ownership . However , Rushmore Photo & Gifts ( RPG ) of Rapid City , the local Nieman family and Walmart stores have won a case brought against it by Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Inc . ( SMRI - over sales of “ Sturgis ” branded merchandise ) after six years , being told they had valid defences against SMRI ’ s trademark ownership infringement claims , while upholding SMRI ’ s trademark rights .
The NHTSA reports that the highest number of American motorcycle accident fatalities occurs in Florida , accounting for 20 percent of vehicle fatalities – up by 30 percent between 2014 and 2015 ; 606 died in motorcycle accidents in 2015 .
The intriguingly named Frog Specialties of Gardena , California , have been appointed as the exclusive importer and distributor of the respected French made Beringer high-performance brakes program .
General Motors and Honda have announced establishment of what is described as the auto industry ’ s first manufacturing joint venture to mass-produce an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system that will be used in future products from each company . Fuel Cell System Manufacturing , LLC will operate within GM ’ s existing battery pack manufacturing facility site in Brownstown , Michigan , south of Detroit . Mass production of fuel cell systems is expected to begin around 2020 and create nearly 100 new jobs . The companies are making equal investments totalling $ 85 million in the joint venture .
Mahindra Two Wheelers , the Indian motorcycle manufacturer who bought a 51 percent stake in Peugeot ’ s Scooter business in 2014 , has acquired the rights to the legendary British BSA name from Southampton , UK based BSA-Regal late last year .
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