American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 221 December 2017 | Page 12

NEWS Thrashin Supply BRIEFS anti-reversion exhaust for Dyna/FXR Harley CEO Matt Levatich is reported to have sold nearly 20,000 of his shares in the Motor Company at the end of October for around $48 a share. He may be kicking himself - by early December they were selling in the region of $52 and trending north! Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra is to open what will be the first ever Indian automotive plant in the United States. They will build off- road utility vehicles in Detroit. Flat Track racing is returning to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds with the Donnie Smith Show (Midwest Extravaganza, Bike, Car & Tattoo Expo) hosting Indoor Flat Track back at its Twin Cities spiritual home. In the 1970s the renowned Minneapolis Armory hosted “indoor” Flat Track races that “people of a certain age” still remember fondly! Construction industry equipment manufacturer Caterpillar has announced plans to enter the utility vehicle market via a deal with Textron Specialized Vehicles, the owner of Arctic Cat since their acquisition in early 2017. It will sell Cat UTV models through Caterpillar dealerships, starting in 2018. In Switzerland Harley is in third spot in market share terms for the period January – October 2017, having sold 2,794 units YTD; down from the 2,896 for the same period in 2016. Harley is behind Yamaha and BMW, but ahead of the likes of Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Triumph, Ducati, Suzuki et al. Triumph has announced a diversification with a limited edition run of 500 hi-specification all-terrain bicycles – the Triumph XCX. Monday October 1, 2018 is confirmed as “move-in” day for the XIII AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building at INTERMOT ‘Customized’, Cologne, Germany. Tuesday 2 is press day; Wednesday 3 is the international trade and VIP visitor preview day; with public admission from Thursday 3 through Sunday 7. Judging is Saturday 6, with the awards ceremony at 3:00 pm on Sunday 7. In 2016 INTERMOT ‘Customized’ attracted some 150,000 visitors. 12 PARTS AND ACCESSORIES Luke Leatherman, of Feuling Parts fame, has established an additional business – Thrashin Supply. It is a joint venture with Lance Coury, a former MX free style rider (an X-Games Gold Medal Winner no less), the new business’ fast-growing product lines include exhausts, hard parts, apparel, gloves and bags. Seen here are anti-reversion exhausts for DYNA/FXR models that are a collaboration with Leatherman’s existing business. Described as “the ultimate in V-twin performance exhausts,” Luke says: “Over a year in the making and after countless hours spent on design and in the Dyno room, we bring you an all- new 2-into-1 anti-reversion system with equal length stepped head pipes using Jim Feuling’s patented design anti-reversion ‘AR’ chambers (Patent numbers: US 4206600 A & 6336471 B1) and optional perforated ‘Dog Ball’ muffler core (Patent #5,173,576). “These technologies promote continuous exhaust gas flow, reducing ‘reversionary’ pressure waves or ‘unwanted’ exhaust pollu