American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 238 May 2019 | Page 12

Firebrand and HardDrive Sign
BRIEFS Exclusive Distribution Agreement
NEWS
Polaris Slingshot recently announced
a partnership with Xtreme Xperience,
"the world's largest mobile supercar
experience company," as the official
sponsor of Xtreme Xperience's 2019
tour. Slingshot will be available at 14
Xtreme Xperience track events across
the U.S. Additionally, Slingshot will be
available throughout 2019 at Xtreme
Xperience's permanent track location
at NOLA Motorsports Park in
Avondale, La., just outside New
Orleans.
American Flat Track's Shayna
Texter (the 15-time National
Winner) has inked a deal with
British indie casual apparel
brand Red Torpedo Clothing as a
brand ambassador.
Pacific Powersports has moved from
Temecula, California, to a 15,000 sq
ft facility at Ontario, Oregon – the
company distributes tires, including
the award-winning Motoz range of
off-road tires from Australia, wheels,
riding boots, seat covers and
backpacks
BMW says it sold 13,842
motorcycles in USA in 2018 -
another record high. Sales of its
6-cylinder models are
"developing very positively,"
including its K 1600 Bagger,
which is tailored especially to
the US market. Timo Resch,
BMW Motorrad Head of Sales
and Marketing: "With 8,306
units sold and a +25% increase
in sales, our 6-cylinder models
are among the big winners of
2018 again. The USA especially
is an important market for these
models. We will continue to
increase our involvement in the
US in order to strengthen BMW
Motorrad's position there." An
additional new USA-specific
model is being touted.
To expand its zero-emissions personal
transportation solutions, Mahindra
Partners, the $1 billion incubation,
private equity &H" venture capital
division of the global Mahindra
Group, recently announced that
GenZe will join Mahindra Automotive
North America (MANA). Fremont,
California based GenZe started as an
incubator-funded business by
Mahindra in 2012, developing IoT-
connected, Ann Arbor, Michigan
engineered and manufactured electric
scooters and bicycles. GenZe has
become a key supplier within the
booming shared mobility category,
launching fleet electric bikes and
scooters with public operators such
as Ford GoBike, Scoobi and Scoot,
and fleets in the tourism, delivery,
college and corporate sectors. MANA
already has a factory in Southeast
Michigan where it is manufacturing
the Roxor SxS off-road vehicle and
where, it is rumored, Mahindra may
consider manufacturing its
middleweight displacement BSA
models in the coming years.
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Waynesboro, Virginia based exhaust
manufacturer Firebrand Design has
signed an agreement giving Western
Power Sports/HardDrive exclusive USA
distribution rights.
"We are extremely excited to be
partnering with a great company like
Western Power Sports," exclaimed
John Peck, President of Firebrand.
"WPS is filled with passionate
enthusiasts, and their HardDrive
division is the fastest growing
distributor in the U.S V-twin market.
They are the perfect fit for bringing
Firebrand into the future."
HardDrive is the American V-twin
division of Western Power Sports and
has warehouses located throughout
the U.S. at Fresno, California;
Memphis, Tennessee; Elizabethtown,
Pennsylvania; Ashley, Indiana;
Midlothian, Texas; and its
Headquarters warehouse at Boise,
Idaho.
Recent product news from Firebrand
include 'Loose Cannon' slip-ons for M-
8 Softails (AMD March) and, seen
here, 'Smoothbore' headers for '17-
'19 M-8 Harley-Davidson Touring and
Tri-Glide models.
Engineered to fit under stock
heatshields, the 'Smoothbore'
header's open collector design
"eliminates the congestion and allows
the M-8 to breathe. By utilizing the
stock Harley heatshields and crossover
pipe, 'Smoothbore' headers give all
the benefits of a full header system,
while retailing at hundreds less than
the competition."
Designed to increase both airflow and
decibel volume, "they will add power
and sound while reducing the heat
attributed to stock head pipes. The 1
3/4" head pipes merge into a smooth
flowing collector, are compatible with
12 mm and 18 mm sensors along with
18 mm wideband oxygen sensors,
have industrial chrome coating for
additional durability and work with
2017 and later stock mufflers or
Firebrand slip-ons."
www.hdtwin.com
www.firebrandmotorcycle.com
SBS Racing Brake Pads Win
Big at Daytona
Danish specialist SBS hit two
'home runs' at Daytona in
March with their brake pads
equipping the Daytona TT
American Flat Track and
Daytona 200 winners.
In the fast-growing AFT Twins
Presented by Vance & Hines
class of the Daytona TT, Indian
'Wrecking Crew' rider Briar
Bauman won using SBS 841-DC
Dual Carbon front and SBS730-
RQ Carbon Tech rear brake pads
on his Indian FTR750. Briar said
after the race: "The front brake
felt exactly the same at the first
and last lap - no fade problems
at all!"
Kyle Wyman won the Daytona
200 riding a Yamaha R6
equipped with SBS 634DS-1
Dual Sinter brake pads. One of
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - MAY 2019
the legendary road
races, the Daytona 200
places a premium on
braking response and
modulation with 57 laps on
Daytona's infamous and famous
2.5 mile/4.0 km tri-oval with its
31 degrees of banking in the
turns (18 degrees even at the
start/finish line!) and a 3,800
feet/1,200 m front straight and
3,000 ft/910 m long "super
stretch" back straight.
Chris Jensen, SBS North
American Brand Manager, said:
" With Briar Bauman in AFT, the
DC compound pads and their
superior feel are perfect for the
unique challenges of stopping
the fast 750 cc machines in the
dirt. Besides these winners, top
riders in the Daytona 200 like
Geoff May, Josh Hayes, Cory
West, Brandon Paasch and Tyler
O`Hara also chose SBS brake
pads.
"SBS has worked with Kyle
Wyman and his KWR race team
in MotoAmerica for a few years,
so it was a great pleasure to
help him attain his goal of a
Daytona 200 win. He used one
set of DS-1 pads all weekend,
and the pads looked like they
were ready to do it again."
www.sbs.dk
www.AMDchampionship.com