SHOW ZONE
Ohlins : Having bought back 95 percent of the ownership share from Yamaha in 2007 , founder
Kenth Öhlin finally implemented a succession plan a year ago that saw him hand over day-to-day management of the suspension business he started at the age of 25 years old in 1976 . The appointment of Henrik Johansson as CEO guarantees continuity - Johansson having been with the Swedish business for over 20 years , most recently as Deputy CEO , with an emphasis on strategic planning and management ; www . ohlins . com
GIVI : Recent new products from the Italian luggage to helmets to windshields manufacturer include their S410 universal trolley base for their Monokey top cases , luggage and accessories kits for bestselling current models such as the Z1000SX , 50.5 ‘ Tridion ’ thermoplastic I303S Bluetooth intercom- ready sport touring full face helmet , plus additions to their universal fit soft luggage ranges , including the new Ultima-T and Gravel-T ( off-road ) ranges ; www . givi . it
United States , the industry and consumer attendance was always largely regional . In which respect , Columbus has much to commend itself as a permanent venue for the show . The organisers say that some 41 % of franchised and independent motorcycle dealers in the United States are located within a 500 mile radius of America ’ s 14th largest and still fast growing city , with 50 % of the entire U . S . population also located within a 500 mile radius . Based on the results regularly seen when exhibitors and dealers are researched about their trade show venue preferences , the temptation to flirt with the western and south-western markets must be strong for the organisers . However , the further west you go in the continental U . S ., historically the less inclined motorcycle
Polini Motori : The U . S . powersports industry isn ’ t normally regarded as a hotbed of scooter , maxi- scooter and Vespa riding , but the market there is so huge and so diverse that there is room for all PTW tastes , and the Italian replacement and performance parts specialist does good business in a country where reliable supplies of quality scooter parts have always been an issue ; www . polini . com
Pacific Powersports : Headed up by Brian Cornelius , Pacific are the United States importer and distributor of Italian designed and manufactured Falco boots , spoke wheels by Dutch specialist Haan , Australian designed Zac Speed backpacks and , seen here , the Australian designed Motoz specialty off-road tyres programme - one of the fastest growing and most respected specialty tyre lines in the industry ; www . pacificpowersports . info
Matt Levatich , President and CEO of Harley-Davidson , pointed to a future in which “ it ’ s all about the software not the hardware , and the software is the consumers whose world is defined by their screens ”
dealers are to attend trade events . Given the importance of the off-road motorcycle and wider powersports sectors to the overall market in the United States , and the fact that Adventure Tourers , ATV , UTV and SxS sales are the only growing sectors currently , it may well be that the OEs ( who now largely drive show policy ), will want to cater to the south-west . In which case , an alternate annual east / west cycle makes sense - maybe dropping anchor at Las Vegas for the non-Columbus years ( or perhaps , better still , exploit the larger hinterland at Phoenix , Arizona ). Either way , the date proximity to INTERMOT every other year is a misjudgement . If AIMExpo wants to get serious
Furygan : The Nimes , France based manufacturer says that their in-house ‘ Motion Lab ’ R & D facility uses state-of-the-art equipment , identical to that of the official certification laboratories , to replicate approvals tests for abrasion , cut , tear , perforation and ergonomics , allowing them to meet or exceed all current regulatory requirements ; www . furygan . com
Cardo Systems : Latest products from the ‘ Scala Rider ’ bike communications and entertainment systems specialist include the rugged Q-solo Bluetooth communicator for solo riders , Freecom 4 and Packtalk DMC ( Dynamic Mesh Communication ) based Bluetooth communication systems ; www . cardosystems . com
Arrow Special Parts : The Italian exhaust specialist sells its Arrow and Giannelli slip-on and full system brands through Tim Calhoun ’ s California based distribution partner SpeedMob , who specialise in representing European made parts , accessory and apparel product lines in the USA ; www . arrow . it , www . speedmob . com
18 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2017