International Dealer News IDN 146 December 2018 / January 2019 | Page 12

news ROOM New clutch kit options BRIEFS from SBS NEWS EU motorcycle registrations by month for 2018 Q3 were 108,874 units in July (100,029 in 2017), 77,488 units in August (68,086 in 2017) and 82,897 units in September (76,611 in 2017). Yamaha is to collaborate with major Indian bicycle manufacturer Hero Cycles and Mitsui & Co. to evaluate the business opportunities available for electrically power-assisted bicycles in India. Yamaha Motor will supply Hero Cycles with drive units (E-kits). The BMW Group and Daimler AG are to headquarter the proposed global mobility joint venture company they announced (March 2018) in Berlin. The business is to “offer customers a single source for sustainable urban mobility services”, offering their customers “a holistic ecosystem of intelligent, seamlessly connected mobility services, available at the tap of a finger”, expanding their existing on-demand mobility offering in the areas of CarSharing, Ride-Hailing, Parking, Charging and “Multimodality”. Each will hold a 50 percent stake, but will remain competitors in their respective core businesses. For the first 9 months of 2018, Brembo announced revenue up +8.0% to € 1,999.7 m; EBITDA at € 380.0 m (19% margin); EBIT of € 266.8 m (13.3% margin) and net financial debt down by € 22.4 m to € 240.7 m. Net profit was € 197.2 million (+0.4%). Net investments amounted to € 184.1 m. Danish brakes specialist SBS Friction has leveraged its expertise in friction management to develop a series of new and updated clutch kits for a wide range of models from the 1970s and up - the programme covers all kinds of bikes from sport, street and touring to off-road and MX. SBS Product Manager Claus Rønnemoss says: “It has been extremely important for us to make a simple programme, where it is easy to choose the right clutches. Therefore, we have made an easy item structure, an easy to use catalogue, and from January 2019 it will be easy to find the right clutches for almost any bike online at sbs.dk.” CSO Christel Munk Pedersen went on to say: “SBS is well known for its high- quality brake pad programme and, of course, the clutch kits have been developed with the same care and expertise to ensure high performance, long lifetime and quality operation. From being a brake pad manufacturer, we now see ourselves as a complete brake system supplier as we not only offer brake pads, but brake discs, brake shoes, brake pins and now also clutches.” The programme consists of standard and upgrade clutch friction plates, steel plates and standard and upgrade single plates for dry clutches. The standard version is always an OE replacement, whereas the upgrade version is made from materials that offer improved performance. The standard clutch friction plates are made of organic friction materials and are resistant to stress and overheating, whereas the upgraded version is made from carbon/paper materials, making them very reliable on race tracks and street performance applications. The standard single plates for dry clutches are made from organic friction materials and the upgrade version from para-aramid synthetic fibres, thereby ensuring a higher friction coefficient and no damage from overheating or if covered in oil. All steel plates are made from special wear and deformation resistant steel and have the same dimensions and thickness as the OE product. www.sbs.dk