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OPINION FROM THE EDITOR 10 • March 17, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Snowmobile dealers in some parts of the country are reporting their best sales season in more than a decade. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "we're out of new sleds" while talking to dealers over the past month or so. Some dealers who carried over a couple of dozen sleds from last year will go into 2014-15 with nary a sled. One dealer reported driv- ing as far as five hours one way to purchase new sleds from a fellow dealer. It's been an incredibly strong winter for them inside the showroom, but they'll get a kick out of learning about what the cold and snowy winter meant for Crazy Kurt. Kurt Hayden is the owner of Hayden Honda in Kendallville, Ind., and decided last year that he would ride a motorcycle to work every day for an entire year until his 60th birthday. Hayden, who turns 60 in April, began his journey on April 12, 2013. He lives about six miles from the store, which is open five days a week, although he almost always finds himself at the shop on Mondays as well. Crazily enough, he also took on the feat the year before he turned 50. Hayden's father opened the store in 1965, and Kurt took over the Powerhouse dealership in 1980. Hayden does a bang-up job of blogging about his yearlong adventure on Crazykurt.com. "I'm not a self- promoting type person, so they were hard to do at first, but people became interested, so I try to do it as often as I can. Between the blog and Facebook (facebook. com/haydenhonda), it's surprising how many people know about it. My son Nick got the site for me. This stuff is all new to me, and if I can do it, anyone can." A recent post: "I'm way past wanting more snow. The groundhog just saw his shadow! The little varmint should be shot, thrown in a compost pile, and burned! It seems he could see his shadow at midnight during a solar eclipse! I'm done with this snow and cold." This one also puts readers alongside him for the ride: "OK, we got lots of snow. I'd guess 8+ inches. I did ride my TRX into work. It has a plow on it, and even with the blade up, I was pushing snow while rid- ing on the county rode. I had to stand up to not have snow blowing in my eyes the whole way! The ride on SR 3 wasn't too bad. I got behind a couple cars and stayed right behind them doing about 35mph." Summertime rides, of course, proved to be the most enjoyable, with the rides providing Hayden with a sense of yesteryear. "In the summer I rode all kinds of stuff, even scoot- ers. The best ride was on a Honda Metro. I don't ride long distance anymore, and it was this beautiful after- noon and I'm going 30 mph on a scooter, I'm relaxed and it just struck me — this is fantastic," Hayden told me over the phone after a less pleasant ride to work. "I just don't hop on and go for ride, like many guys in my position, anymore. I'd go 500-600 miles a day when I was younger, from here [near Ft. Wayne, Ind.] to Peo- ria for the Grand National Championship TT. Now I run a dealership and don't have time." Come winter, the ice-packed roads proved to a chal- lenge greater than any sub-zero wind chill temperature. "I can go a mile on the coldest day before I even feel the wind or cold. I get dressed inside, build up as much heat as I can in my cocoon. I'm pretty well sealed." But by January, Hayden had ridden to work in temps that reached minus-16 degrees, and that started to get old. "In January we had two days above 32 degrees. I picked the worst winter that we've had for 20 or 30 years to do this," Hayden said. "It was the coldest January since 1980. I'm over this now. It's getting to be a pain in the butt." His daily gear in those climes included three lay- ers of upper body clothing to go along with a heated vest and jacket. A balaclava and neckerchief also made winter more bearable, along with a solid pair of gloves. Studded tires aboard a CRF230M helped to keep the bikes upright in the winter, although Hayden counted three tank slappers among his near-misses. From a 750 Magna to F6B to CF500F and CB500R, Hayden's seat time has allowed him to share the ben- efits of the various bikes to customers. He's actually ridden nearly a dozen different models. "For a lot of dealers, the work gets in the way of fun," Hayden said. "It allows me to ride and demo stuff that maybe I would not have gotten on, and it allows me to relate to the customer better." BLACKWELL OFF TO RETIREMENT Mark Blackwell has announced his retirement from Polaris Industries after 13 years with the Minnesota- based OEM. Most recently, Blackwell served as vice president of special projects at Polaris. He had been based out of his home office in Temecula, Calif., the past two years, where he and wife, Patti, were able to spend time with their son Brett, now in college. In a letter to industry friends and associates, Black- well said his retirement date would be the first quarter of 2014. "My time and work with Polaris have been the best of my life, and I am very grateful for the oppor- tunities I have been given and the support I received. Clearly, Polaris is a great company with an outstand- ing board of directors, senior leadership team and employees. I firmly believe that the alignment of ownership and incentives combined with the corpo- rate culture are among the best of any company in the world," Blackwell wrote. PSB Dave McMahon is editor in chief of Powersports Business. Contact him at 763/383-4411 or dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com. 1. Yamaha unveils 2015 snowmobiles 2. 50 Below lays off 20 employees 3. EBR announces its first 60 dealers 4. Gibbs Quadski races an Alfa Romeo on BBC's Top Gear 5. Industry mourns loss of Tommy Aquino 6. Honda new models include CBR650F 7. Powersports Business announces Nifty 50 winners 8. Dealership hosts Easyriders after party with David Allan Coe 9. Western Power Sports becomes DEI distributor 10. Two Chicago-area Harley-Davidson dealerships acquired 11. Las Vegas Harley-Davidson breaks ground on new store 12. Kawasaki USA to get new president in April 13. Urals on display during Olympic opening ceremony 14. Suzuki seeing year-over-year sales gains in every bike, ATV category 15. Kawasaki, Honda Q3 motorcycle sales increase The headlines above belong to the most frequently viewed articles from Powersports Business' twice weekly e-news during the Jan. 31-Feb. 26 period. The number is based on the percentage of e-news viewers who clicked on the article's headline. To subscribe to e-news, go to www.powersportsbusiness.com/newsletter-signup. WHAT'S THE HOTTEST INDUSTRY TOPIC? Powersports Business blog ONLINE WITH POWERSPORTSBUSINESS.COM Leading industry executives and dealer consultants are among the contributors to PSB's blog. See below for recent blogs. Yearlong bike to work brought ice, snow, cold Visit powersportsbusiness.com/blogs PSBI call for presentations Powersports Business is now accepting proposals for educational presenta- tions from potential speakers at the 2nd annual Powersports Business Insti- tute @ AIMExpo, which will be held Oct. 16-19 in Orlando, Fla. In order to provide the most robust lineup possible, we are offering all qualified speakers a chance to participate in our educational lineup. Presentations should target powersports dealership professionals (dealer principals and general manag- ers, as well as department managers and employees in new and pre-owned sales, service, parts, accessories, F&I, e-commerce and operations). The deadline to submit a proposal is Thursday, May 1. For an application, email Dave McMahon at dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com. DAVE McMAHON TOM KAISER Senior Editor, Powersports Business If customers want to drool over a new bike on their phones, you better give them that option. Is it possible to offer tech support using Apple's FaceTime? You bet it is, and it's free. BOB MCCANN Director of Education, ARI Here are four off-season marketing tips that will help you build awareness for your dealership, build anticipation for the coming season and spark some off-season sales in the process. MARK MOONEY Director, Retail Performance, Pied Piper Management Company LLC Planning success and achieving success are two different things. To achieve takes commitment to a plan, and the resolve to do what needs to be done daily, weekly, continually. You can plan all you want, but if you don't do, it won't do it for you. LESLIE PREVISH Founder, Prevish Marketing Most new female pilots of their own motorcycle, ATV or other powersport vehicle first started as a backseat rider. It's easier, and costs less in marketing spend, to get a woman already familiar with your brand and product to move up. Kurt Hayden so far has made good on his attempt to ride a motorcycle — or ATV — to work every day for an entire year. He owns Hayden Honda in Kendallville, Ind. P10-PSB4-Opinion.indd 10 3/5/14 11:31 AM