Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/288267
PSB FOCUS 12 • April 8, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com This issue: V-twin Next issue: ATV CRUISER & TOURING BIKES: NADAGuides.com traffic shows breakdown of most researched new and used motorcycles Following are traffic reports of the top 10 most researched new and used cruiser and touring motorcycles, Harley- Davidson and metric, on NADAGuides.com. TOP 10 RESEARCHED USED CRUISER MOTORCYCLES UNDER 600CC IN FEBRUARY 2014 Rank Year Make Model 1 2009 Honda CMX250C9 Rebel 2 2007 Honda VT600C7 Shadow Velorex 3 2007 Honda CMX250C7 Rebel 4 2005 Honda CMX250C5 Rebel 5 2006 Honda CMX250C6 Rebel 6 2009 Kawasaki EN500C9F Vulcan 500 Limited 7 2006 Honda VT600C6 Shadow Velorex 8 2008 Honda CMX250C8 Rebel 9 2007 Honda VT600CD7 Shadow VLX Deluxe 10 2003 Honda VT600CD3 Shadow VLX Deluxe TOP 10 RESEARCHED NEW TOURING MOTORCYCLES IN FEBRUARY 2014 Rank Year Make Model 1 2013 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide 2 2013 Harley-Davidson Street Glide 3 2013 Harley-Davidson Road King 4 2014 Harley-Davidson Street Glide 5 2013 Harley-Davidson Road Glide 6 2014 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide 7 2013 Honda Gold Wing 8 2013 Victory Motorcycles Cross Country 9 2014 Harley-Davidson Road King 10 2012 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide TOP 10 RESEARCHED USED TOURING MOTORCYCLES IN FEBRUARY 2014 Rank Year Make Model 1 2007 Harley-Davidson FLHTCU Ultra Classic Electra Glide 2 2007 Harley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide 3 2012 Harley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide 4 2009 Harley-Davidson FLHTCU Ultra Classic Electra Glide 5 2008 Harley-Davidson FLHTCU Ultra Classic Electra Glide 6 2009 Harley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide 7 2006 Harley-Davidson FLHTCUI Ultra Classic Electra Glide 8 2008 Harley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide 9 2010 Harley-Davidson FLHX Street Glide 10 2005 Harley-Davidson FLHTCUI Ultra Classic Electra Glide TOP 10 RESEARCHED NEW CRUISER MOTORCYCLES IN FEBRUARY 2014 Rank Year Make Model 1 2013 Harley-Davidson Softail 2 2013 Harley-Davidson Sportster 3 2013 Harley-Davidson Dyna 4 2013 Honda Shadow 5 2013 Suzuki Boulevard 6 2013 Yamaha V Star 7 2013 Honda CB 8 2014 Harley-Davidson Softail 9 2014 Harley-Davidson Sportster 10 2013 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 TOP 10 RESEARCHED NEW METRIC CRUISERS IN FEBRUARY 2014 Rank Year Make Model 1 2013 Honda Shadow 2 2013 Suzuki Boulevard 3 2013 Yamaha V Star 4 2013 Honda CB 5 2013 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 6 2013 Honda Rebel 7 2013 Yamaha Road Star 8 2013 Yamaha V Star 950 9 2013 Yamaha V Star 1300 10 2013 Triumph Bonneville TOP 10 RESEARCHED USED CRUISER MOTORCYCLES IN FEBRUARY 2014 Rank Year Make Model 1 2007 Harley-Davidson FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic 2 2005 Harley-Davidson XL1200C 3 2007 Harley-Davidson FXDB Dyna Street Bob 4 2006 Harley-Davidson XL1200C 5 2006 Honda VTX1300C6 6 2008 Harley-Davidson FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic 7 2006 Harley-Davidson FXDBI Street Bob 8 2007 Harley-Davidson XL1200C 9 2009 Harley-Davidson FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic 10 2007 Harley-Davidson XL1200L Sportster Low TOP 10 RESEARCHED USED METRIC CRUISER MOTORCYCLES IN FEBRUARY 2014 Rank Year Make Model 1 2006 Honda VTX1300C6 2 2005 Honda VT750C5 Shadow Aero 3 2005 Suzuki C50 Boulevard 4 2004 Honda VT750C4 Shadow Aero 5 2004 Honda VTX1300C4 6 2005 Honda VTX1300C5 7 2006 Honda VT750C6 Shadow Aero 8 2007 Honda VTX1300C7 9 2003 Honda VTX1800C3 10 2006 Honda VT750DCA6 Shadow Spirit INSIDE FOCUS Trio of former employees go it alone as shop owners SEE PAGE 15 Vee Rubber takes tires to a new level with 32-inch front SEE PAGE 18 ACCEL's latest product a hit with custom builders SEE PAGE 14 April 8, 2014 • Volume 17, Number 5 • $3.99 w w w . p o w e r s p o r t s b u s i n e s s . c o m NEWS: Fox Powersports adds two stores . . . . . . . . PAGE 7 ATV: Dealer pairs Arctic Cats with Fords . . . . . . PAGE 22 CYCLE: Gartrides.com draws readers . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 27 POWER 50: Del Amo expands to Costa Mesa . . . . . . . . PAGE 34 MIC names Pritchard as general counsel The Motorcycle Industry Council has named Erik Pritchard as general counsel. Pritchard takes over the posi- tion recently vacated by former general counsel Paul Vitrano and will serve in this role for the MIC, the Motor- cycle Safety Founda- tion, the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association and the Spe- cialty Vehicle Institute of America. Pritchard has worked with the MIC as outside counsel since his employ- ment with Ross, Dixon and Bell, the law firm founded by longtime MIC consultant Stu Ross. During his INSPIRING SUCCESS THROUGH MARKET INTELLIGENCE Sticking out Ski-Doo introduces bright colorations, drawing attention to its 2015 snowmobile lineup. SEE PAGE 35 HOTNEWS Going big Vee Rubber launches a first-of-its-kind 32-inch tire mounted on a Metalsport wheel. SEE PAGE 18 Feeling special Four Special Edition models join Yamaha's sport ATV lineup. SEE PAGE 20 Being close to OEMs allows for quick turnaround time BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR A sign on the Powersports OE assembly line at Fox reads "Everyone is an inspector." It's a reflec- tion of the high expectations the company has of itself and its employees. Fox seeks to produce the highest quality parts possible in order to make its OEM clients and aftermarket customers happy. That drive can be felt throughout the Watson- ville, Calif., factory at which powersports, bicycle, truck and hot rod shocks are assem- bled. A tour of how product moves through the facility reveals just how stringent Fox is. At the Powersports OE assem- bly line, new products first go to the Viper line, where a few employ- ees master each product's assem- bly and debug the process before passing it on to the larger assembly line. Then, once it reaches the pri- mary line, each piece is carefully put together using detailed dia- grams, and each staff member has the power to stop the line if some- thing is found to be defective. "We are very focused on quality and efficiency as a group," said Juan Hernandez, Fox day supervisor. "Quality belongs to everyone." During shock assembly, product can be pulled randomly off the line at any point for inspection. The quality control department tests every part of random shocks — and forks on the bicycle side — and assures the size and shape of each is exact. Once each shock makes it through assembly, it sits on a rack for 24 hours to assure no leaks are present. After that, they each go through a com- pression test before being packaged. But that's not where the precise efficiency ends. The ship- ping department is highly organized, as OEMs need products to arrive on time, so they don't hold up production of any vehicle, but also not too early, so the OEM doesn't have to find room to store the shocks. Because the whole process is so precise, Fox See Fox, Page 4 Divas SnowGear joins Facebook council BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR When a representative from a large company like Facebook calls look- ing for help, it's hard to turn them down. So Wendy Gavinski, founder and president of Divas SnowGear, was all ears when she received such a phone call about a year ago. Facebook was looking to share successes stories of some of its business users, and the company was impressed with how Divas had increased its Facebook audience so quickly. "They just saw the growth of our page, and that it was growing at a certain rate, so they kind of had an eye on us," Gavinski said. PSB: FOCUS V-twin SEE PAGE 12 Industry now has a link to Facebook See Divas, Page 6 See Hot News, Page 3 At Fox, 'Quality belongs to everyone' (Above) Fox runs two shifts out of its Watsonville, Calif., facility. All of Fox's powersports shocks come out of this factory. (Left) Each Fox assembler is focused on quality and can stop the line at any time a defect is found. Wendy and Travis Gavinski of Divas SnowGear were flown out to Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., to be part of the social network's small to medium business council. ERIK PRITCHARD P01x07-PSB5-News.indd 1 3/27/14 10:46 AM