Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/551693
FOCUS PSB Adventure Bikes www.PowersportsBusiness.com Powersports Business • August 17, 2015 • 23 parts. Then, she was off for her trip, billed the TransAm 500 Tour. Morgan rode to Moab, Utah, before heading east. Her trip included a 1,009-mile iron butt day and A-list riding destinations like the Tail of the Dragon as she traveled from the West Coast to the East Coast and back again on the Trans America Trail. "It just became this fantastic proof of concept. The bike handled flawlessly; no mechanical issues whatsoever. That was a12,000-plus-mile trip, 50 days of continuous riding, and everything went off without a hitch basically. It's been a really great opportunity to kind of share with the world what this bike is capable of doing," Cecil said. Morgan's CB500X was equipped with Rally Raid's Level 3 suspension kit, engine guard and brake reservoir guard, along with other addi- tions, including more aggressive tires and other protection parts from other companies. "This bike got just hammered; that's the truth of the matter," Cecil said. "It got dropped multiple times in really rough terrain, and it certainly came back looking like it had been on a 12,000-mile off-road tour — there were a couple dents on the exhaust and a couple dents on the engine guard and so on, but that's what the engine guard is there for, so it's getting dented and not the motor damaged, so every- thing did exactly what it needed to do." Morgan also helped build up excitement for the Rally Raid CB500 products, as she turned to the Adventure Rider forum to post photos and news from her trip. U.S. DISTRIBUTION Giant Loop has sold its first shipment of Rally Raid parts directly to consumers, and Cecil reports, that's how most of the product will be sold. "Unfortunately, there's not really enough margin for us to add another layer of distribu- tion very easily," he said. However, Giant Loop is willing to work with dealers who think the product could cre- ate service revenue or increase their sales of the Honda CB500X. "I am working on creating a dealer pro- gram where we can get dealers a slight dis- count off of the U.S. retail price because for the dealer, the way that they would make their money is actually on the service side by installing these kits and parts for their customer," Cecil said. "This kit is creating a lot of excitement around this particular bike, and I think it's also going to help the dealers, frankly, sell more of these 500X models in particular. So we definitely want to find ways to work with dealers who are interested or have a customer who's interested. We prob- ably won't be able to distribute it through our own network of dealers that we distribute the Giant Loop product through." In addition to web sales, Giant Loop will also be selling the Rally Raid CB500 products in its new retail showroom in Bend. Because so many Giant Loop fans were already stop- ping by the company's h e a d q u a r t e r s while they were in the area, Cecil decided to open a storefront that allows the company to sell its own product, along with those from Butler Motorcycle Maps, Benchmark Maps, SPOT (GPS), ROK Straps and others in Bend. "Our vision going forward is to find other companies that are making products that com- plement what we're doing, and then in the case of a product like this Rally Raid CB500 addi- tion, it also helps us expand our reach into a slightly different and broader customer base as well," Cecil said. "So this is absolutely what we're trying to do going forward." PSB GIANT LOOP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 Giant Loop recently opened a retail showroom at its Bend, Ore., headquarters, with a complete lineup of its products, as well as other adventure touring accessories. Accomplished rally racer and former Dakar Rally participant Jenny Morgan poses for a photo after her 12,000-mile-plus, 50-day ride from Bend, Ore., to the East Coast of the U.S. and back on a Honda CB500X loaded with Rally Raid Products.