ant

Management: Performance PowerSports: Watch and learn

Joe Delmont

KURT MECHLING is a watcher. A watcher’s a guy who sees what’s happening outside of his store and outside of his business and then turns his observatio

Why customers hate the 'we can order it for you' phrase

Eric Anderson

SOME KID AT MY LOCAL shop recently told me, “We can order it for you,” when I needed a new rim for my KTM950 SuperEnduro. My standard reply to this ho

Dealer Lab: First quarter profit climbs 18 percent

Joe Delmont

THE DEALER LAB is a joint effort between Dealernews and Bill Shenk/PowerHouse Dealer Services, which purchased a Punta Gorda, Fla., dealership in 2009 to return i

Sales: Sportbike financing returns via installment loans

Arlo Redwine

HEIDI BYERS IS finance director for the RideNow Powersports network of 24 dealerships with corporate headquarters in Tempe, Ariz. So she knows how difficult obtai

New gear for young off-road riders

Dennis Johnson

GMAX GM39Y Full-face helmet This DOT-approved street lid has a youth-sized shell specifically designed for smaller heads. The helmet features an anti-scratch shi

Ducati dealers welcome new supersport, retail concept

Arlo Redwine

THE MOTORCYCLE PRESS has been unanimous in its praise of the new Ducati 1199 Panigale and Panigale S, retailing, respectively, for $17,995 and $22,995. “The

Trikes go mainstream with new dealer channel, growing customer base

Dennis Johnson

TRIKES HAVE LONG BEEN the Rodney Dangerfield of powersports. Three-wheelers transitioned from mainly serving commercial purposes to being the purview of retirees,

Boy Scouts trailblazing a new customer base

Holly J. Wagner

WHAT IF YOU COULD find a program that each year trains hundreds of young ATV and PWC riders — your next generation of customers — on safe riding, with

Dealers report healthy sales in supersports, beginner sportbikes

Arlo Redwine

AFTER A POLARIZING recession, a market’s middle is often the last to recover. This year’s rebound in sportbike sales, for example, seems to be occurri

Marketing: Friends and family influence customer buying decisions

Tory Hornsby

THIS MAY SOUND CRAZY, but I’m finding more and more similarities between the golf industry and the powersports industry. It all started when a friend of min

Service: Harley wrench a 'great flat-rate time saver'
From JIMS comes the No. 977 steering head lock nut wrench made exclusively for Harley-Davidson FLHs from 1994 onward. The company says that the tool is a “g

AMSOIL reformulates greases for better resistance
AMSOIL has reformulated its synthetic multi-purpose and synthetic water-resistant greases to improve resistance and protection from the elements. The company has

Servicing trikes can give you a competitive edge

Dave Koshollek

TRIKES HAVE BEEN AROUND for a long time. When they debuted back in the early 1900s, they were destined for primarily commercial purposes, used to transport items

5 Questions: Social media: You don't have to be everywhere, says Brad Cannon
Off-road enthusiast and Powersports Marketing’s VP of operations Brad Cannon knows a thing or two about online activity — and dealers seem to agree. A

Column: Mike Vaughan: Royal Enfield's Bullet train

Mike Vaughan

WHILE MOST MOTORCYCLES are getting faster, quicker, sleeker and better handling than the previous year’s models, one brand bucking that trend and doing so q

Column: Mary Slepicka: Where's the Dealernews staff?

Mary Slepicka

IT'S HARD TO COVER a continent from one side of it. When I arrived at Dealernews 12 years ago, roughly 43 percent of the powersports “industry” —