Dealernews - April 01, 2009

Cover Story

Rick Fairless is just a Good Ol' Boy

Dennis Johnson
THE SCENE: STROKERS DALLAS.THE SPACE: RICK FAIRLESS' OFFICE. Inside you'll find a Pam Anderson poster. A Troy Aikman statue. A naked picture of Janis Jopl
From the Editors

Lead Law: OEMs, MIC Slow to Act?

Arlo Redwine
MIC lead law ban CPSC Malcolm Smith I'm writing this in mid-March, so perhaps by now the government has lifted its ban on children's
Speed Read

Genuine Scooters has 178% Sales Increase

Guido Ebert
The company offers two-year warranty, roadside assistance Genuine scooter electric Vespa profit THE ECONOMY has many worried

Indian Motorcycle Unveils Factory Delivery Program

Indian factory program delivery chief Indian Motorcycle's new Factory Delivery Program lets customers order a motorcycle through one of

MotoClub Wholesale Sells to Consumers Without Dealer Markup

MotoClub PG&A wholesale consumer discounts Some dealers aren't going to like this: A new online business is offering to sell parts,

Shoei Nabs Pro Racing Endorsement

Shoei AMA racing sponsor endorsement Shoei is the "official helmet" of AMA Pro Road Racing, thanks to an agreement secured between

News Bites from Buell, Polaris, Bajaj and Kawasaki

Buell Kawasaki Polaris Bajaj briefs news Buell Motorcycles has hired MDC's Crispin Porter + Bogusky as its lead advertising agency, r

Colorado Considers New Franchise Laws

Guido Ebert
Colorado franchise law dealership OEM Colorado's legislature has so far approved giving motorcycle dealers greater freedom in dealing w
Special Report: Indy Wrap-Up 2009

Joe Delmont Summarizes Dealer Expo 2009

Joe Delmont
A radically different venue hosts attendees looking to buy Dealer Expo Indy 2009 wrap-up THE 41ST DEALER EXPO was different i

Dealer Expo Sees Flood of Scooter Aftermarket Products

Dennis Johnson
scooter Indy 2009 aftermarket prodcuts Scooters are nothing new at Dealer Expo. Over the past couple of years you couldn't walk a foot without

Yamaha Introduces P&A Distribution Arm

Dennis Johnson
Expo Indy Yamaha P&A distribution For Yamaha's new P&A distribution arm, Dealer Expo was something of a coming-out party. Laun

NCMDA Looks for Association Members

Arlo Redwine
The organization looks for ways to get dealers involved with their state organizations Dealer Expo Indy 2009 NCMDA Ed Lemco is

Software Vendors Step Up to the Retail Challenge

Arlo Redwine
Dealer Expo Indy 2009 software It's a good time to be a software vendor, if you're courting dealers. According to Jim Thompson of

Vectrix Expands Product Line

Guido Ebert
Indy 2009 vectrix scooter Electric two-wheeler specialist Vectrix Corp. unveiled its VX-1E and entry-level VX-2 scooters, two units that join the

Flypowersports Becomes CPI Distributor

The company also introduces nine new models scooter cpi Indy 2009 flypowersports Many dealers are familiar with the Taiwanese b

CFMOTO Shines at Dealer Expo 2009

Joe Delmont
Dealer Expo Indy 2009 CFMOTO If you're considering adding a Chinese product line this year — perhaps ATVs or scooters — you mi

Castle Distribution Now Offers Luggage

Castle luggage apparel distributor Indy For many years, distributor Castle has had a plum spot at Dealer Expo — right inside the main en

Motorcycle-Superstore.com Offers Preferred Installer Program to Dealers

Dealer Expo Indy 2009 store Motorcycle-Superstore.com was offering a free Preferred Installer Program for dealers at Dealer Expo. If you sign

Suzuki Displays Parts, Accessories in Indy

Guido Ebert
Dealer Expo Indy 2009 Suzuki "Dealer Expo is the biggest accessories show in the nation, so we feel it's important to be here in f

TGB Looks to Add U.S. Distributors

Dennis Johnson
Expo Indy 2009 TGB distributor Taiwan-based manufacturer TGB wants to establish a trio of regional distributors in the United States. Short of

Tucker Rocky Powers On Despite Current Economic State

Tucker Rocky economy products Indy The folks at Tucker Rocky acknowledged that current economic conditions were factoring into their decision-m

X-Treme Debuts 'Moped/Motorcycle' Hybrid

Arlo Redwine
Moped motorcycle hybrid X-treme indy A company looking to narrow the price gap between gas scooters and electric ones is Newton, Iowa-based X-T
Management

Thinking Backward in a Backward Economy May Help Your Dealership

Eric Anderson
Economy columnist Eric Anderson Retail management AMERICA'S RETAIL CLOCK has been reset. People's investments got the daylights kno

Hiring Quality Employees is a Crapshoot

Rick Fairless
Fairless employees hiring firing interview I HAVE BEEN in the motorcycle business for 13 years, and I was in the paint business for 20 years be

Mike Vaughan Ponders the Numbers

Mike Vaughan
The number of sales per dealer depends on the number of dealers selling. Or something like that. vaughan theorum sales number selling
Service

Identify Personality Traits in Your Service Department

Dave Koshollek
Koshollek service techs advice personality SPRING HAS SPRUNG, and hopefully your service department is humming along nicely with your techs mak
Marketing

Who's Who in the Sportbike Industry

Beth Dolgner
You should know key players — because your customers most likely do sportbike feature anglada friesen colton hayden IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN to Hollywood,

Recession-Pricing the Smart Way

Todd Shafer
It's not what you sell, but how you sell it shafer selling online advice pricing THE ECONOMIC MODEL that supports most o

Have Multiple Domain Names to Attract Web Shoppers

Cynthia Furey
domain name web marketing selling service IT'S COMMON SENSE that your Web site domain name (site address) bears the name of your store. Bu
Research

Don J. Brown's State-by-Statement Research

Don J. Brown
Don brown research state financials This report is based on analysis of available retail sales data through February. (Click on the tables for

Don J. Brown's Composite Index, April 2009

Don J. Brown
Don brown research state financials WHEN THE U.S. ECONOMY BEGAN TO DEPRECIATE, I said that I expected the recession to last maybe two years 

Don J. Brown's ATV/Dirtbike State-by-State

Don J. Brown
Don brown research state financials This ATV/dirtbike report is based on analysis of available retail sales data through February. These state-
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