business

EagleRider Motorcycles Pensacola celebrates 5th anniversary

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by Kalyn Wolfe from https://www.pnj.com What is it like to be an American? Is there any truth to the negative stereotypes that surround Americans? These are the questions Claire Coleman and her husband, Nick, asked themselves as they left New Zealand more than 10 years ago. With a pickup truck and an RV, they spent a year meandering across the lower 48, learning about American culture with every dirt road, brewery and person they encountered. It was these experiences that inspired Claire Coleman to publish a book called “The Back Of Beyond: A North American Road Trip, Kiwi Style!” not long after. But the inspiration didn’t stop there. “It was this trip that inspired us to move to America,” she said. “We had positive experiences with every American we met.” The next step involved obtaining visas. “We needed to open a business in order to fulfill our visa requirements, and Nick spent years in the oil rig industry,” Coleman said. “I haven’t worked in the oil rig industry, so we had to figure out a business we could run together. Nick has worked on motorcycles since he could walk, so in 2016 we decided to open EagleRider Motorcycles Pensacola.” Five years and two locations later, EagleRider Motorcycles Pensacola has recently moved to its third location at 3305 North W St. and held a grand opening April 8 to mark the occasion. But Coleman would be the first to tell you that it was a celebration that almost didn’t happen. “COVID killed us,” she said. “Everyone was canceling. We lost all of our international customers and we had no forward bookings. The borders closed, we initially closed shop, sold up our house and most belongings and planned on returning home to New Zealand. Then we literally drove past our new building […]

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Meet the 95-year-old grandma selling Harley-Davidson motorcycles

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by Amanda Eustice from https://abc7.com Ever since Schaeffer’s Harley-Davidson opened 54 years ago, Fern Schaeffer, also known as “Nana”, has been in the driver’s seat. “Nana”, now 95 years old. was the first full-time employee when her husband and son opened the business. Nana still works at the store sorting the mail, doing notary work, and as her family likes to put it – keeping everyone in line. Nana loved riding motorcycles growing up and occasionally will go for a ride in the sidecar. “She always made it that it was a woman-run business because she did the parts ordering, the bike selling, the part selling, everything back when everything first started. My grandfather and my dad were the mechanics,” says Denise Calderone, Fern’s Granddaughter. The Schaeffer’s hope to last at least another 54 years in business and continue the legacy of being a family-owned and operated dealership.

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Harley-Davidson Dealer remembered as the community’s unsung hero

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by Eddie Morales from https://www.jsonline.com The owner of Cedarburg’s Wayne’s Drive-In and a Harley Davidson dealer in Thiensville is remembered as the community’s unsung hero. When Wayne Houpt achieved his goal of becoming a business owner with Wayne’s Auto Body in 1962, it was just the beginning of the many accolades he would earn and lives that he would touch. Houpt, born Oct. 1, 1938, was a family man and owner of several North Shore businesses for nearly 60 years. He died March 28 due to heart failure. The Famous Wheeler Dealer Houpt met his wife and business partner, Joan, during their senior year in high school. The pair were together for 59 years. He started his entrepreneurial career with Wayne’s Auto Body in Saukville. Houpt expanded the business with a used car lot and moved the shop to Grafton, where he opened Suburban Motors of Grafton Inc. In 1975, Houpt added Harley-Davidson motorcycles to his inventory and in 1985, he moved Suburban Motors to its current location, 139 N. Main St., Thiensville. That’s when Houpt earned the moniker “The Famous Wheeler Dealer.” He was known for accepting trades like cows, dental service and boats from customers who were a bit short on cash. Houpt’s daughter, Sandy Rath, said she remembers her father taking the family to various burger restaurants when she was a kid. Rath would later realize Houpt was taste testing the food in anticipation of opening his own restaurant one day. Houpt opened Wayne’s Drive-In in 1998, at 1331 Covered Bridge Road, Cedarburg. Rath said when the drive-in first opened, Houpt would eat there all the time. “He would go to Wayne’s the minute it opened,” she said. “He was like a kid in a candy shop. He loved that drive-in. He loved going there, and he

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Barnes Harley-Davidson Launches Squad Wars With Eventzee

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Freeze Tag, a leading creator of location-based mobile social games, announced today that Barnes Harley-Davidson launched their second year of virtual community engagement events using their Squad Wars: Coast to Coast‬ app (formerly known as Barnes Nation: Game of Barnes). Utilizing Eventzee technology, “Squad Wars” has riders driving to landmarks and businesses throughout Western Canada and the United States. Those interested in participating will first need to download the Squad Wars: Coast to Coast‬ app and create an account. Once that is done, it is recommended to visit the Squad Wars webpage to either create or find a squad to join, before doing so in the app. The new game utilizes underlying Eventzee technology which allows for team play. The challenges will require a majority of squad members to complete them before their points will be counted on the leaderboard. The virtual events, which feature gps, photo, video, and quiz challenges, are expected to end sometime in September. “Barnes Harley-Davidson has been great to work with as they are constantly pushing the envelope,” said Craig Holland, CEO of Freeze Tag, “Many features they’ve requested have added polish to Eventzee’s functionality.” There are actually 2 Squad Wars events players can join when competing — the Squad Wars West Coast event and the Squad Wars East Coast event. The West Coast event is run by Barnes Harley-Davidson, while the East Coast event in conjunction with Blackbridge Harley-Davidson. Players can join the event of the dealership they’ve purchased from. The squads that are at the top spots in the leaderboards when the events are over will receive custom squad helmets, custom squad jackets, and an engraved trophy. “We’ve been looking forward to launching Squad Wars since the day we started working with the Eventzee team,” said Kiran Rancourt, Marketing Manager for Barnes Harley-Davidson.

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Harley-Davidson Announces First Chief Electric Vehicle Officer

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Harley-Davidson, Inc. today announces the appointment of Ryan Morrissey as Chief Electric Vehicle Officer (CEVO). Effective April 1, Morrissey will join Harley-Davidson with over two decades of experience in disruptive technologies and the development of new business ventures. As a consultant at Bain & Company, he served most recently as a Senior Partner and head of the Automotive & Mobility practice in the Americas. In this role, he led the development of growth, adjacency and M&A strategies for OEMs, tech providers, and retailers specific to the long-range transition to electric vehicles and autonomous fleets. He has worked extensively with leading global OEMs in powersports, heavy equipment and automotive on developing digital channels, EV product strategy and software-based services. As part of Bain’s work with financial investors, he has advised many leading investment firms on acquisitions in mobility. Morrissey began his career at Lutron Electronics, as the U.S. sales lead for their first generation of software-based control systems for energy management. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lafayette College and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. “Ryan has extensive experience with leading OEMs, working on building businesses to develop, commercialize and support electric vehicles. I’m excited to have him join the team to help us lead in electric,” said Jochen Zeitz, chairman, president and CEO, Harley-Davidson. “As we announced in February as part of The Hardwire, we’ll be talking more about our electric strategy later in the year.” Harley-Davidson recently unveiled The Hardwire, its 2021-2025 strategic plan, with a dedicated focus on electric, targeting long-term profitable growth and shareholder value and aiming to enhance its position as the most desirable motorcycle brand in the world.

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115-year-old Motorcycle dealer to ride into the sunset

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by Warren Scott from https://www.heraldstaronline.com WINTERSVILLE — John and Kim Neidengard said preparing for the Feb. 27 closing of their 115-year-old family business is a bittersweet experience. After selling Harley-Davidson motorcycles and related gear to hundreds of area residents, they are looking forward to spending more time riding together on the road and visiting their adult children and grandchildren. But the couple of 23 years said they will miss seeing their regular customers, working with others to organize poker runs that have raised thousands for charity and carrying on a legacy culminating in the state’s oldest family-owned Harley-Davidson dealership. Kim admitted she became a motorcycle fan after meeting John 28 years ago, noting his love of cycling started at an early age. “I worked here probably since I was 12,” said John, who noted it was common for children in family-run businesses to help out “as soon as you were old enough.” “As soon as I graduated from high school, I went to full time,” he said, adding he never thought of doing anything else. John said in that regard, he was much like his father, John F., who had worked for his father, G.H. Neidengard, a machinist who opened the family’s first motorcycle shop at 137 South Third, Steubenville. John said G.H. was a friend of the first Steubenville man to own a motorcycle and quickly fell in love with them. Early motorcycles were little more than bicycles with motors, noted John, but they offered low-cost transportation at a time before Henry Ford’s Model T made automobiles affordable to most people. They also were a form of entertainment, as motorcycle enthusiasts participated in hillclimbs and races that, in the days before radio and television, drew many spectators. John said the first shop was quite large, with second story apartments

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Harley’s activist investor backs business reboot strategy

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by Rajesh Kumar Singh from https://www.reuters.com CHICAGO (Reuters) – An activist investor who shook up Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG.N) earlier this year said he is impressed with the changes initiated by new Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz to turn around the 117-year-old motorcycle company. Impala Asset Management, the $2.4 billion hedge fund, pushed for the ouster of Zeitz’s predecessor Matt Levatich in January. Months later, it tried to install two directors on Harley’s board, asking for operational fixes to recover its market share in the United States, Europe and Japan. “For the first time in five to six years, the company is on the right track again,” Bob Bishop, founder and chief investment officer at Impala, told Reuters. Zeitz, who took the reins in February, is rebooting Harley’s business by shifting the focus back to big bikes, traditional markets like the United States and Europe, and older and wealthier customers. The new strategy echoes some of the changes Impala has been pushing for. Bishop said Harley should not pursue sales growth at any cost. Instead, it needs to market itself like Ferrari and become an “aspirational” brand, he added. Bishop does not buy the argument that Harley’s sales in the United States – its biggest market – are suffering because of an aging customer base. He dubbed that an “excuse” to cover the company’s shrinking market share, citing evidence from Europe and Japan where industry sales of motorcycles have been growing despite older demographics. “When you build up the brand, you will sell more bikes,” Bishop said. “Get rid of this idea that the demographics is killing them.” Impala bought 1.2 million Harley shares in the quarter through June, increasing its stake to 2.52% from 1.73% in the first quarter of the year. It also expects an agreement with Harley next month

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Lyft to pull plug of e-scooter business in six cities, laying off 20 employees

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The six cities are Nashville, San Antonio, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Columbus, as the media report claims. Lyft has notified its employees about discontinuing its e-scooter business in six cities, claims a media report. Also, the company is claimed to be laying off at least 20 employees from the bike and scooter team, where around 400 people currently work. The six cities are Nashville, San Antonio, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Columbus, as the media report claims. The report further quotes a Lyft spokesperson saying, “We’re choosing to focus on the markets where we can have the biggest impact. We’re continuing to invest in growing our bike and scooter business, but will shift resources away from smaller markets and toward bigger opportunities.” Addition to the 20 Lyft employees, a number of contractors responsible for scooter charging and their repositioning will also lose jobs. Previously, Lyft laid off around 50 people this year, claims the report. Lyft is not the only company to pull out from the micro-mobility segment, as earlier this year, Uber too announced the discontinuation of Jump bikes and scooters from a number of select markets including San Diego, Providence and Atlanta. Lyft currently operates its scooters in cities like Arlington, Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Oakland, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Monica and Washington DC, informs the report further.

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Weekly News and ROT Rally – join the Cantina

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What’s hip and what’s real? We see it constantly around us. It’s one of the things I liked about being a biker. It was just me and my motorcycle. I wore what I wore for me and nobody else. Most of us looked like hell most of the time. Who cared? Life is changing fast and in many respects I don’t like the business formula thrust on us by many companies. I try to keep Bandit’s Cantina and Bikernet simple and to the point, no games. As I often say behind a bottle of whiskey. “Time will tell and shit will smell,” as told to me by a Richmond Hells Angel when I was a prospect. READ THE WEEKLY NEWS BY CLICKING HERE Texas ROT Rally hits a homerun This is a ’70s style event where alcohol meets full-frontal nudity. Over 200,000 made the annual pilgrimage to the Austin area to party like it was 1999 and with a good number of them entering the rally. The ROT is a throwback rally where the Harley faithful connect at the Travis County Expo Center for music, stunt shows, vendors and custom bikes. READ THE ROT RALLY REPORT BY CLICKING HERE

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GEX Motor Engines for Trikes

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A Popular Volkswagen Engine has become the Heart of Trikes Everywhere. Join the rear of a Volkswagen with the front of a motorcycle, cover it with a sleek body the color of rancid plums or electric blue, chrome the motor, put wide tires on the rear and VOILA, you have a trike. Ready to roar, the trike is fast, lightweight and very fuel efficient. The trike motor can be designed to push 2 or 3 times the weight of the trike itself. It has been called the perfect medium between the car and the bike. There is nothing like riding in the wind on the winged wheels of a motorcycle or trike. At GEX, trike motor sales have become a fast growing segment of the business. The most popular trike motor that we sell is the 1776. It is the perfect combination of performance and reliability. Coming in at about 95 hp with dual carbs, it is the ideal trike motor. For those looking for serious performance, then consider the 2110 cc trike motor. This is a stroked motor with the same diameter piston and cylinder as the 1776 and is about 120 hp. Either of these motors chromed out, with dual carbs and exhaust can be a beautiful addition to the rear of your trike. Let us help you design the motor of your choice to ride into the wind…… READ OUR GEX ENGINE FEATURE HERE…

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