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

By General Posts

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 available for rent and garage bays rented to the city for its vehicles.

Before it was torn down, a former employee salvaged and restored the first wooden step leading to its parts department. It and photos of G.H. and his family, including a very young John F., are displayed in the current location in Wintersville.

After taking over the business in the late 1930s, John F. built the store on Canton Road in 1978.

John said of working for his father, “I was here practically every day and I just absorbed what I saw him doing.”

Kim said her husband, as a teen, immersed himself in motorcycles in the same way some enjoy sports. She added there’s a story of him falling asleep while assembling a bike at the store.

“I just liked what I was doing and wanted to see it done,” said John, adding “What do they say? If you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

“Like anything, it’s had its ups-and-downs,” he said.

John noted his grandfather and father struggled through the Great Depression and World War II, when many materials used in motorcycles were reserved for the military.

“My father had to find used tires to sell,” he noted.

The Neidengards said their most pleasant memories of the business will be the many bike runs they sponsored, with help from many members of the local chapter of the Harley Owners Group, to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Wounded Warrior Project.

They noted Harley-Davidson Inc. is a strong supporter of both charities.

Begun in 1996, the annual MDA runs raised more than $500,000 for the cause, while two runs for the Wounded Warrior Project netted more than $25,000.

The Neidengards noted about 1,300 bikers turned out for the 2002 MDA run, while others drew more than 1,000.

They expressed appreciation to the many participants, including some who planned vacations around them, as well as their many customers over the years.

“We realize the business couldn’t have gotten where it is if not for all of our customers over the years and their loyalty,” said Kim.

Since announcing the closing in late January, the Neidengards have been visited by many long-time patrons.

Among them was Bruce White of Weirton, who said when he was a teen, John’s father offered tips on maintaining his bike and lent him tools.

“John worked very hard for his father,” said White, who added he will miss the shop after coming there for nearly 60 years.

Bill Donahoe of Steubenville said he’s purchased bikes there he used to win regional racing competitions in 1989 and 1990.

“Everybody knows Johnny. He’s a good man,” Donahoe said, adding, “They’re great people. I hate to see them go.”

Harley in talks with Hero for distribution deal after exiting India

By General Posts

by Aditya Kalra & Aditi Shah from Reuters and https://www.business-standard.com

Harley, known for its heavy touring motorcycles, struggled in India mainly because of high import duties. Harley’s 33 dealerships will likely come under Hero’s management under the new arrangement, said one of the sources.

Harley-Davidson Inc is in advanced talks with India’s Hero MotoCorp for a distribution deal which will allow the U.S. firm’s iconic motorcycles to be sold in India, after it stops local manufacturing there, three sources told Reuters.

The Milwaukee-based company said on Thursday it will stop sales and shut its manufacturing plant in India, effectively abandoning the world’s biggest motorcycle market after a decade of unsuccessful efforts to gain a foothold.

Harley however is in talks with Hero MotoCorp to enter into a distribution arrangement that will allow the Indian company to import and sell Harley bikes as its sole distributor, two sources with familiar with the talks said.

“Hero will be the master distributor for Harley bikes in India … This will be a partnership, a strategic alliance,” said one of the sources, all of whom declined to be named as the discussions were private.

Discussions are also ongoing to let Hero become a contract manufacturer for at least one Harley motorcycle with 300-600 cc engine capacity, which it will launch later, the first source added.

The financial details of the deal were not immediately clear.

Asked about talks with Hero, a Harley spokeswoman said the company can’t comment on “rumours or speculation”. On Thursday, it said it was “changing its business model in India & evaluating options to continue to serve customers.”

Hero MotoCorp, which is the India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer by sales, said it doesn’t comment on market speculation. It produced 6.4 million two-wheeler scooters and motorcycles in the fiscal year ending March 2020, a third of India’s total output.

Harley manufactured just 4,500 motorcycles during that period, largely assembled from imported knock-down kits at its plant near New Delhi, which it will shut as part of its announced restructuring.

Harley’s decision to stop direct manufacturing marks another major exit by an automotive player in India and is a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been inviting foreign firms to ramp up local production. Ford Motor and General Motors have both pared their India operations in recent years.

Harley, known for its heavy touring motorcycles, struggled in India mainly because of high import duties – which U.S. President Donald Trump often criticized India for – and also because its locally assembled bikes faced high taxes.

Hero typically sells motorcycles with engine capacities of under 200 cc and a deal with Harley will help speed up its entry into the mid- and high-engine segments favoured by biking enthusiasts and young leisure riders, the second source said.

“In that segment, biking is moving to a fashion purchase for leisure, weekend rides and Harley bikes will do well with higher local content,” said the source, adding Harley was also likely to provide technology know-how and inputs on quality standards to Hero.

Harley’s 33 dealerships will likely come under Hero’s management under the new arrangement, said one of the sources.

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

By General Posts

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.