This deck tracks the 200 year history of motorcycles, from Harley Davidsons and Indians to Honda and Ducati, in the United States. Further, it delineates how you can use traditions of the industry to help differentiate your retail sales knowledge from that of your competitors to help build credibility and close sales.
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Working 200 Years of Tradition into Motorcycle Sales
1. Working 200 Years of Tradition Into
Motorcycle Sales
ONLY:
Motorcycle Dealers and Lovers
2. Incredible Past
Few industries have as colorful a past as the
motorcycle industry
Amazing characters, near-impossible technical
feats, remarkable tenacity and passionate
customers all make their contributions
So let’s start at the beginning…
3. 1903
Harley-Davidson
William Harley and Arthur Davidson build the first
production Harley-Davidson, designed to be
raced in a velodrome, which were popular venues
for bicycle races in those days.
Their headquarters were on Chestnut Street in
Milwaukee, and though the street’s name was
later changed to Juneau Avenue, the company’s
headquarters are still there.
5. 1901-1903
Indian
1901: Oscar Hedstrom and George Hendee
launch Indian Motorcycles in Springfield, MA.
1903: Hedstrom sets the world motorcycle speed
record at 56 mph.
7. 1910-1912
Harley-Davidson
1910 Creation of their
iconic logo
1912 Nine years after
forming, the company has
more than 200 dealers
across America.
8. 1919-1923
Bayerische Motoren Werke
1919: The Treaty of Versailles forbids Germany to
manufacture airplanes, so BMW, which had been
making airplane engines, turns its focus to
motorcycles.
1923: Legendary BMW designer Max Friz invents
the 486cc R
It reaches a top speed of about 60 mph
10. 1920
Harley-Davidson
Eight years after starting,
they're the biggest
manufacturer in the world
with 2,000 dealers in 67
countries.
The company’s racing
team so completely
dominates the circuit
they’re known as the “The
Wrecking Crew”
Their bikes become
known as “Hogs”
because the team’s
11. 1920
Indian
The Scout makes its introduction with a 42-
degree V-Twin.
Many aficionados consider the Scout to be the
best bike they ever made
15. 1936
Harley-Davidson
According to the Discovery Channel, the Harley-
Davidson Knucklehead has “probably the highest
sex appeal factor on record.”
They add that if that bike hadn’t existed, Harley
wouldn’t exist today.
Faster than anything else on the market, it could
hit a then-mind-boggling 100 mph.
16. 1936
Harley-Davidson
Enthusiasts removed as much of the machine as
possible to make it lighter and faster, creating the
first Choppers
And this was the first Harley that growled with
that throaty, world-famous “potato-potato” roar
(more on that in a moment…)
18. 1946
Honda
After the war, Soichiro Honda realizes that Japan
needs affordable transportation.
He grafts war-surplus two-stroke motors from
portable generators onto bicycles.
20. 1946
Ducati
Ducati does something similar in Europe, but with
a motor designed for the purpose, the 50cc
Cucciolo (“pup”)
Ducati will keep improving the Cucciolo
expanding it to 60, 65, 98, and finally 125cc.
29. 1962
Suzuki
At the Swedish Grand Prix the East German
driver Ernst Degner defects to the west with his
motorcycle
The bike contains Germany’s greatest motorcycle
engineering secret: expansion chamber designs
Suzuki gets the bike, and in 1962 applies the
technology to win the 50cc World Championship
31. 1966
Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga
Maybe named after 1930 Howard Hughes film
about aviation daredevils, Hell's Angels, and
certainly named in the tradition of military fighter
squadrons, the Hell’s Angels becomes a cultural
icon as the 1960s heat up.
Hunter S. Thompson publishes his iconic expose,
launching his own career and greatly adding to
the group’s outlaw mystique.
Weirdly, after he earned the right to hang out with
the group, the writer bought a BMW rather than a
Harley-Davidson
33. 1963-1986
Suzuki
1963 U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp. opens in Los
Angeles.
1986 The most important new Suzuki in a decade
arrives in the U.S., the GSX-R750
35. 1969
Harley-Davidson
The American Machine and Foundry Company
(AMF) acquires Harley-Davidson
Despite their success with bowling balls and other
manufactures, they will nearly destroy the
beloved motorcycle manufacturer.
Quality rapidly plummets
The market for “pre-AMF” bikes is stronger than
for new ones.
36. 1968
Honda
Honda produces its 10 millionth motorcycle only
19 years after the company’s first bike rolled out
of its factory
37. 1969
Honda
Honda releases the first mass-market bike to
come with a disc brake, the CB750
It’s engines were sand-cast at first, and those
bikes are the ones preferred by collectors.
44. 1981
Harley-Davidson
Vaughn Beals leads a group of executives to buy
the company from AMF, which quickly agrees to
the $75 million price tag.
Industry analysts universally acclaim him for
leading a remarkable turnaround.
The first thing he does is implement world-class
quality control.
45. 1987
Harley-Davidson
Fearlessly, the company petitions the government
to LOWER the tariff on imported motorcycles,
serving notice to global competitors that it
welcomes a level playing field.
It takes them on with, among other bikes, the
classic Fat Boy
47. 1997
CrossCheck
CrossCheck offers Multiple Check or Hold Check
services
Merchants can now accept more than one check
for payment, with some checks deposited at a
future date to match their customer’s cash flow.
The service allows many CrossCheck customers
to increase sales
And they can do so risk free, since all verified
checks are guaranteed
48. 1997
Harley-Davidson
The company crushes its competition on the level
playing field.
They build a new 217,000 sq.-ft. design center in
Milwaukee.
They buy a plant in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
to build engines.
And their new 330,000 sq. ft. plant in Kansas City
produces Sportsters.
52. 2000
Harley-Davidson
In the 1990s, somewhat whimsically, the
company tried to trademark the “potato-potato”
sound its engines make, but the U.S. Patent
Office couldn’t quite get its head around the
concept.
53. 2000
Harley-Davidson
In 2000 they dropped their application
“Harley-Davidson owners from around the world
[tell] me repeatedly that there is nothing like the
sound of a Harley-Davidson,” explained their VP
of marketing, Joanne Bischmann, “[and] that’s
good enough for me and for Harley-Davidson.”
55. 2004
BMW
The K1200S has a radical new across-the-frame
four-cylinder motor pumping out 167 horsepower.
With it, BMW alerted the competition that it was
ready to go head-to-head for market share.
57. 1967-2006
Indian
At the Bonneville Salt Flats, Burt Munro rides his
modified 1920 Scout to an under-1000cc land-speed
record.
His 183.586-mph mark remains unbeaten today.
The World’s Fastest Indian, starring Anthony
Hopkins, hits the big screen in 2006, celebrating
his remarkable achievement.
61. 2003- 2008
Harley-Davidson
In 2003 a quarter of a million people went to
Milwaukee to celebrate the company’s 100th
anniversary.
Introduces the XR1200 in Europe, but demand in
the U.S. is so strong they decide to sell it
worldwide.
63. 1999
Suzuki
Targeting a mid-range market, Suzuki releases
the Hayabusa and claims it is “the ultimate
aerodynamic sport bike”
It’s 1298cc liquid-cooled DOHC in-line 4-cylinder
engine becomes the darling of land-speed racers.
The name means “peregrine falcon” in Japanese.
65. 2004
CrossCheck
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (or
Check 21 Act) goes into effect
It allows banks and merchants to scan checks
and to treat the digital image as if it was the paper
check
“Remote Deposit Capture” gets it start, and will
become a critical component of CrossCheck’s
services
67. 2006-2008
Indian
2006: Decades of wrangling that kept anyone
from meeting the demand for Indian bikes finally
ends.
The newly formed Indian Motorcycle Company
announces production in a new facility in King’s
Mountain, North Carolina.
2008: Production begins on the 2009 Indian
Chiefs
69. 2009
BMW
The S1000RR sport bike represents a major shift
for the company.
Its advanced traction control system arises from
the company’s expertise in developing electronics
systems
76. 2014
Harley-Davidson
Surprising practically everyone, the company
develops a prototype electric motorcycle
Launching it on Route 66 (where else?), they
drive forty of them to thirty dealerships across the
country
77. 2014
Harley-Davidson
Critics and the public rave
Believe it or not, they managed to hit upon a
great signature sound for this bike, too
81. 2014
Zero
More alternative power-train motorcycles are on
the way
The Vetter Challenge creates a race to spur that
innovation
It’s to be won by the motorcycle that can travel
171 miles at an average of 80 mph for the lowest
energy cost
82. 2014
Zero
The closest a production electric motorcycle can
come to this is a Zero S with a Power Tank that
extends its range to about 88 miles
And Zero wins it, with a total cost of 1.3 cents per
mile.
84. 2015
Elio
Three-wheeled motorcycles are nothing new, but
ones designed to compete with cars are
The Elio, another home-grown innovation that will
be built in Troy, Michigan, might begin production
in 2015
Founders promise 84 mpg and a sticker of only
$6,800.
86. 2014
Zero
The 2015 Zero S with the least range goes 113
miles
Even better, it costs $600 less than the 2012
version
And it has an App (of course) that allows the rider
to check the bike’s vitals
88. 2014-2015
CrossCheck
32 Years and Counting
We love motorcycle dealers
Our suite of services can help you increase sales and
reduce risk
And we have the best customer support in the
industry available 24/7/365 free of charge, staffed at
our corporate headquarters in Petaluma, California
Looking forward to hearing from you!
www.Cross-Check.com
888-937-2249
* Most of the information in this slide show came from Wikipedia and
motorcycle.com
