Suzuki Motor of America Appoints New PresidentMotorcycle Industry NewsSuzuki Motor of America, Inc. announces the appointment of former Executive Vice President Toru Muraki to President. Also as part of the restructuring, Takuya Sato is named Executive Vice President overseeing the company’s marine operations.
Tak Twatsuki (Suzuki Motor of America Chairman) says: “Toru Muraki’s global motorcycle experience further positions Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. to succeed. New product introductions, strong dealer support and care for the customer will remain our focus. And our leadership group is well-qualified to help us reach our goals.”Toru Muraki says: “I am eager to continue Suzuki Motor of America’s steadfast commitment to the powersports industry.”An avid motorcyclist, Muraki joined Suzuki’s U.S. powersports business in 2010 to lead the Motorcycle/ATV Marketing efforts. But his love for America began much earlier, during his first visit in 1987, where he visited much of the West Coast.Tak was also pleased to announce, the appointment of Marine Industry expert, Takuya Sato. Overseeing Suzuki’s Marine Operations in the U.S., Takuya Sato brings a background in engineering that will assist the company’s already well-received outboard motors.Takuya Sato says: “The U.S. marine market is unique in the world, and I will help Suzuki continue to deliver industry-leading outboard technology to consumers interested in owning the best.”SMAI and its management team would like to thank outgoing President Seiichi Maruyama for his great leadership and wish him best of luck as he returns to SMC to take on new role within the company’s European Automotive Business Operations.
Honda CRF-E2 Electric + Dale Schmidtchen and the $50M V-Rod
byMotos and Friends by Ultimate Motorcycle
Hello everyone and welcome to Ultimate Motorcycling’s podcast, Motos and Friends. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s episode is brought to you by Yamaha YZF-R7. The R7 lives up to its legendary name, as a high-performance supersport machine. Check it out at at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com.
In this week’s first segment, Editor Don Williams and I chat about electric bikes and the electric bike revolution that is likely the future of motorcycling. Actually this episode is specifically about Honda’s new CRF-E2… an electric dirt-bike for kids. We asked our tester, 8-year old Avery Bart to put the E2 through its paces and according to Don, she loved it. Honda has stated that the company goal is for 50% of its sales to be electric by 2030—an ambitious goal for sure, and the CRF-E2 is the first step in that direction.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my Aussie motorcycle industry friends—Dale Schmidtchen. Dale has worked for most of the major moto factories globally during his career, and his take on his CF Moto ADV bike is interesting. Beyond that, one his many projects is currently helping to sell the world’s most expensive motorcycle—a Harley V-Rod worth around 50 million dollars. Yes, that’s 50 million with an ‘M’.
Dale also owned a race team in the 1990s and helped bring several well-known Aussie racers to the world stage. He’s a very modest, matter-of-fact guy, but I always really enjoy chatting with him; I hope you enjoy listening.
Incidentally, if you’ve got around fifty mill burning a hole in your pocket and you fancy owning the so-called ‘Mona Lisa of motorbikes’—contact us at producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we’ll put you in touch with Dale.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
