Polaris continues to expand its presence in the recreational vehicle market with its acquisition of HH Investment Limited, a Shanghai-based company that manufactures recreational gas-powered go-karts, light-utility vehicles for yardwork, and electric utility- vehicles and sells them in the United States under the Hammerhead Off-Road brand name. Polaris Buys Hammerhead Off-RoadThis purchase comes on the heels of the purchase of electric-motorcycle manufacturer Brammo, and the release of the homegrown street-going Slingshot three-wheeler. Other Polaris-owned brands include Victory and Indian motorcycles, as well as Klim apparel. Under its own name, Polaris sells ATVs, side-by-sides, and snowmobiles.
“Hammerhead provides Polaris with a unique opportunity to expand both our international manufacturing footprint and our armada of off-road products,” Polaris Chairman and CEO Scott Wine explains. “We are impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation of the Hammerhead team, and look forward to pursuing new customers in new markets with their high-quality and low-cost off-road vehicles. We are excited to establish Polaris’ operational footprint in China and believe the opportunities for further international growth are significant.” In addition to its main manufacturing facility in Shanghai, Hammerhead has a sales, distribution and light-assembly operation in Dallas. “I am thrilled at the opportunity to make Hammerhead a part of Polaris and its growing portfolio of global brands,” Chairman of Hammerhead Jerry Qiu tells us. “I am very proud of what we have built at Hammerhead. We share the same enthusiasm and passion for off-road vehicles as Polaris and look forward to sharing our mutual expertise as we take our products, engineering and manufacturing skills to the next level.”
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!