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Good morning Happy Bloggers !! so here we are in the last week of May already, and now the Motorcycle Press is full of the upcoming TT races in the Isle of Man. – Although these races are incredibly dangerous, with little margin for error, I have often said that if any motorcycle enthusiast is making a “Bucket” list of events to attend, this would be one, the other would be the Scottish Six Day Trial.
We spent a week there in 1957, when Bob McIntyre did the first ever 100mph lap of the 32+ mile Mountain course. – In later years, we would just go over on the night Ferry to watch the Senior TT – the last time was in 1961 when Babs was with me.
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Answer to the last quiz was big Bruno Cammozi – we had a couple of correct answers first in was Pete Varey then Roger Boothroyd.
Quiz today. Guess who , where, and on what?? Hint he is German.
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So today we hope to get the Beta which we have been waiting for Ross Rathbone,- this will be the 23rd Beta he has bought from us a truly amazing sales record . I doubt many dealers no matter what they sell could boast of such a loyal customer. ( Yes we deliver)
Obviously -unless you have been living under a rock -(Harlow) – You will know that all motorcycle sales have been in the toilet for the past couple of years – except that is for the give-away Gassers due to the KTM screw up which had them in receivership for the 2nd time. –
Now forecasting sales for any business that involves World wide distribution, requires very smart people, – people who understand the market from a grass roots perspective. In the Motorcycle market, this means “Hands on” people in the boardrooms. – I recall a conversation I had with Mike Shibua the Japanese sales manager at Yamaha Motor Canada – I had given him a list of all the things that I thought needed to be upgraded on all the bikes – he said ” But if we do all that for next year – what do we do next?” – The big Japanese factories, forecast four years ahead!!!! (Yup)
A few years ago, we visited the KTM Importer in Cleveland USA – and I was impressed – the location was low key, the personal were all competition riders and they knew what they were doing. – It was not long after that KTM Austria cancelled them. !!!! –
As we look back on the mistakes and achievements in our favorite industry, we can only wonder where some of the forecasts made in boardrooms have any reality to the marketplace..
So as a comparison. lets talk about the Trials market – very small in comparison to the overall picture, but so close to the heart of the enthusiast !! and that is where we see the link between what I saw at KTM all those years ago, and what we see happening today.
To survive in any business these days, is a challenge – especially one that is small and very specialized, so what is the answer? Perhaps a mixture of good business acumen, and the enthusiasm to never give up!! – and to pay attention to what Dougie Tanaka said to me, a long time ago. “Go Big-Go Bloke” – And that, is one man’s opinion.
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