Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

~ ~ ·os • •1 .lack McCormack ~ ~ Co:! :z: Co:! ...:l I;.) :.. I;.) .-. A_Ic.n £aIle I ....rhud Jlck IIcConlUlck ltandl In front of tbl vllt slIIro parts stor'll .r.. .t lIcConnack IntonlltiOOII • • dqUirtors In Or.nll County. By Terry Pratt Jack McCormack and his nedgllng Ame~can Eagle comp&117 15 project1Dg 1DDoftl:Ions that can give the motorcycle sport and industry a wbole new look. McCormack euvtston.s a dq in the not too distant future wilen a network of American Eagle detiers across the natIon wU1 market a complete of motoriZed recreau-IY8h1c1es.American Eac1e sboPs wU1 be of s1mJlar archlteetore and color and wW carry only the ooe braod. The J1De wW raage from mlnl-bikes throUlh a full complement of motorcycles and snow mob11es and 1nclude a dune buaY that is alreadY off the drawlng boards and movtnr toward productIon. Accessories, helmets ILIId 1e&thers top off the assortment. MaIdDc it possible for a dealer to operate a protltab1e sboP with a stncle braod of equipment 15 a new idea and computerized marketing tIIchn1ques wW f1nal1y put the motorcycle dealer into the tecbn010gy era. Mak1Dg new ideas work 15 ILII old act for McCormack. His career as Nat10Dal Sales Manager for the Honda Motor comp&117 revolutionlzed American motorcycUng and be 15 otten given credit for ma.k1ng the sport wllet it is todq. Jack explains It thls WIlY, "Durlng the ·decade of the 1950's the motorcycllng sport in America was lDgrown. Distriootors advertised in enthuslut publ1cations and trade journals so the appeal was directed toward people who were alreadY interested in motorcycles. Sales reached a plateau and leveled off." "AU we did at Honda, McCormack continues, was to 10 out and talk to other people." In trying to develop a different market for their product, Honda used what amounted to 1nst1tutional adVertlstnr. Their approach was the promotion of family fun and recreational rtd1Dg. Horsepower, performance and teehnlcal information was de-em- una pbasized wII11e the enjoJDlent and pleasure of two wbeeled motorlng was expoIIIIlI8\I to the tuUest. The motorcyc1lng imap bepn to cIIange. The lndUBtry as a wbo1e ben. f1ted, but of course HODda reeped the Uon's sbare of the new market because their name was spread all across the advert1s1Dg page. To reach that seement of the pub11c that st111 tboUlht of motorcycUnc in the "Black Leather Jacket" context, Mc Cormack and HODda'sadvertlslngacency prepared lids that ran in widely circulated mapz1nes 11ke "LUe" ILIId "Sports mustrated". The f1rst year that Hoaeja ads appeared in "Life" was 1961. "Back in tbose days, McCormack recalls, we did all we could to avoid the name motorcycle. We called them two wheeled compacts." A Honda dealer in Bo18e, Idaho, bepn seWng strtppped down 50Cc step-through models and that was the birth of the traU bike that amounted to 16% of Honda's sales by 1962. Soon the distributors of the English machines bepn to pattern their promotion after Honda's example. The non-eDthuslut approach worked and American motorcycUng was taIdDg on new direction. _ McCormack left Honda' to form U.S. Suzuki for the distribution of Suzuki products in America. Using mlLllY of the teehnlques whlch had proved effective at Honda, McCormack's efforts boosted Suzuld to an 11% sUce of the Dl4J'ket in three years. McCormack International Motors was f1na1ly born after Jack arbitrated for a cuh . settlement of bis contract with SUZUld and traveled to Europe tolandthe ZUDdapp franchise. and ink a contract with La Verda, the ItaUan manufacturer of the larger American Eagles. On the strength of these contracl5 and projected plans, stock was sold and McCormack International became a reality. Arrangements with KawasaJd were a year in coming but that firm, Sprite a must or every serious enthusiast fit ALOG & rh~IrNCE Dnelopment of EDclaDd, the Webcocorporation, and a boSt t:4 diYers1f1ed SlIPpUers were s1gned on to the team to produce machines that are by nature an alloy of components from -seYer&! manufacturers. Two street models, the 175 and the 350, are based on KawasaJd bikes but certain desIen improvements and the addition of Amerlcan Eagle external parts transform them into a new marque. The gas tank, fenders and oU tank on these models are made of a remarkable rotation molded plastic material that 15 American made; feather Ught, res1l1ent and practically indestructible. A demonstration gas tank that had been driven over by a truck POPPed back to its or1g1nal shape. The 750 La Verda is sold in Italy witt an ItaUan electrical system, but the La Verda based American Eagle 15 blessed with German Bosch electrics. The very competltlve 250 motocross81's is a Sorlte powered by a modlfled Kawasa.ld engine with a Webeo bead. And so it goes. Wlthin the Umits of practicable cost, A merican Eagle designers are free to use almost ILIIY component that wW make the f1nal product taster, more.re1lab1e or more awe&Ung. The spare parts bins rEIYeti brands Uke Webco, Tab Lock and other American companles. All Event Figures Anilable Top of 1110 Alllrlcsn £aliI line II tbls 7541 Iwln .shown In production rlcor trim. An interesting note 15 that the painting and striPing t:4 plastic side panels of one Eagle model bas been turned over to the Ace SIen shop and Wayne Kerner vibo bas produced MILIIY of the more eye catchlni' number plates seen in professional raclDg. in keeplng with McCormack's or1g1nal concept of a single comprehensive J1De of recreational vehlcles, the American Eagle name doesn't stop with motorcycles. A high powered twin track snow mobile wW be hitting the slopes thls winter and a mid-englned V-4 powered WINNER'S WONDERLANI1 -' NEW•••••••• EXCITING DESIGNS NEW•••••••• EXCITING COLORS NEW••••••• ~'PDQ" FAST SEivlCE NEW•••••••• FACTORY-DIRECT LOW, LOW PRICES Equipment and modifications or Hodaka, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Bridgestone, Sachs & others. rcshr:ra.. 'VAN TECH 317 North VictotY BOUlevard, Burblnk, Cllit. 9l5Qe. (213) 842·4847. ifrophyland ms I..e. dUDe bUUY for both street and tra1lla in the protot;Jpe stege. Where does it all end? McCormack isn't saying. But be does admit to toying with water craft and he doesn't fi1Dch at the suggestion of American Eacle recreational airplanes. "Motorcyc11ng should be looked UPOD as a single facet of the motorized recreation industry," according to Mc Cor\llack. "In analyzing the motorcycle segment on a broad basts we fOllDd that the least sophisticated portion was at the dealer level. In almost au cases, a dealer had to have more than one 11ne to make a protlt." What are the advantages to a motorcycle dealer who takes on the American Eagle array of vehicles and handles It exclusively? First he wU1 have a machiDe to flU almost every want: trail machines, transportation bikes, street scramblers, three sizes 01 motocross bikes and a 750Cc road burner and production road racer. incidentally, the Eagle 1I.ne wW be further develoPed lIext sprlDg with the introduction of a lOOOcc three cylinder, !lve speed monster bI!ke that ts to be built by La Verda at the lnstlption of McCormack Internatlonal. An American Eagle detier can adiopta standar1zed bU51ness system that bas been impossible in the past because f1 deal1ng with dlfterent brands. The detier's promottonal dollar wU1 10 much farther wilen be doesn't bave to adger. t1se several makes and operatinc costs can be lowered. By d1vers1fYlnC into the snow mobile and dune tIIIa7 markets, detiers in areas that have a _SOIll! motorcycle trade can aYOld winter layoffs and insure a year aroUDd steadY tncome. Another attraction is tbe computer servlce that the detier w1U be prcmded, Currently, McCormack Internatlonal 15 rentlDg computer time from a servlce COmp&ll7, ~ut soon an IBM 360 wU1 be 1nstaUed at the company"s headquarters. Computerized 1Jmlntory control and market analysts are made poss1b1e by the 1ncluslon of a single braod and as Jack McCormack put it, "It allows us to afford the detier a lot of soph1st1catioo be hasn't had in the past." As with ILIIY other large, modern concern, the computer 15 lnftluab1e at McCormack Internat1oDal. It la given the monumental task of translat1Dg the MILIIY, mlLllY part numbers that are made uP by • the suPpUers of American Eagle components and complllng the stnele parts Ust that IS used by all the McCormack detiers. Jack McCormack bas good reason to be part numbers conscious. He relates the story of the early dqs of the Honda venture when parts had to be ordered before the number UstlDgs were availble. An order of some 3000 Honda mufners returned the type of mutner tb&t a daPper gentlemil.n 'mlght wear around his neck. "No one thought. tt was fUnDy at the time." Jack said, add1ng "Althoug/l not mlLllY people apprec1ated it, they were rather Dic.. blue s1lk scarves, complete with file 'londa emblem in gold." Specialize' Triumph - lIonds RIIIII,. • Custom RlClnl • Enllnos MlChlne Work • 11011". Kits eyl. Borinl • Head PorllDi MIKE BURKE MDtDrcycle Specialties 15178 Ray...r St. Van Nuys, C.L 91406 TellphoDi (21.3) 78000779 DESERT SET UP SCRAMBLES BAIIIESTDIE .. ~ For thl n.... III your n..roll peallr So. Cal. IIcCulloc~ Dllt. Inc. (213) 772-2106 No. C.I. COI~I McCulloch (415) UN 3-5520 DEPT. eN 799 WEST 83 STREET, HIALEAH, FLORIDA 33014 PHONE (305) 822·4106 W ~l FREE lit" CATALOG UWASAII Headquarters CYCLE~ BEACH CmES 525 N. EI Camino Real Sill Clemente, Caillomia Cl(4) 492-6141

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