Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128355
:Briefly... Harley Boss To Step Down Pirelli's motorcycle tire divisio n has announced that, effect ive imm ed iately, Ca li- H arley-D avidson Inc. announced on December 9 tha t Jeffrey L. Bleustein w illre tire from his pos ition as chief executive o fficer, effective April 30, 2005 . Bleustein, however, will continue as chairman of the board of directo rs for Han ey-Davidson. T he board annou nced t hat Bleuste in's successor as CE 0 will be James L. Z iemer, the 54 -year-o ld who is cu rrently vice preside nt and chief financial officer of Har leyDavidson Inc. Ziemer was elected to t he board on December 9 , and the boa rd size was increased to 10. Bleustein has be en with Har leyDavidson for th ree decades. In 1981, a group of 13 executives purchased HarleyDavidson from AMF, and Bleustein was one of thos e 13. He then helped Harley regain market share, and by 1987 the company had mo ved to the front as the leading fornia Race Services is no longer a licensed Pirelli race-tire distributor. Pirelli says tha t West Coast racers sho uld direct all Pire lli race-t ire r equests and inquiries to Josh Bryan at Tigershark Racing at S03/35B-5704 in Portland, O regon, until a replacement vendor is named . Th e new vendor is expected to be named wi thin 60 days, according to Pirelli. Road racer Marco Me landri won the Internat iona l Superbikers event tha t was held in co njunction with t he Bolog na Motorshow on Wednesday, Decemb e r 8, th e Ita lian be at ing the likes of Tro y Bayliss and Ben Bostrom. "I was a bit surprised with how w ell I d id, because I knew I w as quick, but Ben Bostrom and Troy Bayliss are both top riders and they w ere prob ably th e favor ites at t he start," Meland ri said. "I came to have fun, but once you' re o n the motorcycle manufacturer in the United States. In 1988, Bleustein became senior vice president. In 1990, he was promoted to executive vice president, and in 1993 to president and CEO. In 1998, he assumed his cur rent ro le as chairman of the board and chief e xecutive officer. "In each of the seven years under Jeff's leadership as chief executive officer, HarleyDavidsonhas achieved record revenuesand earnings," said Richard I. 8eattie, a director of Harley-Davidson. ''And most importantly for the stockholders, t he ir equity value has increased almost 400 percent. Those are superb re sults. Jeff is a superb lea de r who masterfully ove rsaw and balanced customer, dealer, supplier, employee, share holder and co mmunity interests." "T he board is delighted that Jeff has agreed to continue as chairm an following his retirement," said Barry K.. Allen, chairman of the nominating and governance committee of Harley-Davidson. "Having Jeff's experience and wisdom readily available to the company on an ongoing basis will be invaluable . The board is also looking - , forward to working w ith Jim Ziemer as CEO. We know him well , and he has our complete confidence." Under Bleustein's leadership, HarleyDavidson's annual revenues grew from $1 .5 billion in 1996 to $4 .6 billion in 2003 , and net inco me grew from $143 million to $761 million over the same period . And 2004 is projected to continue t he 18-year chain of successive record years of revenue and ea rn ings, accord ing to Harley. "I've been fortunate to wo rk with a great team over t he years," Bleuste in said, "and the company has benefited from the team's shared , st rong commitment to HarleyDavidson and to excellence. I'm confident that Jim Ziemer, who has been a key contributor to that team, will conti nue to take the company forward . Over his 35-year career w ith Haney-Davidson, Jim has served in nearly every area of the company. He w ill bring to th is new jo b a broad-based knowl edge of the business and the enthusiastic support and trus t of the entire organization." The day after the Bleustein anno unce ment, Harley announced the election of d irector Judso n C. Green to the company's nominating and corporate governance comm ittee and to the audit comm ittee . Green is president and CEO of NAVTEQ Corporation. In add ition , it was announced that the board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share, payable December 29, 2004, to shareholders of record as of December 17, 2004. This represents a 25-percent increase over the pr ior dividend paid September 29, 2004, according to Harley. "Fo r the second time in 2004, Harley Davidson has increased the quarterly divide nd 25 pe rcent, reflecting our confidence bike , the racer's instinct takes over. It was a great race, 20 tight laps, and I'm sur e it w as a great spectacle for the fans ." Less than a mo nth afte r its U.S. debut , the DVD Supe rm oto in the USA is receiving rave reviews by fans on every continent, according to the video' s producers. Th e 90minute-plus DVD is the result of a collaborative effort by the AMA; Echo Entertain men t, the producers of the AMft;s Supermoto se ries television programming; and KTM North America and Resource Marketing, a Californ ia based ad -market ing arm. The Road 2 Recovery Foundation is bring. ing back th e 2 nd ann ual Fas t G uys Karting race at Fast Times Indoor Karting on February lO in Indianapo lis, Indiana, the in the company 's future," Bleustein said. event running in conjunction wi th the AMA Harley-Davidson currently has approximately 294 million shares of common stock outstanding, accord ing to the company. THQ Supercross Series , wh ich makes its return to Indy on February 12. The eve nt will put locals in co mpetition w ith one another while enjo ying the at mosphere o f having top pro riders racing in the same event. The night also gives racers a chance GNCC: A Baker's Dozen Racer Prod uct ions , the producers of the Gra nd Nati on al Cr oss Co unt ry Ser ies , has announced t he dates and locatio ns for the 13ro und 2005 GNCC Seri es . Th e se ries begins in Texas in February and wraps up in Indiana in October. In between, the ro unds w ill offer a variety o f te rrain for racers, including a new round at the leg- en dary Unadi lla Valley Spo rts Ce nter in Ne w York. T he Unadilla GNC C w illbe th e first offroa d race ever he ld at Unad illa, and the GNCC rac ers will use t he legendary U I motocross track - until now re served only for National mo tocr oss competition. The G NCC Series will visit a new loca tion in Florida as we ll with t he "O range C rush " GNCC in De Leo n Springs, just 20 miles from Dayto na Beach. The 2005 se ason will also debut t he GNCC Youth ATV Ser ies, which will co nsist of five rounds of racing . Youth ATV races will run 45 m inutes and begin at 8 a.m . on Satur days. A rider's fo ur best scores will de te rmine championships in all three classes : 70 cc Pro duction (6- 1I), 90 cc Produ ction (8- 15) and 90cc Limited (8- 15). Two rounds. the Lone Star in Texas and the Mo untaineer in W est Virginia, will also se rve as AMA Nat iona l Hare Scrambles rounds . T hree rounds w ill be co- sanctioned with the South Eastern Enduro & Trail Riders Association (5ET RA). You th Min ibike racing will be feature d at nine ro und s, and Youth ATV racing will be featured at five rou nds. The schedule is as follows: February 12-13 The Lone Star GNCC, Gil er, m Texas (NHS) March 5-8 The Orange CrushGNCC, De Leoo Springs, Flofida March 12·13 The General GNCC, Washington, Georgia April 2·3 Steele Creek GNCC, Morganton, North Carolina Apri 16-17 l Big 8ud< GNC Union, C, South Carolina April30-May 1 Loretta Lynn's GNCC, Hurricane Mills, Tennesee May 14·15 The John Penton GNCC, Millfield, Ohio June 11·12 TheMountaineer GNCC, Surm1eIsviIIe, West Virginia (NHS) June 25-26 The Wis GNCC, McHenry, p Maryland ~ 1(}11 The Spartan GNCC, Sparta, Kentucky ~ 24-25 UnadillaValley SportsCenter, New Be ~in, NewYorl< OCtober 8-9 Power Une Parl<, SI.ClaifSVIl ie, Ohio OCtober 22·23 The Ironman GNCC, Crawfordsville, Indiana to w in great items do nated by indust ry companies and local bus inesses. All items donated by industry companies and local businesses will be eligible fo r a tax deductible do nation through the foundation. Last yea r 's part icipants include d: Chad Reed, James Stewart, Grant Langston, Daryl Hurley, Joe O helof, Jason Thomas, Clark Styles and Michae l Byrne . Last year's event sponsors included: Indy Cycle and Ski, Th rottle Jockey, Ogio , Motoworld Racing.com, Shift MX, Team Subway Honda and Fast T imes Indoor Karting. Fo r more information, call Chuck Baldwin at 765/42S · 7191 ore-ma il him at baldwin.c@ insightbb.com. According to motogp.com, the official w ebsite of MotoGp, 2SOccWorld Champion Dan i Pedrosa has moved from his nat ive Barcelona, Spain, to London, England. Ped rosa rece ntly moved into a house in Notting Hill. " Basically, I came here to spend winter, to learn English and try to get rest , relax my mind and have a nice time here," Pedrosa said on the site. "I've met Continued on page J r CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 5, 2005 9