IN
THE
WIND
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SKULLY'S CEO AND CFO GET THE BOOT
S
kully's co-founders have
been shown the door, ac-
cording to reports from tech-
crunch.com. CEO Marcus
Weller and his brother Mitch,
who acts as Chief of Staff, were
shown the door after continual
failings to meet delivery dead-
lines for the pioneering Skully
AR-1 helmet. The interactive lid
incorporates a rear-facing cam-
era, head-up display, and allows
the rider to make calls and re-
ceive text messages, directions,
emails, all hands-free.
Skully has been in the wars for
some time with techcrunchcom
claiming under 100 helmets
have so far been distributed to
customers who were among the
first to put down deposits, some
over two years
ago.
Investors in
Skully have appar-
ently had enough,
ousting the
brothers in favor
of incoming CEO
Martin Fichter, who was previ-
ously on the executive team for
HTC America.
Fichter will have a massive job
on his hands to not only deliver
the remaining helmets and fix
production issues, but also to
restore consumer confidence
in a brand that has made big
claims and not backed them up.
Skully has raised $14.95 million
from two investments and an In-
diegogo campaign over the past
two years but is apparently fast
running out of money and will
require another series of cash
injections to make not just the
AR-1 ready for mass production
but also to develop more than
one product for the market, a
given for any motorcycle helmet
manufacturer. CN
Will the new
CEO get this
much-maligned
company back
on track and
get the AR-1
(pictured) to
market?
"GRIZZLY" SETS NEW WORLD RECORD
S
wiss endurance rider Urs "Grizzly" Pedraita has achieved a new world record by riding across five
continents in less than 120 days aboard his Victory Cross Country Tour.
Grizzly covered roughly 47,390 miles in 72 riding days and 13 hours by the time he reached a cele-
bration in his honor at Volusia Motorsports in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, July 10. The previous record
for such a ride was 120 days and two hours, and includ-
ed time-stops for transfers. Grizzly's overall time without
time-stops was 119 days and 21 hours.
"With this journey the spirit of the pioneers of the past
was re-established," Grizzly said upon his arrival. "There
is no place for time-stops in this kind of adventure. This
victory belongs to the team, and is dedicated to my
brother and my guardian angel, Emelie from Peru."
The Victory Cross Country Tour used for this record-set-
ting ride was specially modified by Motostyling Zurich. CN
Urs "Grizzly" Pedraita stops in Argentina to check out the
view—for about five minutes.
