If you were a manufacturer who shell-shocked the industry with an award-winning, genre-bending machine last year, you might be excused for taking the year off, making like a wallflower and watching the new designs from other OEMs hit the street. But that’s not how Victory operates.
Not content to watch from the sidelines, the motorcycle arm of Polaris Industries jumped at the chance to ring in its 10th anniversary celebration with not just several tweaks and updates of existing models, but four all-new examples to boot.
To say that machines issuing forth from the Victory’s Medina, Minnesota, plant …Â More info
The Foiljet MR1 is a new personal watercraft concept that takes the best features of a motocross bike and jetski, throws in two hydrofoils plus a silent, energy efficient electric motor to create what would have to be a surefire recipe for outrageous fun. The design looks something like a motocross bike, but instead of wheels there are beams with small hydrofoil wings mounted at the ends that can be raised or lowered. The concept would use a 15 kW (20 hp) electric motor housed at the end of the rear beam with its instant electric torque lifting the craft out of the water to become “foil borne”.
To cope with shallow water the beams can be raised at the flick of a switch. The electric motor runs off a 48V battery that should see three hours of full load running with the possibility of a theoretical 10 min recharge time…Â More info
Retailers across the country are yanking shoes, toys, Valentine’s gifts and other children’s goods from shelves to comply with a strict lead law that took effect Tuesday.
The repercussions of the hotly debated Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which bans the sale of children’s products containing dangerous amounts of lead and chemicals called phthalates, began rippling through the industry as manufacturers realized the law wasn’t going away…. More info
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For the action sports industry in 2009, it’s all about keeping your head above water.
Already struggling with a glut of inventory, the $14.4 billion industry is forecasting sales to fall as much as 25 percent this year. Some surfboard makers say their business is down 30 percent to 40 percent as consumers put off larger purchases.
With numbers like that, industry insiders say some brands will disappear and the economic undertow will pull down a number of mom-and-pop shops, considered the backbone of the business because of their connection to the core action sports customer…. More info
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