| ATV Sport
Performance
Consumers are demanding more high performance products that can work with their bigger displacement vehicles and are willing to pay a little extra to get it. Staying informed of the features and benefits, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each product is a good way to ensure your customers have the correct product that will hold up to the rigors of riding. The more information you can give your customers, the more they’ll trust – and spend – at your store. This month’s Market Report offers up the latest ATV sport/performance accessories to help you do just that.
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“Barker’s Performance has cracked the 11 mm barrier for stroking Yamaha’s big single cylinder engines,” informed a company spokesperson, who added, the company’s new billet crankshaft is designed to offer up to 15 mm of stroke on the Raptor 700cc and up to 12 mm on the 660cc models. “Barker’s offers the billet stroker crank as a complete package with Barker’s own competition proven billet rods and aluminum pistons custom made to Barker’s specifications,” they explained. The billet strokers reportedly don’t require any internal modifications to the engine cases. The company also offers stroker modifications of up to 11 mm to stock Yamaha crankshafts with the customer’s core, the spokesperson added.
Barker’s Performance
www.barkersperformace.com
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Chris Taylor reported Barnett Tool & Engineering’s new segmented clutch friction plates are made from a material that is applied in a way that allows the clutch to run cooler, which results in longer life for the clutch and smoother, more consistent performance. “We continue to see the demand for high performance clutch components that can handle today’s bigger, more powerful ATVs,” noted Taylor, who added, big bore kits have also become more popular these days. Land closures have had a tremendous effect on riding in the West, he told us, and people need to take responsibility and do their part to keep the riding areas open. “It’s not a problem that’s going to go away and everybody needs to realize this,” Taylor said. With the inferior quality of product being imported into the market, the demand for high quality products has increased as customers realize the need for quality products as well as good tech support, he explained. Despite the slow market, Barnett’s sales are holding steady with this time last year, noted Taylor. He concluded by advising dealers to remember to deal with companies that have good reputations and will be there when both the customer and the dealer need them.
Barnett Tool & Engineering
www.barnettclutches.com |
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The Cometic top end gasket kits for side-by-side models are the company’s latest, reported spokesperson Jason Moses. “Cometic offers big bore gasket kits and specialized thickness gaskets to meet engine builder requirements,” he added. Moses told us Cometic’s side-by-side market is gaining popularity as consumers are getting into customizing and adding more power to their vehicles. The biggest threat to the ATV sport/performance market are cheap imitation parts, accessories and units themselves, noted Moses, who added, “The problem with this is safety first off, then longevity of the product itself and no dealer support. All this coupled together can add to bad press for the industry.” On the other hand, international sales, with the value of the dollar where it is right now, have made US products very attractive to foreign consumers, he explained. Cometic has seen double digit growth, Moses divulged, thanks to the company’s response to dealer and end user requests for complete top end gasket and seal kits. “Go with top quality parts and manufacturers that stand behind their products,” advised Moses. He concluded by saying, “Should you need technical or warranty service you’ll be glad you did.”
Cometic Gasket
www.cometic.com |
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“Our newest addition to our exclusive brands of ATV sport/performance is Pro Aluminum (also pictured on pg. ATV-5),” stated Glen Urquhart of Tucker Rocky. “It’s very high quality, yet is priced like the lower end competitors,” he told us, adding, Pro Aluminum products are made in the USA and are also the brand of body armor used by Doug Gust and Dustin Wimmer of Team Suzuki. “Consumers are very loyal to certain brands and it is difficult for dealers to find a complete set of nerf bars, bumpers and under body armor from a single brand,” he explained. Urquhart said Tucker Rocky is dedicated to having complete body sets for all models in stock under the new Pro Aluminum brand. The issue regarding noise is the main threat the industry faces, he noted, while the biggest opportunity for dealers to make a sale is by dressing up a unit in full body armor with an exhaust system and race tires, then display it on the showroom floor. “Because we have added so many new products for the sport ATV consumer, our sales in the sport segment as a whole are up strongly,” he divulged. Commit to a brand of body armor and display it, Urquhart advised.
Pro Aluminum - Tucker Rocky
www.trdealer.com |
Knowledge is the key and the more information you can give your customers, the happier you both will be. We hope you found this report on the latest ATV sport/performance accessories helpful and we’d like to thank all of these companies for their help in putting this article together for
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