Erpelding, Europe’s Keeper of Classic Race Bikes

Are you a racebike enthusiast? Happen to be planning a trip to the Nuerburgring in Germany?

If so, you may want to visit former motorcycle and auto dealer and racer Frithjor Erpelding, a man who claims to have the second largest private museum in Europe dedicated to race motorcycles. Located in the Eifel mountain hamlet of Jammelshofen, near the ‘Ring, the museum houses 200-some bikes and a half-dozen of his championship-winning race cars.

Among the units on display: AJS, Aprilia, Ariel, Bimota, BSA, CZ, Egli, Gilera, NSU, Koenig, Moto Parilla, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, Matchless, Maico, Triumph, Norton, Greeves, Jawa, Puch, Wanderer, Harris, BSS, Benelli, Laverda, Royal-Enfield, Harley-Davidson, Horex, Honda, Gilera, Kawasaki, Kreidler, Linto, Suzuki, Scott, Seley, Yamaha, Rickman, KTM, Ducati, Montessa, NSU, Vincent, Velocette and Zuendapp, etc.

I asked Erpelding which of the 200 units is his favorite. “The Norton,” he replied without pause. Erpelding has two Norton Manx. “The chairman of Cambridge University recently contacted me, asking if I would sell one of my Manx. I told him ‘No’. He offered Euro 100,000 and I declined. Then he offered Euro 200,000 and I again declined. Finally, I cut to the chase and told him I wouldn’t be selling the bike no matter what the price.”

But, Erpelding is willing to sell certain units. He says he recently sold a Vincent to a collector in the United States for Euro 80,000. “He deposited the check in my bank account before even receiving the bike. I called and asked him why he trusted me, and he said, ‘I’ve heard you’re a trustworthy guy’.”

Erpelding is a fella who loves telling his stories. If you’re planning a visit, be sure to leave time to have beer at his Race Museum Bar. He’ll tell you about his run-ins with racer Agostini and Yamaha bosses; his thoughts on Triumph, MZ and KTM; his trips to Goodwood; and his days of racing Honda motorcycles and cars.

Check out Erpelding’s website, which features the full line-up of the museum’s bikes on display.

Race Replica Scoots We’re Not Getting

File this under cool stuff we’re not getting in the U.S.: Three 50cc scooters wrapped in race livery that are sure to be a hit with sportbike enthusiasts looking for alternative surface street transportation.

Inspired by Valentino Rossi and the Fiat Yamaha MotoGP racing team, the Aerox Team Yamaha Race Replica (top), powered by a liquid-cooled two-stroke 50cc engine, is wrapped in the new-for-2009 paint and graphics to match the racing livery of the YZR-M1 MotoGP bike.

The Gilera Runner Marco Simoncelli Replica (middle) is powered by a 50cc liquid-cooled two-stroke engine delivering 5.4hp and features livery similar to that of the 250cc MotoGP World Champion’s factory racebike.

The Malaguti Phantom F12R Ducati Corse Superbike (bottom), available in 50cc liquid or air-cooled two-stroke versions, is the latest in a line of scoots made available via a licensing agreement between Ducati and Malaguti. Also available: the Phantom F12R Bayliss Limited Edition and the Phantom F12R Ducati Team version.

I saw all three of these units during a recent trip to the Nuerburgring in Germany. The bikes depicted in the photos were for sale at motorcycle dealerships adjacent to the world-famous racetrack.

Let Dealernews Be Your Public Voice

Note: The following was written back in April for our May issue.

Dealer Jack O’Neill complains in this month’s “InBox” about how difficult it was this year to earn co-op advertising funds for his Yamaha PWC business. To get funds at all, he said, he would have had to order at least 90 percent of what Yamaha recommended. Instead he ordered 50 percent and got nothing.

We rarely get angry letters from dealers, so they tend to take priority. Our standard procedure is to call the offending party for comment. In this case I was dealing with Yamaha through a PR agency. I e-mailed Jack’s letter to the agent, and he promptly replied that he’d call me the next day. And so he did.

He told me that he’d learned that Jack apparently had had a beef with Yamaha for years. In other words, the dispute was personal. From the agent’s tone of voice, I sensed he was halfway expecting me to throw the letter out.

But I had spoken with Jack, and he had said specifically that his complaint was not personal. None of his other PWC suppliers, he had said, required so much of him to earn co-op dollars. And even if the

Scooterists Assemble in Twin Cities for ‘Rattle My Bones’ Rally

Hundreds of scooterists from all over the Midwest assembled in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul Aug. 13-16 for the 2009 Rattle My Bones scooter rally.

The four-day event started with a meet-and-greet and scavenger hunt on the evening of Aug. 13; had participants assembling Aug. 14 for five ride possibilities, a “historic sites” ride and one ride each for geared scoots, automatic scoots, vintage scoots and for scooterists who have never been on a group ride before; continued Aug. 15 with a 70-mile, large group ride followed by dinner, a gymkhana, bike show and music; and wrapped up Aug. 16 with an organized breakfast, raffle prize giveaway, awards presentation and a final ride.

Sponsors included dealerships Scooterville, Blue Cat Motors and Leo’s South; as well as CF Moto; Scooterworks USA; Binetto/Shad; Aerostich; Bell Helmets; Corazzo; Scorpion EXO and Scoot! Magazine, among others.

As the logo suggests, the Rattle My Bones rally was named after a song by the defunct Twin Cities band The Suburbs.

CBS News “Investigation” Raps Rhino

Yamaha Disputes Many CBS Claims

You may have seen CBS News “investigation” last evening into accidents, deaths and lawsuits surrounding the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side vehicle. The nearly six-minute broadcast by reporter Armen Keteyian was a typical TV slap-dash, superficial handling of a serious subject.

Yamaha has an excellent  rebuttal to the CBS piece on its website http://www.TruthAboutRhino.com. You can read the Yamaha reply here.

The CBS bit featured an amateurish effort by Keteyian to paint Yamaha officials in a bad light when he and a CBS camera crew barged into Yamaha’s corporate headquarters in California and demanded to talk with a company representative for his story. A security guard justifiably told the CBS gang to leave Yamaha’s private property.

Exclusive: FMF Working on Pipe for Ducati Streetfighter

We at Dealernews previously reported how well-known off-road exhaust specialist FMF has been planning to increase its emphasis on the on-road market with its APEX line of exhausts. Today I received a spy shot of the exhaust specialist’s latest project: a carbon fiber offering for the new Ducati Streetfighter.

“The APEX line is doing quite well in terms of market penetration, but our product for Ducati has been particularly well accepted,” FMF National Sales Manager Doug Muellner told me earlier today. I called Doug after a source sent me a covert shot of the still-in-progress pipe.

“We want the APEX line to be as well-known as our other products,” Doug told me a few months ago. “Off-roaders know the FMF name, and so we want to build the APEX name to be equally as recognizable in the sportbike market.”

FMF offers three types of sportbike pipe – the Powercore S, Powercore GP and APEX – and plans to put more energy into marketing its offerings.

The APEX exhaust comes in carbon or titanium, slip-on or full, and single and dual systems; the Powercore GP is a MotoGP-type titanium race pipe, and the Powercore S line is available in titanium and aluminum and comes with a titanium mid-pipe (if applicable).

FMF’s other new applications include product for the 2009 Ducati Monster 1100, 696, 848, 1098, 1198 and 1198S; Honda CBR1000RR and CBR600RR; Kawasaki ER-6N, Ninja 250R, Ninja 650R, ZX-6R and ZX-10R; KTM 690 SMC; Suzuki GSX-R600, GSX-R750, GSX-R1000 and Hayabusa; and Yamaha R6 and R1.

Victory Lays Down the Hammer … S

I picked up a 2009 Victory Hammer S from Polaris HQ today, June 15. I’ve noticed this particular bike is about Victory performance, and that my sportbike has tire envy.

2009 Victory Hammer S

After rolling 200 miles during the first few hours after pick-up, I do have a few qualms about riding position (see future posts). Of course, I’m traditionally more of a sportbike rider, so anything I ride foot-first seems a bit odd.

Still, this is the best of the four Victory I’ve ridden for an extended period of time. It accelerates impressively (for

Ecowatercraft Hopes to Offer Electric PWC

EcoWatercraft is a company planning to be the first all electric personal watercraft manufacturer to go into production.

The company is the brainchild of founder Barrett Taylor. Taylor says, as a collegiate triathlete, he often swam amongst extremely heavy fumes expelled from the personal watercraft patrolling the swim site – something that coaxed him to look more closely at the health implications of breathing in toxic fumes and served as inspiration to assemble a team dedicated to bringing an electric personal watercraft to market.

Why electric? According to Taylor, the ECO emits no emissions, operates in complete silence, expands PWC use by being permitted on many lakes that restrict gasoline vehicles, benefits from acceleration inherent in electric vehicles, and offers convenience by requiring no fuels, oil or maintenance.

Sounds good, right? Many “green” blogs and websites appear to think so. However, there are a couple of statements that show a glaring lack of industry knowledge.

First, EcoWatercraft claims it “will be the first American personal watercraft corporation.” In fact, Minnesota-based powersports manufacturers Arctic Cat and Polaris were in the market years ago.

Second, Ecowatercraft says it “will provide the most customer oriented experience in the personal watercraft industry.” Dubious, since they’ll first have to gain the financial strength equal to or greater than companies like Kawasaki, Yamaha, BRP and Honda. Plus, they’ll likely be selling through the same dealers as those other OEMs.

Finally, Ecowatercraft, throughout its marketing literature, uses Kawasaki’s trademarked “JetSki” name in lieu of the general term of “personal watercraft.” A rookie mistake, for sure.

Clarkson: A powersports fanatic

Jeremy Clarkson, one-third of the presenting team for the top-rated BBC television show Top Gear, was spotted this week atop a Yamaha Waverunner VX110 while on vacation in Barbados.

As the pictures attest to, the 49-year-old appeared to have enjoyed piloting the 110hp four-stroke PWC as much as driving a 510hp Lamborghini Gallardo.

Last September, photographers spotted the presenter, who often derides motorcyclists, astride a Piaggio scooter near his home in Oxfordshire. Click here to read what Clarkson had to say about his buzz around town on the scoot.

Texas Bill Requires Training For “High-Performance” Bike Buyers

Legislation being considered in Texas would force those who purchase a “high-performance” motorcycle to take a training course within six months of the purchase.

HB 4531, if voted into law, would force all owners and operators of a high performance motorcycle purchased on or after September 1, 2009 to show proof of course attendance upon the request of law enforcement. Violators would be fined between $500 and $1,000.

According to bill sponsor Rep. Norma Chavez (D-El Paso), a “high-performance motorcycle” is any motorcycle “referred to, called, labeled, or described as a ‘sports bike’, ‘sports motorcycle’, ‘high performance motorcycle’, or other similar term, in any materials given to an original purchaser at the time of purchase from any retail seller or contained in the owners manual or guides from the manufacturer.”

The bill is currently being debated in the House Public Safety committee.