4 • July 2023 • Powersports Business

The MIC ’ s April Symposium featured a wide-ranging conversation with MIC Chair Derek Brooks and Vice Chair John Hinz . The discussion was moderated by Joey Lindahl , a member of the association ’ s board of directors . Brooks is the motorcycle product line manager for Yamaha Motor Corporation , U . S . A ., John Hinz is the CEO of KTM North America , Inc . and Lindahl is the marketing director for Slingshot , Polaris Inc .

ON THE MIC ROLE AND SHAPING THE FUTURE

Derek Brooks : The government relations aspect of it is extremely vital . A lot of the bigger companies , the OEMs , they have their own GR team and staff , but having a strong government relations office within the MIC is extremely vital to the strength of our industry . Standing together on issues is much more powerful than trying to go at it alone and ( MIC Senior Vice President Scott Schloegel ) and the whole GR team do a wonderful job . They quite literally are boots on the ground in D . C ., but also at the state level . Whether it ’ s right to repair , PFAS – which is becoming a big topic now – land access , for sure , has always been a topic and will continue to be . Tariffs , they are absolutely vital to the success of this industry moving forward . It ’ s something as members that we should leverage but also should support and be in contact with as much as we can .

John Hinz : The power is in the collective and the power is also in the individual . When you go to D . C ., Congressional members , they want to hear from their local district . They want to hear from Main Street businesses . They want to hear from their local district on what ’ s happening and how they can help support them . To be engaged and be involved is critical and it makes a difference when they hear that individual voice .

ON NEW RIDERSHIP Derek Brooks : I think there are many efforts in progress right now and many are doing actually , I think , a really good job . I think there ’ s a lot of dealers and OEMs that are supporting learning-to-ride efforts . However , I think we just need more to take up the effort and I think to some degree perhaps combining the efforts .”

I think once we understand those barriers to entry , in kind of their simplest form , that can give us some insight on how to break through . I don ’ t think it ’ s so difficult , honestly . I think a lot of us already have the answers , like I said before , with demo rides and learn-to-ride efforts . But again , maybe combining our efforts and a little more strength in numbers . If we could add just 100,000 more riders to our industry , our sport , that would be immense . If we think about the population of the U . S ., 330 , 335 million people , we ’ re only talking 0.003 percent of the population . So it ’ s a big number , 100,000 . But why not ? I think it ’ s very attainable as a target .

We have some tools that the MIC has been working on with the Ride With Us initiative . There ’ s a website that launched … just recently … and that ’ s really trying to kind of address that one trepidation around ‘ how do I even begin ?’ It ’ s really trying to focus on giving them a portal from the non-riding world into this world that we all love and enjoy so much .

John Hinz : We have to connect those people that are interested to people that are already riders , and that happens in a lot of different ways . In our industry , very clearly one of the best ways is through our dealers across the United States , but events are another great way . The MIC has the Ride With Us campaign as well as the Moto Intro experience … an experience to start that fire , start that passion , connect them to the sport .

Derek mentioned some barriers to entry . But technology is changing some of that … making it much easier or taking away some of those barriers . Electric is changing a lot of those things for our industry . It ’ s going to be part of the future . Internal combustion is still going to be there , and clutches and shifting , and there ’ s a legacy connection to that . But technology is changing some of those things … providing different access points for people that are interested in the sport and in helping to grow it . We see that as a huge opportunity , just the evolution of technology and crossover products that are connecting enthusiasts to motorcycling or to powersports .

The MIC April Symposium features MIC Chair Derek Brooks , Vice Chair John Hinz and board member Joey Lindahl . Photo courtesy of the MIC

ON THE MIC CAPITOL HILL FLY-IN Derek Brooks : It ’ s certainly a great opportunity that happens every year and I strongly encourage everyone to jump in next year . Our voices certainly are stronger when we go at it from a very organized approach of having some key topics . The MIC and the government relations team really do a great job of herding us together as an industry , quite literally leads us around the Capitol and has specific talking points – unless you have something specific that you want to cover – so they really make it unbelievably easy to interact . Don ’ t be intimidated by this at all . It ’ s really an easy process and again , it ’ s an opportunity we really all should be taking advantage of if time permits . Next year when you see the invite for registration don ’ t hesitate to do it .

John Hinz : I can tell you that the best thing that we all can do is make connections and make friends with Congressional members before you need them . We ’ re all going to need them . There ’ s always a regulation with unintended consequences , and the best time to get that help and support when those unintended consequences come forward is to make sure that you ’ ve got a strong relationship ahead of that . Being part of the Fly-In and being part of the MIC voice , the industry voice , and supporting what ( MIC Senior Vice President Scott Schloegel ) and the team are doing out there on a daily basis is really critical to our future . Have your voice out there with us and protect the future of our business .

ON THE MIC ’ S VALUE IN THE INDUSTRY

John Hinz : Preserve , protect and promote . I love the mission statement . The data ( collected by the MIC and provided to members ) helps support our business and business decisions . There ’ s the technical committee … understanding the technical regulations inside our industry and how we can together make sure that we ’ re meeting all of those regulations . We ’ re ( working with legislators on ) regulations that support business .

Government relations is so important . The industry that we have is regulated and having a voice in D . C . is critical for our industry . The MIC does an incredible job with that . There ’ s a team of people in D . C . that actively work on it every single day .

The promotion side is activating the industry for the future – bringing new riders into our industry and giving them an opportunity to connect with our product , our brands , and growing the sport . So that ’ s the value that the MIC brings in . The membership supports that and having the entire industry behind it and being a member of the MIC is critical because of all of the value that the MIC brings . It ’ s been standing for dealers and the industry and the aftermarket , OEMs , for over 100 years . And the goal is to make sure that the industry and the business thrives , and we have the ability to take it another 50 and 100 years .

Joey Lindahl : As a relatively new board member , I ’ ll say that those ideals of preserve , protect , promote … I ’ ve been very impressed as we ’ ve met and as I ’ ve seen the MIC act , how those really are core pillars to every decision that gets made and every action that we take . I ’ ve been impressed and grateful to see that , being part of the industry . www . powersportsbusiness . com Editorial and Sales : 763.383.4400 Subscriber Service : 763.383.4492

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