Yamaha Boat Engines

10th Annual Yamaha Deals Gap Convention Is In the Books!

KENNESAW, GA – August 5, 2011 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – Graves Motorsports’ Media & Technology Director Shane McCoy chronicles his experience at the 2011 Deals Gap Convention.

TAKE SOME EXTRAORDINARY RIDING, gathering of old friends, meeting new friends and seeing Yamahas of all shape and sizes, combine with a little bit of tradition and you have all the reasons the / Yamaha Deals Gap Convention is still going strong after 10 years!

Each year this event centers on what is arguably one of the best motorcycle riding roads in the world. Deals Gap, commonly known as “The Dragon”, starts in North Carolina at the “Cross Roads Over Time” (better known to locals as the “CROT”) – Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort. The world famous 13-mile stretch of road (whose state designation is US-129) quickly crosses over the Tennessee state line for the remaining 12 miles. The infamous Deals Gap is most known for the excellent riding. With 318 curves in just 11 miles there is never a dull moment, especially with the mountainside scenery. Deals Gap is a motorcyclists’ paradise and one of the many reasons “Why we ride”!

Though I’ve been organizing this event nearly since its inception ten years ago, every single year I manage to leave with a new experience from riding not only Deals Gap, but the hundreds of nearby roads and places to visit. Over these last ten years my kids Trevor (11) and Paige (13) have grown up spending a week each summer in the area and both have endless memories full of fun times. Among their favorites was the ride in 2006 when SPEED TV came out to shoot an hour-long Deals Gap-centered episode of the show called Superbikes (which also included a trip to my family’s race shop) – the kids ended up getting some TV appearances! That show brought the R1-Forum.com / R6-Forum.com / Yamaha Deals Gap Convention into mainstream television.

Looking back at past events reveals countless magazine articles and online stories about Yamaha’s yearly pilgrimage to Deals Gap. There have been national motorcycle launches, Yamaha demo rides and stunt shows and you never know what famous sponsors or riders might pop in for a visit. The annual ride offers a multitude of experiences. A lifetime’s worth of stories, nightly campfire socializing, sushi lunch rides, white water rafting, house boat parties and the world famous “frosty” milkshakes rides are just a small taste of past highlights.

The Market Share Leader Complacency Syndrome | Strategic Planning

This is the tenth in a series of articles that have dealt primarily with Board decisions, decisions of CEO’s and senior executives of major corporations.  Corporations that became industry Market Share leaders but over time recognized that their marketplace was either in transition or in decline. With an ‘eyes wide open’ approach to business basics, they reinvented a corporate culture that ultimately translated into corporate redirection and sustained growth. The decision making processes embraced by these organizations invariably traced their success back to the business basics – Business Process Management tools and broad based Market Research in the Strategic Planning Process. The ‘success story’ articles are then contrasted with the antithesis type situations involving major corporations characterized by market dominance but through either poor decision making or a close minded commitment to the ‘now’ business ultimately eroded their market dominance.

For a high profile example with clear cut results we can look at Johnson and Evinrude Outboard Motors. Evinrude was founded 1907 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Johnson in 1913 in Terre Haute, Indiana.  The stories are over 100 years old but it has more recently been a 40 year story that unfolded decade-by-decade. Johnson and Evinrude merged in 1936 to form Outboard Marine Corporation. Back in the fifties and early sixties the world of outboard engines was ruled the two market share leaders, Evinrude and Johnson, both manufactured by OMC, with Mercury Marine, also an early player. Let’s fast forward to 2000 when OMC filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP). Quite simply, OMC had failed to keep pace with the technological changes that ultimately emerged as product shortcomings. Along with losing 2-stroke market share to Mercury Marine, the 4-stroke winds of change were emerging at Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. OMC was embedded old-line corporate culture with millions of dollars tied up in old technology and older manufacturing facilities for a seasonal industry, which put genuine limitations on R&D capital. At that stage, it became a 2-stroke/4-stroke battle that ultimately forced the closure of OMC.

As a footnote, even though 4-stroke outboard engines sit with a 70% + market share, Bombardier, already knee deep in-2 stroke technology, acquired OMC, knew what needed to be done on the way in and promptly did what OMC should have done. In the marketplace of today Bombardier offers the full range of Evinrude and Johnson 2-stroke outboard engines that represent a very viable alternative to 4-stroke technology. Bombardier utilizes much of their 2-stroke Ski-Doo snowmobile and Sea-Doo watercraft technology in a full range of outboard engines that are lighter, faster accelerating and less expensive than their 4-stroke competitors. Gone is the noise, the oil/gas mixture, the dirty, smoky, environmentally challenged 2-stroke outboard of yesterday. Their E-TEC outboard engine product line features a direct oil injection system that eliminates oil/gas mixing with the lowest outboard emissions in the industry. Their 2-stroke engine is much quieter than its predecessors and the boat planes faster than the comparable 4-stroke competitor (Google 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke). The 2-stroke/4-stroke battle rages on. Whether it’s the aircraft industry, high-speed rail systems, or a broad range of recreational products, it is the sustainability of their corporate culture that defines Bombardier. A corporation that continues to reinvent itself with a focus on tomorrow versus a Senior Management Team with their collective steady gaze fixed on the rear view mirror. Bombardier acquired old technology with a very clear cut business plan that enabled them to broaden their product line in a four season Recreational market with which they were already very familiar. There are some great lessons here.

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