The Dealership Fixit Podcast

Mike Murray is three for three. In May he said April was the top. In July he said August would be the bottom. The September numbers are in and the slide has stopped. Most segments came in flat or up against the summer.

What we cover:

• Three for three. Why Mike says he is not Nostradamus, just a guy looking at the data, and why the trends are tracking the five-year average.
• The bottom is in on the overall average. Stable for two or three months, then the climb starts in late November or December and picks up after January 1.

• Why the climb may come earlier this year. Harley dealers keep going deeper into pre-owned and it is smoothing out the seasonality.
• The 20 group story. Bought heavy in October and November to hold until March. Sold out by mid-February. Had to go back to the auction at spring prices. Best January and February they ever had.
• The buying window is open now. Spring could be three to seven percent more expensive, which easily covers the flooring.
• Gas, the Fed, the election. Mike paid six dollars a gallon in Southern California. Nobody has stopped spending. Most of it is noise, and the tariff panic proved it.
• Domestic cruisers went negative year over year for the first time. Why Mike calls that a win, not a worry. Dealers did a better job dumping rough 150 and 180 day units before winter.
• Where the rough bikes go. NPA's Direct Buy team, mom and pop shops with a dealer license, and the 125,000 mile Street Glide that is a $1,500 bike on a great day.
• Every VIN you touch, you can make money on. The ratty trade the customer thinks is worth $500 that Direct Buy says is $700. Free $200 and you are the hero.
• If a salesperson tells a customer to sell it on Marketplace themselves, Mike says that person should be fired or retrained heavily.
• The book gap. Several aggressive book increases this year never came back down. The September 1 cut was four to four and a half percent on Harleys and the lanes still pulled further away.
• The book thinks they are all worth $10,000. The reality is $8,000. Why JD Power has a tough job and why the book gets you in the ballpark, not the seat.

• Sell value, not dollars. Spend ten minutes explaining and 99% of those trade fights go away.
• Clean has outperformed six months straight because more Harley dealers are carrying 35 or 40 used bikes instead of 25, and they all want retail-ready.
• A 78 is not a 78. The score can mean mechanically perfect with scratches or cosmetically perfect with a noisy transmission. Check engine, frame, transmission first.
• Side-by-sides holding because dealers finally built the shop to service them. ATVs up on hunting season and the plow buyer who loses his mind at $15,000 out the door.
• Marine up 40%. Mike's honest answer: that is NPA's growth in that space, not demand. Do not read it as your boats are selling.
• Minnesota versus Florida. The northern dealer's best move on a snowy day is to call everyone who bought a bike two or three years ago. A gold mine of customer information most stores never touch.
• Should a Phoenix dealer buy from Philadelphia? NPA studied it with the finance companies for 20 years. The internet is the great equalizer. It is a wash. The one exception: the Hayabusa with a stretched swingarm.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

NPA Market Report: https://www.npauctions.com/cp/npa-market-report

Reach Mike Murray: [email protected]

Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Here is what mattered in powersports this week, and what each story means for your store.

A lot of riders are in motion right now. Honda is recalling almost 44,000 Rebels, and the Rebel is a first bike for a nervous new rider who will call the closest dealer the minute the letter lands.

A Harley store that opened in 1986 closed its doors, and every one of its customers still rides and still needs a home.

RideNow, the biggest dealer group in the country, just bet that honest up-front pricing closes more deals than hidden fees ever did.

The thread this week is simple. The store that shows up first, treats people right, and tells them the real number wins the customer.

Plus a 310 horsepower jet ski to stand up front all winter, a $7,499 triple from CFMoto, Segway at the Baja 1000, and Billy Joel selling 70 motorcycles.

This week's rundown:

• Honda recalls 43,913 Rebel 300, Rebel 500, and SCL500 bikes. A handlebar lock screw can back out and wedge in the steering stem. The fix is one screw and thread locker. The owner is a new rider who read the word steering and got scared. Your service desk is about to hear from them.
• Why a free recall visit is the best shot you will get at turning a first-time buyer into a regular
• Kawasaki's new STX 310. A supercharged 1.5 liter four, 310 horsepower, launch control, four power modes, a rear camera, and a $18,799 sticker that lands under most of the supercharged skis out there.
• Why the halo ski belongs up front in October. Pre-sell it, take the deposit, lock the customer before spring.
• RideNow refinances a $220 million term loan and pushes the payoff to 2031. What a lender giving the biggest group that much room says about how banks feel about powersports.
• RideNow moves to all-in Clear Pricing. The price you see is the price you pay. When the biggest name does it, your customers expect it from you.
• Seven Hills Harley-Davidson in Cincinnati, open since 1986 as Eastgate, closed a year after it sold. The customers did not vanish. Cin City Harley raised its hand first.
• Triumph's four-part film series All In, and the dedicated dirt bike dealer network that matters more than the film
• CFMoto's first triple. The 675 NK, 95 horsepower, quickshifter, ABS, traction control, and a $7,499 price under the Trident and the CB650R
• The trust question every salesperson will field on a Chinese brand, and how the value story answers it
• Segway takes two Super Villain side-by-sides to the Baja 1000. Why a newer brand has to prove it in the open, and why racing is not the same as reliability.
• Billy Joel is selling more than 70 bikes from his museum, 20th Century Cycles. A custom 1978 Bonneville, a Mike Hailwood Replica Ducati, and the attention it puts on vintage iron.
• PFAS. The forever-chemical rules moving through the states, what they can do to the gear and parts on your shelf, and why the MIC is fighting for room for powersports.
• Fin GPS tracking recovered three stolen bikes in Maryland and Virginia. A tag you can sell on every unit, protection for your own lot, and a trust move with every buyer.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Here is what mattered in powersports this week, and what each story means for your store.

Suzuki cut the price on six 2027 motorcycles. That does not happen often. The DR-Z4S dropped a full thousand dollars to $7,999, and Suzuki said out loud that dealer feedback is why. A factory cutting price is a gift and a warning at the same time. It hands you a better number for this weekend's ad. It also tells you the front end is getting squeezed, so the money has to come from somewhere else.

That is the thread running through the whole week. The big groups just won awards for cheaper floor plan money and bigger F&I numbers. A lender rebuilt its portal because slow funding and fraud were killing deals. Indian cut the Scout from 15 versions to six so dealers can actually stock it. You are not going to win on the sticker. Here is where the money is.

This week's rundown:

• Suzuki's 2027 price cuts, with the real numbers. DR-Z4S and DR-Z4SM at $7,999. GSX-8S at $8,749. GSX-8R at $9,199. GSX-S1000 at $10,798. And the V-Strom 1050 is back.
• Why a lower sticker closes faster, why it means less front-end room, and why your leftover 2026 DR-Z units just got a problem
• The Powersports Finance Summit awards: RideNow for performance with $48.8 million in first-half F&I and $35 million in Wells Fargo floor plan, Jeff Dyke of Sonic for leadership, and Freedom Road Financial for approving thin-file buyers with more than a credit score
• Why the big groups are hard to beat on a number, and why your own F&I is where the fight is
• Thunder Road Financial tore up its dealer portal and rebuilt it for two jobs: fund faster and catch fraud earlier
• Fake IDs, stolen identities, and straw buyers. Why one bad deal a quarter can wipe out the profit on a stack of good ones.
• Your lenders are only as good as their tools
• Indian cuts the Scout lineup from 15 versions to six for 2027. What goes, what stays, and why a green salesperson can learn six in a week and 15 in months
• Ski-Doo puts more than $1.5 million into trail clubs. No trails, no sleds sold. Why your local club is a room full of your customers.
• Mecum brings 2,000 bikes to Las Vegas in January. Why a giant auction is a live price check for the trade rolling into your store this winter
• Mecum is the top of the market. NPA is what your trade is worth on a normal Tuesday. Use both.
• Parts Unlimited adds the Twiceme safety tag. A chip on the helmet, tap a phone, the rider's medical info pops up. One sentence at the counter and real margin on every ticket.
• Aston Martin built a motorcycle with Brough Superior. 130 horsepower, 419 pounds, 300 units, six figures. Nobody is putting one on your floor. Here is how a halo bike sells the real one you do have.
• Triumph opened public voting on seven custom Scramblers. Free content, free reach, and a seed for parts and accessory sales.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Jon Vestal messaged me on LinkedIn back in April. He said if I ever wanted a lender's point of view on where powersports lending is headed, he would have that conversation. Here it is.

Jon is the EVP and General Manager of Recreational Lending at Octane. If you do not know Octane, you know Roadrunner Financial. That is their in-house lender, and it went from $2.5 million in loans its first year to almost $10 million a day this spring.

Octane is the company behind the financing programs for Suzuki, Kawasaki, Indian, CFMoto, Honda's non-prime, and the brand new BRP Financial Services. When you send a credit app on a lot of the units on your floor, there is a good chance it lands with Jon's team.

Octane sells its loans to investors, so Jon could not share the portfolio numbers. He said so and I asked anyway. What he could share is how a deal gets a yes, how it gets bounced, and what the lender wishes every dealer understood. That turned out to be the better conversation.

What we cover:

• Credit utilization is higher than it has been in recent history. The same borrower looks more challenged than he did four years ago.
• Why a high FICO is not a clean deal. The bureau can hide high utilization or a bankruptcy in process, and the lender looks at all of it.
• Full spectrum down to a 550. Every decision is automated and instant.
• The Octane story. Jason Guss built an aggregator, no lenders would get on it, so they became the lender. Now 85-plus brands across powersports, RV, marine, and outdoor power.
• Time kills all deals. Why the whole business is built on speed and ease.
• Down payments. The lender would rather say yes, but here is what we need, than make you call back with the customer in the box.
• The deal that walks. A customer comes in expecting 2.99 and lands in the teens. If your F&I person is not ready for that conversation, the deal leaves.
• Give the customer the choice. Do not decide for them that the rate is too high.
• What a lender bench should look like: the captive for the promos, a full-spectrum lender down to 550, something for sub-550, and the extreme subprime shop you hope you never need.
• Why the prequal says "see your dealer" instead of "declined." Nobody wants to stop a digital door swing from becoming a physical one.
• Avoid the avoidable. The list that gets a deal funded the first time: soft pull it first, joint app when there is joint debt, no fat fingers, the real address, the real name.
• The customer who drives three hours is always the one with the stip. Have them fill out the app before they leave the house.
• Repos. Values came back to earth, so the customer who gets repossessed today owes closer to what the unit is worth.
• Why every manufacturer wants a captive now, and why being a lender is harder than it looks.
• Promo rate or cash on the hood. It is almost always an or. Let the customer pick.
• Your rate sheet is two months old. Promos change inside the month. Check the portal on the first.
• Financing used. Same application, switch the unit, no rekeying. The $250 a month customer gets a bike.
• How a lender values a used unit, why the advance is lower, and why custom paint and bags do not add book value.
• Accessories and back-end products on new. The advance is there for prime.
• The one thing to do this week.
• We are happy to be the bad guy. If we said no, there is a reason. Call us and we will tell you why. Sometimes the answer changes.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

Connect with Jon Vestal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonvestal/

Octane: https://octane.co

Roadrunner Financial: https://roadrunnerfinancial.com

Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Here is what mattered in powersports this week, and what each story means for your store.

Two kinds of stories this week. Brands under pressure: Triumph's first dirt bike gets recalled, MV Agusta admits it is hunting for cash, and KTM's newest bike is only as good as the allocation. And two dealers who just proved you can last. Kegel Harley-Davidson is the official oldest Harley dealer in the world at 114 years. Naults in New England is at 118 and started out selling Schwinn bicycles.

The line between the two is simple. The ones that last have more than one leg to stand on. Polaris is building sleds for the military. CFMoto is buying into an NFL stadium. Turn 14 is bringing show-only parts pricing right before the fourth quarter. The lesson for a dealer is the same one every time. New units are not the only game.

This week's rundown:

• Triumph recalls about 1,560 TF-450 motocross bikes in the US. The rocker arm can seize, the valves can break, and the fix is a whole new cylinder head. Twelve reports, one injury. This is the first real test of how Triumph backs its first dirt bike, and the owner is mad at Triumph but standing at your counter.
• MV Agusta says it is restructuring and looking for an outside investor. The statement pushes back on rumors but never says bikes are being built or shipped. What gets shaky first for an MV dealer: new units, parts, then warranty money.
• Why a cheap buy-in on a struggling brand is not cheap if the units never show up
• CFMoto is now the official side-by-side and ATV partner of the Minnesota Vikings. Close to 800 US dealers now. Why a stadium deal means your salesperson is not starting cold.
• Kegel Harley-Davidson in Rockford, Illinois, is the official oldest Harley dealer in the world. Same family since 1912. Retention is the whole game.
• Yamaha's 2027 WR450F. A new model year is a reason to call every owner in your file, and every trade is a clean used unit you sell twice.
• KTM's 2027 690 Rally. The ADV buyer spends on luggage, crash bars, and tires, and rides enough miles to keep your service bays full. The honest question is allocation.
• Husqvarna's 2027 TE300 Pro and FE350 Pro. Why the Pro badge gives your salesperson a step up and why the rider who stretches for it buys the good tires too.
• Naults Powersports has been open 118 years. It started as a Schwinn bicycle shop in 1908 and runs four stores today. Being old is the result, not the plan.
• Turn 14 is bringing buy-ready UTV parts and show-only pricing to the Sand Sports Super Show. Side-by-side unit margin is thin. The money is in wheels, roofs, light bars, and winches. Stock deep now.
• Polaris built a snowmobile for the military. You will never sell one, but it tells you the factory reads retail as soft and is spreading its bets. Smart dealers do the same.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Every dealer says the same thing when the season slows down. We have no traffic. Jason White has counted the traffic, by hand, to check his door counters. His answer: you have plenty. You are just not doing good with it.

Jason has run Fay Myers Motorcycle World in Colorado for 30 years. For the last ten he has also been a GM and now VP of Financial Services at Schomp Automotive Group, the car group famous for one price, one person, one hour. He sits on the board of A2Z Sync. He runs an F&I product agency. And he co-founded One Dealer Lane. Almost nobody has lived both worlds at the top like this.

What we cover:

• Why most deals do not die on price. They die in the gaps nobody is measuring.
• Stopping the clock. The OEMs want fast lead responses. Fast is not the same as good.
• The one rule Jason lives by: you must measure to manage. Foot traffic, internet traffic, phone traffic. He has door counters in sales, parts, and service.
• Why the phone tracking excuse is dead. A VoIP system costs what your 1975 phone costs.
• Listen to your phone calls. Even your best people. If you want to get frustrated, do it on a Tuesday.
• The slow season lie. Peak season is shooting fish in a barrel. The off season shows who follows the process.
• The wait. Why a customer sitting in silence hurts more in a passion purchase than in a car deal.
• The pit pass and the dealership walk. Why they made the process longer and the timing never worked.
• The number one fix, and it sounds too simple: get the paper out of the deal.
• Why powersports pays one seventh of what auto pays for a CRM, and why it is not fair to expect the same results.
• The store with a CRM nobody uses. Some guys on the CRM, some on the DMS, some on a sticky note. How Jason forced the habit.
• The Schomp story. Lisa Schomp went one price in the early nineties, let go of the commission staff, and hired teachers. They went from third to first in market share.
• Forget one price. Think one profit. The lesson from Aaron Wallace that changed how Jason looks at every deal.
• Why Fay Myers still does not run one price, and the 190 Honda motorcycle variations that explain it.
• The line to write down: with transparency you get trust, and with trust you get speed.
• The FTC and the freight problem. Why BMW is the only OEM doing it right, and Jason's warning to an OEM this week about who ends up named in the lawsuit.
• Setup charges that are still based on labor math from the 1980s.
• F&I with no negotiation. Every customer pays the same price for every product. What it does to penetration.
• Retro before reinsurance, and the three to five products every store should carry.
• The digital menu. Three years ago Jason surveyed 100 dealers. Ten had one.
• The one thing to do this week: walk your own deal from handshake to keys and count how many times you type the same customer in.
• One Dealer Lane in sixty seconds, including the 25-year sticky-note salesman who said "I wish you had forced me sooner."

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

Connect with Jason White: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-white-6608b81/

One Dealer Lane: https://onedealerlane.com

Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Here is what mattered in powersports this week, and what each story means for your store.

At BMW, the motorcycle side just out-earned the car side. The bikes made about 230 million euros in profit in the first half of the year. The car side saw profit fall 45%. And here is the part to chew on. Motorrad sold slightly fewer bikes and still made more money on each one. Less discounting. A richer mix. Tighter inventory. The same discipline we have heard from Harley and Polaris.

That theme runs through the whole week. The best used dealers are the ones who turn fast instead of holding out for every last dollar. And the dealers who keep saying yes to buyers are the ones with a deep lender bench, because credit scores on new loans are slipping.

This week's rundown:

• BMW Motorrad profit up 8.5% while the car side fell 45%. Why fewer units and more profit is the healthy trick, and what to tell a customer on the fence.

• Suzuki's first wave of 2027 bikes. The new SV7GX sport crossover at about $8,600, 40th anniversary GSX-R1000s, and refreshed RM-Z dirt bikes. Three different buyers from one announcement.

• Why Suzuki's reservation program is smart. It tells you which buyers are serious.

• Kawasaki recalls about 3,500 supercharged Teryx H2 side-by-sides. A drive part can break and throw metal. Stop riding, free fix, and a reason to get your best customers back in the service drive.

• Club BRP drew more than 4,100 dealers from 81 countries. The new Responsible Rider Masterclass is free safety training, and free safety training is free customer retention.

• Dealer of the Year went to Sheridan Powersports for Can-Am and RideNow Chandler for Sea-Doo.

• Honda opened its 2027 National Technician Contest. $8,000 and a shot at Team USA. Why a tech who feels seen is a tech who stays.

• Used prices are running about 10% higher than last year. Trade equity is real, and it is rocket fuel for a new deal.

• Take every trade, no matter the badge. A Honda store should still appraise the Polaris that rolls in. Wholesale what you do not want to keep.

• One caution on used. Inventory is still high, and if the brands pile on new unit discounts, used values can drift down later.

• Credit scores on new auto loans fell from 723 to 716. More buyers under 580. Why a thin lender bench is how good customers walk out.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Back in May, Mike Murray told us April was the top and the market would bottom out around August. The July numbers are in. He was right.

But there is a new wrinkle. About 6,500 units crossed the block in July. A year ago it was 5,000. That is 30% more bikes at the auction, the most for any July in three years. More supply plus the normal fall slide means a lot of red on the report. Domestic cruisers down 13%. Metric down 10%. PWC down 23%.

Here is the part most dealers will miss. The actual dollars are still at or above last year in most categories. The drop feels worse than it is because spring was so strong. And the lowest prices of the year are sitting right in front of you for the next 30 to 60 days.

Mike walks through where the extra bikes are coming from, why the clean ones still bring big money while the rough ones sit, and what to do with the units you took in too high this summer. He also gives away the pricing trick a dealer shared in a 20 group meeting last week. It works.

What we cover:

• Why the slide came right on schedule, and why 2026 is still a little better than expected
• Where the extra 1,500 auction units came from. It is not repos. Repos are flat.
• More dealers are buying too. NPA saw about 10% more dealers show up this year.
• The three ways dealers use Direct Buy: the trade you do not want, the trade you are not sure about, and the unit that has aged out
• Sturgis: how NPA put numbers on non-Harley trades in a couple of minutes so the sales team could stay on the customer
• Why this is a buyer's market right now. More supply, less competition, and the northern dealers are already thinking about snow.
• The three things that decide what a bike is worth: how wanted it is, what shape it is in, and the miles
• Where the deals are. Clean low-mile bikes still get bid up. The one with a dent in the tank that needs $900 in recon is where the money is.
• The buying window: prices start climbing again in 30 to 45 days
• The unit you took in too high. Mike's answer: holding inventory rarely pays off. Cut it loose and put the money in something that turns.
• The dealer who turns his used inventory five times a year, and how he does it
• The 11,995 pricing trick
• Why clean Harleys keep pulling away from rough ones
• Why side by sides are holding up when everything else slid
• Why PWC fell off a cliff, and why not to panic about it
• Repos: flat, normal, nothing to worry about
• The $10,000 bike that is now an $8,000 bike, and the $1,000 loss that turned into $2,000 because nobody had a plan
• Book values dropping 2% to 4% on September 1, and why that is good news
• Trikes: why the book went one way and the real market went another
• The 60 to 90 day outlook
• The one thing to do this week: go watch an auction for 30 minutes

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit

NPA Market Report: https://www.npauctions.com/cp/npa-market-report

Reach Mike Murray: [email protected]

Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/

Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit

MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Sponsor: https://www.ziidms.com/fixit

Here is what matters in powersports this week, and what each story actually means for your store.

The Dealership fiXit Rundown cuts through the headlines and tells you how the week's news lands on your floor, in your service bay, and in your next conversation with a customer. No fluff, just the stories that matter and the angle a dealer can actually use.

This week's rundown:

• BRP launches its own captive lender, BRP Financial Services, built with Octane. What a factory-owned bank means when a customer sits at your desk to buy a Can-Am, Sea-Doo, or Ski-Doo, and the upside and the catch for your store
• Blackstone's Safe Harbor buys MarineMax, the largest boat retailer in the country, for $1.5 billion all cash. Why Wall Street money moving into recreation tells you what your own store could be worth
• Can-Am reveals its 2027 side-by-sides and ATVs: a ground-up Defender HD10 with 80 horsepower, factory-installed accessory packages, a smoother Maverick R, and big 10.25 inch screens with offline maps
• What is actually working on social media for dealers right now, and why real video of your people beats polished unit photos every time
• The US and Canada tariff fight is back, with new taxes set for September 8th, and why it lands on your sticker price whether you sell north or south of the border
• The FTC and the state of Connecticut hit a Nissan dealer with a $4 million settlement over pricing. Why the same rules are aimed right at powersports and what trips dealers up
• The cheap end of the used market is drying up. A three-year-old vehicle just hit a record price, and what that means for the value of the trade sitting in your customer's garage
• The MIC bought MotorcycleIndustryJobs.com, the main hiring board for our industry, and why staffing is the quiet bottleneck choking most stores
• The profit hiding in your showroom: why how you lay out your floor and your gear wall is a real profit center most dealers treat as an afterthought
• AIMExpo 2027 is locked in for Orlando, March 3rd through 5th, and how to actually get value out of the trip

Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠

Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠

Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠

MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Sponsor: https://www.ziidms.com/fixit

NADA Dealer Connect discount code: MOTOHUNT20

Most industry events are big trade shows where you get talked at all day and everyone is trying to sell you something. DealerConnect is the opposite. It is dealers sitting across from dealers, trading real numbers and real fixes, in a room built for it.

I have been to every DealerConnect since the beginning, and it has a different feel than the big shows. More intimate. More real. This year it runs September 19 to 21 at the Hilton in downtown Columbus, Ohio, presented by AppOne, and it is the biggest one yet.

I sat down with two people from the NPDA, the National Powersports Dealer Association. Tigra Tsujikawa is the Events Director who builds DealerConnect every year. Steve Gotoski just joined as Membership and Marketing Director after over a decade at the AMA. We get into what the event is, what you will learn, and the real reason a dealer should make the trip.

What we cover:

• Why the NPDA is the missing third leg of the stool: the MIC serves the OEMs, the AMA serves the riders, and the NPDA finally represents the dealers who connect them
• What the association does behind the scenes so a busy dealer does not have to, from FTC advocacy to legislation that could hurt your business
• Why every dealer belongs, from a one-person shop to a 300-employee group
• What DealerConnect actually is: education and networking built by dealers, for dealers
• What a day looks like: the schedule, the meals, the AppOne welcome reception, and why the moments in between the sessions matter most
• 20 sessions this year, double the education, covering sales, employees, finance, AI, succession planning, pre-owned strategy, and dealership culture
• The brand new FTC compliance session and why it is the most timely one on the agenda
• Why the room is intentionally intimate, and how less noise means more real conversations and better takeaways
• The NPDA partner ecosystem: insurance, financing, training, and legal partners who get powersports and are there to help, not just sell
• The honest logistics: how to plan your trip and why DealerConnect is worth the time out of the store
• The week-stacking angle: the Harley-Davidson dealer meeting starts the day after in Milwaukee, so DealerConnect ends early to make it easy to hit both
• The education workbook and post-event QR code so you can catch the sessions you miss
• You do not have to be a member to attend, plus a special this year: buy a DealerConnect ticket and get membership for $99
• The big beautiful bill win: how the NPDA helped get a tax write-off for financing interest on American-made powersports vehicles
• Where to register and why the hotel block closes August 28th

Use code MotoHunt20 for a discount on registration.

Service and accessory dealers, contact [email protected] or Tigra directly about a special registration built for you.

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