26/02/2009 by info.

The latest round of the Official World Championship Affiliate Program took place at Benicassim in southern Spain on February 5-8. Winner of the Best in Show title was H-D Shop of Barcelona with their stylish bobber “Milagros”. The margin of victory was incredibly tight, with the winning bike and Nicolas Chauvin’s S&S 50th Anniversary V-Series class winner “Wild Night” only separated by a tie-breaker.

The winning competitor gets a contribution towards the expense of competing at the 6th annual World Championship of Custom Bike Building in Sturgis on August 2-5. The two runners-up win a contribution towards the cost of competing at this year’s European Championship at the Custom Chrome Europe Dealer Show, Mainz, Germany, on March 28-29.

Full results:

Best in Show: H-D Shop Barcelona - “Milagros”
Runner-up: Nicolas Chauvin Design - “Wild Night”
2nd Runner-up: Morlako Kustom - “Baby’s Racing”

Modified Harley : Hard Bike - “La Xata”
Metric : Morlako Kustom - “Baby’s Racing”
Freestyle : Bonneville - “Cashmir”
Chopper : Miguel Hernandez - “Big Bear”
Bobber : H-D Shop Barcelona - “Milagros”
Streetfighter: Nacho Fighter - “Killer Fighter”
Homemade : Elias y Evo - “The Shadow Conspiracy”
Best Paint : Marbella Performance - “Fire Born”

ASSOCIACION LLUNATICA
www.llunatica.org

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26/02/2009 by info.

It has been reported that that Crane Cams’ Daytona Beach factory has been closed down and the employees of the company laid off.

Unconfirmed reports claim that workers at the plant had been told to expect some lay-offs, but that there had been no mention of the complete closure of the facility.

Founded in 1953, Crane became employee-owned in 1979 and was acquired in 2005 by Mikronite Technologies Group, a New Jersey based industrial technology firm that had previously worked with the cam manufacturer.

It is reported that, two years into their ownership cycle, Mikronite sold the primary property on which the Crane facility was located in Daytona to STAG Capital Partners.

It is believed that a 10-year lease was then taken to keep Crane’s manufacturing facility on the site, and that in making that deal it is thought that Mikronite were able to recoup a substantial proportion of the initial outlay they made to acquire Crane.

Always primarily an automotive performance product manufacturer, from the 1980’s Crane enjoyed nearly two decades in which it was also one of the market leaders for cam and related performance upgrades for the Harley-Davidson aftermarket.

It is believed that some efforts are being made to rescue the brand and parts of the product range, but if they fail this could mark the end of the road for an icon of American performance and a business which, as recently as two years ago, employed some 200 or so people.

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