Powerbronze unlock the power of the user forum
Despite being established as a manufacturer of quality motorcycle accessories for 26 years, Powerbronze International has always been linked with larger capacity machinery, and has not in the past dabbled in the “learner legal” categories.
The new generation of 125cc bikes out in the marketplace has caused Powerbronze to look at this category in earnest going forwards, as some of these models now offer the end user chance to add custom screens, huggers, eliminators etc as they more closely mirror the look of their larger capacity siblings.
Powerbronze identified Yamaha’s YZFR125 as being a prime candidate for development work, but were reluctant to rush out and purchase a new bike as they would usually do when developing products for more mainstream bikes, as this was a step into the unknown.
To resolve this, Powerbronze joined the user forum that exists on the web for this bike, and asked whether any rider would be prepared to loan them their bike so that new products could be developed on this, and in return the owner of the bike would receive one of each part that was made as part of the process. Needless to say it was not long before a number of volunteers came forward, and a bike was quickly secured and the parts developed.
As well as securing a bike for development, Powerbronze also took the opportunity to ask the riders of this model, via the forum, to decide which parts they actually wanted for their bikes, and the response that came back dictated that they wanted Airflow “Double Bubble” screens, lens covers, a hugger and an eliminator (tail tidy).
Within a couple of weeks, production had commenced on these items, and sales across the range of products now stand at almost 200 units after just a few weeks on sale.
Mark Bentley, Sales Manager for Powerbronze said “it’s a shame that a lot of user forums do not allow manufacturers to join their forums as they consider this to be “spam”, when the truth is that when the manufacturer adopts a responsible attitude, there are rewards for both the manufacturer and the end user”. Since production started, the users had also asked Powerbronze for a modification to one of the items, which again could be made in a very short space of time thanks to the feedback received directly from the end users.