Harley Davidson Buys Dust Moto

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]All right, so some huge news for uh two big brands right now. Dust Moto got Colin and John with Livewire uh freshly announced a uh yeah acquisition uh by Livewire for the Dust Moto brand. So we're excited to hear that. Sounds like a a cool partnership and a good way to uh get Dust Moto accelerated. So, how did this whole thing come to be?

[00:00:32]>> Yeah, I know. super excited and um you know as with any good thing they take time and uh one of the cool things about our industry is that it's a pretty small world and and John and I actually connected probably the better part of 18 months ago just as I would say uh kind of industry uh brethren um connected through the folks that had come through the trenches at Alta and and you know just general excitement about what's possible in in off-road and and obviously John's got a great history um coming up out of similar spaces as Dust with with that crew and um yeah we we hit it off and I think uh Dust's journey has has always been about openness and and connectivity and you know we view success in industry looking like rising tides lifting all boats and and so um when we kind of first got connected I was just really excited to to really see what they're up to and and learn about how the brand's being built and and dive deeper into the amazing product that's uh being developed on their side of it. Really have held the um the LiveWire one and the S2 platform in high regard when it comes to the actual powertrain and and experience that it delivers. And so yeah, about 18 months ago, we we got connected and and kind of hit it off and and started just riffing a little bit about, you know, what we're doing. Um and from there as Dust has been stepping through our milestones building product and and developing out the path towards full commercialization and a much broader distribution. Um we took the opportunity to have you know slightly different conversations along the journey.

[00:02:15]>> Awesome. And John, what does this mean for the the LiveWire brand? Have you guys been been keen to develop the off-road side for for a while or like uh like where is the opportunity here for you guys?

[00:02:32]>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're keen. I think you use the words opportunity, right?

[00:02:36]The the opportunity is the opportunity.

[00:02:40]Livewire, everybody immediately adds the preface of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire. I think the impression is that we're much bigger than we are and you know immense resources and team. Um I think we have an incredible team right but we we have constraints probably maybe not to the degree of Colin or the brand he's mentioned in the rear view but we have them nonetheless. So you know I think the opportunity is the category in the segment we were hard at work first with live wire one you know then it was the introduction of S2 in and subsequent S2 iterations um and and then we really pivoted and and started pivoting towards this opportunity. You guys may have seen it may be familiar or not in the last 12 14 months with S4 Honcho. um we can only do so much, you know, at any given time.

[00:03:31]And so with Colin's progress and his success and I think importantly how it's resonating in the market and and and the I don't know the the energy around it.

[00:03:41]>> Um when he reached out, my background and and my passion, right, coming from Malta and and the, you know, just the the experience of that meant something to me and I think it it clearly it meant something to our leadership team as well, right? So getting to tap into a younger audience, a more energized and and exuberant ridership and and even culture, if you will, means the world, right? And I think it rising tide lifts all boats. So what we've done with Honcho uh and and I think we'd all be remiss if we didn't mention and celebrate Stasic as well, right? This >> right >> really makes like a beautiful platform here. Stac 3 to 12, right? and and Livewire somewhere late 30s, early 40s and up. Uh there's a huge gap there.

[00:04:30]Like you don't have to play chess to see it, right? And so opportunity couldn't say it more succinctly.

[00:04:36]>> Yeah. The the Stasic brand, I'm glad that you brought that up because that feels like that segment is kind of on its own and has seemingly exploded. Like I have, you know, my kids are on a Stasic and you see so many kids and you guys have just participated in Supercross. So you're you're seeing the marketing and it's just like it I I keep joking about like that era of kids are going to be so good at riding because they're learning how to ride a motorcycle at these super super young ages because of the Stasick and um naturally they're eventually going to graduate onto a bigger bike, you know, and it's it's cool to potentially pave a uh a pathway for those kids to to graduate to the next bikes up. So um for sure.

[00:05:21]>> Yeah, that's been watch. would be like not doing our our jobs right for for the industry, for the riders, for the families, for the kids if we weren't asking what comes next from Stasix. So, in many ways, you couldn't you couldn't script this better, right? I mean, I I I don't I wish Colin all the success in the world independent of this having to be the way we do this, but in this moment with the opportunity in front of us, like feels really good, right? And so now you can look at Stasick, you can look at Colin, you can look at Livewire, whether you're a customer or ride or a dealer, you can see it. It just really starts to make sense. It's pretty great.

[00:05:57]>> Yeah. And I think, you know, going back to some of our earlier conversations, um, Tucker, like we talked about the top of the funnel in ridership and how important it is for the general powersports industry to keep getting new riders added into the top of the funnel.

[00:06:13]And what's really exciting is is obviously Stac has been an immense um factor in that and in getting so many more kids able to twist throttle and and you know track stand and get over obstacles without whiskey and all that stuff. It's like really incredible. But at the same time we also have this uh X factor in the form of the lighter wake you know kind of black bikes from overseas and and adding a whole new dose of ridership. And you know, from the beginning, one of the things that we were really passionate about is creating that bridge, sort of the the midfunnel, take these new riders and and turn them into real, you know, powers sports consumers and and long-term riders. And and that was the other piece of the gap.

[00:06:57]like there's sort of this physical gap, right, in terms of form factor and and bike, but there's also this um I would say um uh experiential gap of of how do we get people locked in and instead of just kind of dabbling and and running around the backyard, but actually becoming enthusiasts, right?

[00:07:15]>> Mhm. Yeah, absolutely. I mean the the bike it's one of the bikes that we're most excited about here uh to come out and so u you know hopefully this news helps accelerate it. Is that is that kind of the the mindset behind it? I know Colin it was like uh behind closed doors like a huge challenge to get funding and things like that and so um are some of those alleviated now with this new ownership?

[00:07:41]Yeah, you know, as any kind of it's funny, right? Like externally, I think Dust people think is like similar to what John mentioned about Livewire. Like people like they see the website, they see some of the content in the bikes and they're like, "Man, like I want to come work for Dust. We'll get like, you know, 10 uh cold emails about job applications and says like, "Guys, we're like four or five people." Um, right.

[00:08:04]>> And so it's like a duck, you know, like your feet are just like going crazy under the water, but up top you kind of look like you're just chilling, >> right? Um, and that's the reality about being a startup is um, around every corner you you unlock these awesome product or or customer milestones, but you still have this um, existential threat, which is you got to keep funding the business. And and um, frankly, that's been a full-time job for me in addition to actually building awesome bikes and and getting to customers. And so, um, that's one of the the things that, you know, over the past year in in let's call it capital engineering, right? Like we got to design a long-term um successful sustainable business in addition to just building a product. And and when we were going through that initiative of looking for investors, partners, um, or acquirers, Livewire really resonated for us. And and it wasn't just the fact that there's a larger business that that likely can um you know help fund operations and and get us over the finish line and see the product um you know come to the you know deliver to our customers. But it's also the energy and the belief and the bigger vision behind that um and and frankly the amazing existing resources. So test facilities, engineers, like if there's a sticky problem along the way through manufacturing, like instead of us only being this small core team, even though we're going to be heads down focused on delivering this product still there, now we've got, you know, 20 30 year manufacturing veterans just a phone call away to get us out of that, you know, sticky spot. And that's really exciting.

[00:09:51]And to your point about accelerating, you know, we're going to be now a not having to spend cycles on things like, you know, figuring out if we're going to pay rent, >> but at the same time, which means much more time focused on development. Um, but at the same time, um, we've got, you know, sort of the the extended capability of the the greater organization and and I think that's massive for us. And you know I I don't think the expectation is um you know LiveWire is a public company and and this isn't like you know some AI play that has unlimited funding you know like Nvidia or or OpenAI or something like that like these are pragmatic businesses that are um expected to be run you know prudently and and so we're going to maintain a lot of that really smart decision- making and efficiency and and stuff like that and and but at the same time like It's going to be really nice just being able to focus on the task at hand, which is shipping these bikes.

[00:10:52]>> Yeah. And you're It probably I'm just assuming it frees you up hopefully to focus on that last final push a bit more where you probably need to be focusing instead of, >> you know, maybe some of the >> financial elements and other other things that are maybe a little bit out of your control at this point.

[00:11:11]>> Yeah. That's a the John knows this the after shipping multiple products um the final you know it's it's like 98% of the design and the positioning and experience is locked but like that final two pieces 2% of um just getting it over the line is actually ends up being massive you know and and it gets complex and and you know Elon Musk has called it production hell and all these sorts of things And you know, we we we've been in that the last handful of months already and and having tooling built and test builds and all these sorts of things and working with supply global supply chain challenges and macroeconomic things and um geopolitical and all of the other buzzwords. It's it's a mess, right? Um, and yeah, frankly, being able to just muscle down and focus on those challenges so that we can be expedient in in getting the best bikes built on a timeline that's, you know, great for our customers is is now the number one goal.

[00:12:15]And you know that's I think in terms of a great alignment I I think LiveWire is excited and incentivized to get bikes out in the market um that are high quality, high performance as soon as possible, right? And and obviously that's um that's a a reason why I think Dust was interesting.

[00:12:38]>> Now does the does the timeline shift at all now because of this? I'm sure you know it's been an ongoing question for so many people um that are interested in in the bike. Does this does this affect it and how does it affect it?

[00:12:54]>> Yeah, it it's one of those we've talked about this a bit in the past and you know some of our updates. It's one of one of the challenges of being a brand that's built in public um especially in kind of the modern um marketing environment where customers have a really short attention span. it seems like something drops every day and and people move on and we've had um the challenge but also I think the um opportunity to uh develop a two plus year narrative of how a business is being built and how a product is being built and what goes into making it amazing and and how we treat our customers. And so the reality is um even if it's uh not physically there there is there is a ticking clock because our customers are always just excited by the next thing right um and so yeah we've we've had to manage schedule um especially in the interest of building the right product and a big piece of this next phase for us is really um getting embedded with the greater LiveWire team aligning our standards and expectations. a lot of that will actually be leveling up um beyond where dust has already been in terms of standards, reliability, quality and and supply chain. And so naturally there's going to be a refactor and resetting of you know what exactly the the final launch timeline looks like. The really nice thing though is um with any startup there's always uncertainty, right? Like when you're in in pure startup mode, um it's like we think it's this date, but there's any number of 15 things that can happen in between now and then that that potentially pushes it out. Now I think the number of complexifying, you know, factors um gets reduced, right? and and now we've got a structure that's proven bringing products to market at scale, distributing them into dealerships and into customers hands like there's actually a mechanism there rather than us inventing it along the way and I think that gives a lot more confidence and and consistency once we kind of lock in on that final delivery schedule.

[00:15:04]>> Sure. So, as you guys were embedding with the LiveWire team, are you are currently uh were you guys able to bring the bikes over and test with them at all or have they been able to ride the bikes?

[00:15:17]>> Yeah. um you know, John flag if I if I say anything I shouldn't here, but um >> yeah, >> uh the bikes have been over in Milwaukee um and got in front of the board and and some of the product leadership as a part of the um the opportunity to kind of get a feel for what this thing is and and um it was really I think uh cool for us um to to be able to ship a bike over there and have it kind of live in that storied, you know, kind of environment.

[00:15:45]um there's some really amazing uh really amazing stories and people and and products kind of associated with um Milwaukee and and so that was cool. And then beyond that, we've had internal livewire team actually get down and dirty on the bikes and and um there's some folks that have a great history in dirt and they really helped us um kind of jump in and evaluate like where are we at with this platform? what's possible and and how does it actually fit in to the greater spectrum. Um so I'm really excited by this next phase though. um test like personally I think um John this is an opportunity for us like the engineering and test facilities are so incredible beyond I think what most people can imagine that LiveWire has and and the capabilities there and I'm excited into this next phase to kind of lean in even further and do that and and I think there's actually a really cool opportunity to share that journey with um you know the public as well and and show, you know, what a a top tier um you know, product program looks like cuz that that story really doesn't get told.

[00:16:56]Um I think automotive tells that story really well, but I think maybe um some of the folks actually don't realize what goes into making a a product at the quality that that's currently being made in Milwaukee. So, yeah. So, will you be able to kind of pull the curtain back just given the way that you've approached the the brand to this point or like maybe a little bit here and there? Like, will we see more than than normal?

[00:17:20]>> Yeah, John John and I are going to probably uh jam on this a little bit and and maybe try to break down some barriers, I hope. Um, because I think it's so cool and and you know, that's how we've operated and and I think uh there's some really cool stuff to show.

[00:17:35]I don't know how you think about that, John.

[00:17:37]>> I feel the same way. I mean that and and like you know you being in Milwaukee and and having your bike there, right? I mean if we go back to Harley-Davidson, they had the MX250 in the 70s. You might have seen it in the museum. So I think it >> we're, you know, we're continuing stories that have been told in those buildings. We're doing it our way. You know, both Livewire and Dust way, but there's a >> dare I say there's a legacy there. I mean, there's men and women racing sportsters today in in the desert, right? So >> yeah, I think it's I think it's really cool. I mean, we will put our spin on it, right? It deserves to be told in a in a new way, but um I think both the history and the experiences of the team and the company and and all of the brands here across Harley, Stac, Live, Wire, and Dust, like I don't know. I hope that means a lot to to people that, you know, watch or read or or or you know, experience this as it unfolds because it it it really is unique. Colin was talking about American dirt bikes I think yesterday um and had mentioned a few and and even in my head I was thinking Colin about about Canondale right I mean these brief moments right but >> this this puts it on a on another level and and so there is there's Harley behind this there's Zagwire behind this and so you know Colin's going to be trailblazing with like the ghosts and the in the shadows on his shoulders I think really great ways you know so >> I feel like I remember some Harley-Davidson and dirt bikes at one point like long ago too. Am I am I off on that? I remember that in like a magazine at some point.

[00:19:09]>> It was bright orange bright orange bike.

[00:19:11]Yeah.

[00:19:12]>> Bright orange bike in the 70s. It was it was like the culmination of uh of uh at the time the the acquisition I think of Aramachi right in the X250. And so, you know, Colin had said like coming from Alta, I remember the first time when I joined Harley-Davidson and I walked through the museum and I saw this orange bike that was shades of our Alta color and I was like, man, this is history just kind of repeating itself, you know, a number of times, right? But it's it's really it's really cool. It's it's cool to >> on on my part to kind of be the the shepherd of of those prior parts, you know, and and meet Colin at the door and now now walk through it and bring this product to market.

[00:19:51]Yeah, that's really cool. Um, the like just kind of going back, you're you're talking about Alta Motors. Is there any any carryover from that that will be implemented into this last 2% for Dust or is there anything that can kind of be learned from that experience that can um maybe help Dust or the or the partnership? I mean, I think it's the I I think the the the the carryover is like the spirit and the passion, you know, and and um I've got a team member or two who were with me at Alta on the on the marketing and the creative side.

[00:20:28]Um I mean, I think we're all here and everything we do is from all the people that came before us, right? So, I I there's carryover. I think it's more I think it's it's less about maybe like the hard material learnings and it's more I mean even what Colin was mentioning right like the business of doing business is incredibly difficult and and time consuming and costly and you know you come up with a incredible idea and an incredible platform but you know the dealers service the warranty the community maintaining all of that and keeping it going. So we'll I we're going to do it he's going to do it his way. going to do it our way, right? But but it but that that spirit and I think that passion is still there.

[00:21:07]>> You know, you mentioned the dealer and the service part of uh of this business.

[00:21:12]Would that mean that dust bikes would be available and sold through Harley dealers in the future at some point or Livewire dealers?

[00:21:21]>> Yeah, I don't see why not, right? I mean, we we have a a dealer network and we have a bunch of really great loyal hardcore supporters in in the Harley network. We have a really amazing network of powersports stores that have supported STAC for 10 years. Um, and similar story in Europe. You know, Stacix's an entry now in Europe.

[00:21:43]LiveWire's there. Obviously, Harley's there. So, you know, I think the the opportunity is is to let Colin do his job and and get this product, you know, get it get it to commercialization. And then, you know, the questions you've asked earlier about, you know, cost and savings and opportunity. I think at that moment we step back and we zoom out and we we ask you know what is the right thing to do but yeah we're certainly in those doors today and we have intention of continuing to work with those men and women for sure.

[00:22:11]Yeah, it seems like, you know, obviously the the goal right now is very much hightail bring to market, but you know, I'm I can't imagine you're not looking at this with some opportunity of like, okay, once this project is is done and dusted, no pun intended. It's like, you know, are there opportunities elsewhere within, you know, the the off-road space that you can utilize, you know, LiveWire, former Alta experiences and now now Dust to maybe like broaden the product line or is it >> completely completely right like you started this, you know, talking about opportunity and and I think all of us here, we know those opportunities, right? We know how healthy and exciting some of those categories and segments can be. I I I don't want to speak for Colin. He's he's he's the man here, right? So, I think it's again it's like let's let it unfold and then let's zoom out and see what's chapter two or three or four.

[00:23:08]>> Yeah. Yeah. For us, it's, you know, main task at hand. Like, I think there's an important message to to send to our followers and customers and stuff like that is like we're not getting distracted like Hightail is the thing right now. But, um, >> at the same time, like we're we are playing the long game also, right? Like we we're not making a decision just for the near- term of like, oh, how can we get Hightail over the line and then have to start fresh, right? like we we've always had the ambition to try to make Dust an iconic American moto brand. We, you know, we've talked directly about some of the adjacent segments that are super interesting and and I think um that was part of the chess, you know, for us and making those decisions is if we truly have those ambitions like who's the right partner that can help us um kind of go into those other spaces as well.

[00:23:57]>> Right on.

[00:23:59]>> Yeah, absolutely. It's going to be so cool to see the evolution from Stasic to Dust to LiveWire to Harley, not only for the customers, >> but just in general as an American brand or group of brands.

[00:24:12]>> Yeah. Was that part of it, John, was like I I don't know if it's coincidence or just that parallel that's, you know, Dust is an American American brand and it really honestly fits with your portfolio with Stac and and Harley. Is that was that part of it or just kind of coincidence?

[00:24:30]I think yeah I think I think you know lucky or fortuitous coincidence right um >> sure >> again I I think in the early days and and Colin has said this word a lot in recent months about whites space right and and I think when when Colin approached us it was that it was that opportunity you know recognizing how just incredible this category and the segment is and how much fun these bikes are and that we didn't have that kind of offering but the fact that he's sitting in bend I And and to your point, right, this is these are these are American institutions. It's Yeah, it's it's happen stance, but it's it's fantastic.

[00:25:07]>> Yeah. It just seems like it it just seems very fitting, you know? Uh it seems like an appropriate >> appropriate brand to have in the in the fold.

[00:25:16]>> Yeah. Yeah. We've got I mean, we've got employees in from from the LiveWire side that aren't far from him, right? We've got team members in Oregon and Washington. And so, it's just all of it came to be in like a really incredible way. Cool. So, what happens next? Where are we going?

[00:25:33]>> Uh more more more bike builds, you know, pre-production bike builds, testing, validation, abuse, checking lots of boxes. Um there's probably more ways that we're going to find to abuse things than we would have done previously, which is really cool and exciting. And um also I think one of the really cool things is I you know at a personal level and this is going to be part of my direct interaction with John is they've got a ton of really fun exciting upcoming um activations regarded you know related to the honcho the S4 launch >> and um I think there's a cool opportunity for us to get out into the field mountain of the wild um you know so that people can start to see dust in in some of those environments and and you know kind of share share some of these experiences together out in the wild and and build that excitement. So, um, one of the things we really, you know, are excited to keep doing is is sharing the journey in in the way that we can with our customers and and build off of that. And, um, you know, this is this is probably some of the most interesting fun parts of the process. So definitely a lot more definitely um you know excited to be getting into the thick of more and more bikes flowing and and you know getting under under um you know kind of critical riders to to really kind of finalize this thing.

[00:26:54]>> Awesome.

[00:26:55]>> Yeah, you know was like 24 Tom Cruz left the Paris Olympics on a S2 Delmare. So I think LA 28, right? The target's got to be that Tom Cruz leaves Los Angeles on a dust.

[00:27:09]>> There you go, man.

[00:27:09]>> Yeah, that'll boost sales.

[00:27:11]>> We actually we we already started talking with him about I think we're get him to jump the coliseum or something.

[00:27:16]Maybe.

[00:27:18]>> I bet if you threatened him with that, he would do it. You know, >> it doesn't seem like he knows how to say no.

[00:27:24]>> It would have to be like out the back of an airplane or something, maybe.

[00:27:28]>> Awesome. Well, Rad, guys, thanks for jumping on. like wanted to keep it kind of brief, but just, you know, wanted to uh break the news a little bit on our side and uh kind of hear from the horse's mouth what what's going on. And um obviously we'll be following super close, but um yeah, exciting news and yeah, thanks for taking the time to open the doors a little bit and give us the rundown.

[00:27:53]>> Yeah, no doubt. Appreciate it. Really appreciate the opportunity.

[00:27:56]>> Cool.

[00:27:56]>> Yeah, it's always good to catch up with you guys.

[00:27:59]>> Yep. All right, we'll talk to you soon.

[00:28:01]>> All right, >> thanks.

[00:28:01]>> Take care.

[00:28:02]>> See you.

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