IRL: Indy500: Titan Celebrates 500 With Custom Motorcycle

INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, May 25, 2000 - Titan Motorcycles, the Phoenix-based “Motorcycle of Choice for the Indianapolis 500,” will hit the streets of Indianapolis this weekend with commemorative Indianapolis 500 apparel, merchandise and a bike with serious attitude.

Titan is producing 100 limited-edition “Indy 500” Y2K Gecko Rubbermount motorcycles, available to motorcycle enthusiasts and Indianapolis 500 fans as the ultimate collector’s piece. Titan has already sold 50 Indy 500 bikes, according to company officials.

The Y2K Gecko Rubbermount is the first bike to earn the “Motorcycle of Choice” designation by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As part of the celebration, the winner of the 2000 Indianapolis 500 will receive an Indy 500 Titan Y2K Gecko Rubbermount.

The motorcycle features custom graphics, including the 2000 Indianapolis 500 logo and a striking orange-and-checkered flag paint scheme, and has a 70-inch wheelbase, 34-degree rake angle and polished billet aluminum wheels. The engine is an 1833cc, four-stroke, 45-degree V-twin that generates 112 brake horsepower at 5,500 rpm.

The Indy 500 Y2K Gecko Rubbermount and other custom-built Titan motorcycles will be on display the weekend of the Indianapolis 500 at the Titan Motorcycles display area, located at 16th Street and Georgetown Road across from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s executive offices. Also available are a one-of-a-kind painting and limited edition prints, T-shirts and die-cast collectibles.

The Speedway commissioned world-renowned motorcycle artist Eric Herrmann to create a commemorative painting of the motorcycle for this historic occasion.

Herrmann’s 38-inch by 58-inch acrylic on canvas painting features the mid-section of the Indy 500 Y2K Gecko Rubbermount with the shadowy image of an Indy Racing Northern Light Series open-wheel car hidden on the fuel tank.

Only 950 signed and numbered prints, which measure 25 inches by 39 inches, will be reproduced, costing $250 each. Fifty signed and numbered canvas edition prints are available for $850. The original acrylic painting is also available for $63,000.

Titan Motorcycles and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will sell T-shirts with Herrmann’s Indy 500 artwork at Titan’s display area on Georgetown Road and at some of the Speedway’s Official Trackside Gift Shops during race weekend for $20 each.

For information on Herrmann’s work or to view an electronic image of the commemorative Indy 500 Y2K Gecko painting, go to www.EricHerrmannStudios.com on the World Wide Web.

One hundred die-cast models of the Indy 500 Y2K Gecko Rubbermount also are available. The highly detailed replicas, created by Collectible Concepts Group, Inc. of Doylestown, Pa., are $150 each, with discounts available. For information, go to www.collectmotorcycles.com on the Web or call (888) 801-5544.

Titan Motorcycles started production of hand-built custom motorcycles with six employees in a 2,000 square-foot building five years ago. The company, which has seen sales climb from 181 motorcycles in 1996 to approximately 1,100 in 1999, now has more than 200 employees and a 124,000 square-foot manufacturing plant. Company stock is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol TMOT.

Titan has strategic marketing partnerships with motorsports and entertainment companies such as Indy Racing Northern Light Series team Kelley Racing, Fender Guitars, Playboy, Shelby American, NAPA and NASCAR Winston Cup Series team owner Michael Kranefuss.

-IMS-