Devin Battley
| Devin Battley | |
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Devin Battley at his motorcycle dealership in 2013
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| Born |
August 31, 1950 Arlington, Virginia, United States |
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| Website | www |
Devin Battley (born August 31, 1950, in Arlington, Virginia) is an American businessman known for his involvement with motorcycles as a racer and as a dealer. From an early age, Battley enjoyed racing motorcycles and participated in many national championships. He helped to orchestrate Harley-Davidson's interest in Buell motorcycles, and he sold motorcycles to King Hussein of Jordan and Mike Tyson.
From 1981 to 1984, Battley raced in the Battle of the Twins (later, Pro Twins), part of the AMA Professional Road Racing series, as well as:
On March 1 and 2 in 1999, at the AHRMA Classic Days at Daytona International Speedway, Battley took first place in two races. First, in the eight-lap Formula One class, and then in the Battle of the Twins Open class. He was riding a 1998 Ducati 916.
In 1986 Battley, through his friendship with Erik Buell, arranged for Rockville Harley-Davidson to become the world's first Buell dealership. Battley still has Buell #001, an RR1000 Battletwin, in his private collection.
In 1987 Battley smuggled Buell onto a cruise ship for the Harley-Davidson annual dealers' meeting. Battley told Harley-Davidson then-CEO, Vaughn Beals, that Buell could give the company a performance image with no risk to Harley. They set up a table for Buell to speak with dealers and by cruise-end he had deposits and orders for 25 motorcycles. Attendees such as Bill Bartels, Don Tilley, Devin Battley and Frank Ulicki (all ex-racers) went on to become some of Buells most successful dealers.
In 1994 and 1996 Battley sold a collection of motorcycles to Hussein bin Talal, King Hussein I of Jordan. He traveled to Jordan to deliver and test the motorcycles. While there he road across country with the King. A well publicized photo shows the King and Queen Noor riding a black, 1994 XLH1200 Harley-Davidson Sportster that Battley sold him.
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Wikipedia