DUMPSTERThis is where threads go to die. Old threads are moved here (and displayed in reverse order) before they're forever deleted. While they'll most likely not be moved out out of the dumpster -- those posted to will gain a short reprieve of a month or two. Obviously no threads are to be started in this forum.
Donations of any size will help to defray the enormous legal costs from a lawsuit filed against the administrator of OldHippie.com, by what many refer to as a "Copyright Troll" law firm, for the posting of a TSA "Pat Down" photo they had bought the copyright rights to, after the photo was posted on this site, and then removed.
Crane Cams auctioned off
By BOB KOSLOW
BUSINESS WRITER
DAYTONA BEACH — About 100 registered bidders showed up today, with many others watching on line, to buy machinery, equipment, parts and pieces, inventory and the intellectual property in Crane Cams’ liquidation sale.
Doesn't really sound like the end, maybe just a new chapter.
Larry T
Finally, after much to-do the liquidation of the Crane Cams property in underway - just two hours ago the intellectual property rights were sold at auction for $1.2 million. The purchaser is undisclosed at this time, but they were a group of 4-5 men with highly a highly organized plan of attack, each guy had volumes of printed material, one of them had a laptop running with an air-card, etc. The actual buyer was undisclosed, but several members of the group seated together bidding were identified to me as former directors of Crane Cams in the pre-Mikronite era. After purchasing the intellectual rights, this same group of gentlemen purchased all of the current inventory on hand, as well as the raw materials, and work in process. The then began purchasing equipment, very selectively I will add, and were the high bidders an every item they bid on with what seemed to be no regard to price. They did not purchase any of the older cam grinding equipment, but did pruchase most of the precision equipment that was selling in the early lots.
Also of note: Representative of Scorpion Performance were on hand, and after much press online about aquiring Crane Cams they ended up bidding $1m for the entire contents and assets of Crane Cams. That bid was defeated as the very next lot # was the intellectual rights alone, and those sold for the previously mentioned $1.2m. The Scorpion reps departed the bidding area shortly thereafter.
Hum,
Lance Harris is also listed as the President and CEO of Mikronite, the parent company that shut Crane down.
.......... a bidding team of former Crane Cams CEO Lance Harris and Wisconsin-based S&S Cycles outbid the total by purchasing Crane Cams’ patents and trademarks for $1.2 million. The team also bought the parts inventory for $215,000................
Viola, Wisconsin. S&S Cycle announces the acquisition of certain assets of Crane Cams Inc. Those assets include the inventory, intellectual property, and trademarks for all Crane automotive and motorcycle electronic products and for Crane motorcycle valve train products. The intellectual property portion includes designs, drawings, and cam profiles. Crane automotive valve train products are not included in this acquisition. Crane Cams was founded in 1953, and like S&S Cycle, founded in 1958, it has become a respected and iconic brand in the high performance industry.
S&S intends to continue to sell Crane products through the same distributors and dealers who have sold them in the past. To that end, they will establish a new facility in Daytona Beach, Florida to manage the business and provide customer service and technical support. This new facility will be staffed by many of the same personnel that Crane customers have worked with in the past, providing as seamless a transition as possible. While there may be some shortages of product in the near future, the Crane/S&S team will be working hard to fill back orders and meet future demand for Crane ignitions and motorcycle valve train components.
Since the acquisition does not include the Crane facility or equipment, manufacturing of valve train products will be moved to the S&S manufacturing facility in Viola, Wisconsin. S&S CEO George Smith comments: “The addition of this product line is a natural fit for our current in-house cam manufacturing capabilities as our equipment and processes are state of the art. We’re also excited that the highly successful Crane motorcycle and automotive electronics line is included with this acquisition. This will further strengthen S&S Cycle in the electronics field by providing additional expertise to improve our product offerings in late model ignitions, among other things." S&S Cycle has been a leading manufacturer of Proven Performance v-twin motorcycle components and engines for nearly 50 years. George Smith and Stanley Stankos founded the company in 1958 in Blue Island, Illinois. Shortly after the founding of S&S, George, and his wife Marjorie (whose maiden name was also Smith), bought out Stanley Stankos and Smith & Stankos became Smith & Smith (S&S). In 1969, S&S moved from Blue Island to Viola, Wisconsin and expanded to La Crosse, Wisconsin in 2004. More information can be found at www.sscycle.com).
RIP Crane Cams 
Linear Mode
