Bosses of pocket-sized Braaap Motorcycles say the future is bright despite facing fraud and rebirthing charges.
Braaap GM Toby Wilkin, 33, and founder Brad Smith, 29, say they will fight the charges of “rebirthing” 85 motorcycles, brought by the NSW Property Crime Squad.
The case was mentioned again in a Sydney court this week and deferred to December 13 for mention for the third time.
The defendants are unable to comment about the proceedings or any details that relate to the case while it is before the courts.
“I can’t comment about the future of the case, but I can say that we will be fighting the allegations and will give our information in due course,” says Toby.
“The future of the company is bright. While we had a lull in sales during the July month mainly due to some speculation that was looming prior to allegations, I can report that sales have been solid in the months of August and September outdoing the previous year.
“We have a strong plan for the future and we have already started implementing this and will continue to over the coming months with new models set for release in early 2017.”
Braaap is currently running discount specials on run-out stock of their 2016 year models gearing up for 2017.
“Two out of the four models are now sold out and the others will most likely be out in the next few weeks,” Toby says.
The Government has suspended identification plate approvals for four of Braaap’s motorbikes because of noncompliance issues, while a suspension against Braaap’s ST250 has been lifted
In 2005, at the age of 17, Brad sourced factories in China to make bikes to his specifications.
He was named 2008 Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Tasmania’s Young Australian of the Year in 2010 while the company won the Australian Retailers Association’s Small Business of the Year four times.
Braaap experienced sales growth last year of 400%, including international markets.
Earlier this year Braaap issued a safety recall of about 200 bikes over the absence of stickers and stamps on the exhaust and other parts.
Toby referred to it at the time as a “glitch” in their internal auditing process.
“We’re fairly young in the industry as we’ve mainly done dirt bikes and only done road bikes for the past three years with a lot of growth,” he told Motorbike Writer.
“We’ve made a change in the checking and quality assurance and are now making sure everything is spot on.”
