Success – Rekluse Motor Sports

“Without TechHelp, Rekluse Would Not Exist”
Rekluse Motor Sports

New Product & Market Development
Boise, ID

Dirt bike enthusiast, Al Youngwerth, came up with the idea for the Rekluse z-Start Clutch after purchasing another automatic clutch that had some fundamental design flaws. Al was confident he could create something better but needed help with design, prototyping, and manufacturing to get his ideas across the finish line. 

Project

In 2002, the TechHelp New Product Development (NPD) Lab at Boise State was still in its infancy. Youngwerth had heard of the lab and approached Lab Director Steve Hatten for help. Though Hatten believed the lab was not ready for such a sophisticated project, he relented and paired Youngwerth up with Junior Mechanical Engineering student/employee, Sean Broan.  In less than six months, Al and Sean took the z-Start product from concept and sketches through to full product development, prototype production, and testing, final production, and market launch. The final product was revolutionary, replacing the stock clutch pressure plate that was standard on off-road motorcycles. Al and Sean found local manufacturing help to meet the demand that quickly built for the z-Start product. 

Results

• Continuously increased sales & exports since 2002. 
• TechHelp NPD Employee, Sean Brown, became the President of Rekluse in 2017.
• Rekluse neared 100 employees by 2017. 
• Rekluse continues to develop new products and market segments for beginners, professionals, and road use. 
• Rekluse opened a modern Mfg. facility in 2012.  
• Rekluse experiments with robotic CNC tenders led to the creation of the Versabuilt Robotic Company in 2016.