INDUSTRY 411

INDUSTRY 411 HMF RACING

ATV WORLD Magazine sits down with HMF

There is a lot of history to HMF Racing, much you may not have known. According to the paperwork, HMF originated in 1997 in Cleveland, Ohio. However, it technically started in 1947 when its founder, Hans Luenger and his wife, Annelie Luenger fled Germany during WWII.

Hans learned to fly in Adolf Hitler’s Youth Corps. He soloed a glider at age 14-1/2 and, at the time, had 1500 hours in motorless aircraft. During WWII, he was a lieutenant in the German air force and flew transport planes for the German army. During an operation, deception forced him to land with 70 other German pilots on a German base held by Americans. All of them were taken prisoner and held for 18 months.

At the age of 24, Hans escaped, gathered his belongings with his wife Annelie and hitched onto a boat, west-bound for Canada, where they spent two years learning English and studied for their naturalization tests. Through resiliency and adversity, they made it to the United States in Cleveland, Ohio, where they set up shop.

Current owner, and son to Hans and Annelie, Hans was born in the United States. He started his engineering career early, working alongside his father, building, and repairing airplanes at the curious age of five. Sometime in 1967, his father and partners decided to build the first fiberglass sailplane in the U.S., known as Project Beta.

Project Beta was a 55-foot self-designed sailplane with a sleek new fuselage it took five years to build and the young Hans worked beside his father changed the aileron drive on a Ka-7-type to an internal drive system while holding the pan as he tirelessly built the fiberglass body. Those days were the foundation for everything the young Hans would create moving forward.

One of the passions of the younger Hans was racing. He caught the speed bug in his twenties and realized that the performance on his motorcycles and four wheelers had more to give then what was there and this is where his engineering background kicked in.

The first exhaust

In the 1980s and ‘90s, I worked as a millwright designing and building mills and maintaining mil machinery for PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass). Recently after purchasing my home, a company-wide layoff at PPG occurred. Needing to make money quickly, I started customizing motorcycles, building custom parts and got myself into road racing. Some of the performance pieces I was making began to get noticed by racers, increasing the demand for parts.

The word quickly spread, making its way to New Jersey where Fast by Ferracci owner Evaldo Ferraci had his shop. Through several contacts, HMF started building the race systems for the 916’s that Fast by Ferraci raced in the AMA SuperBike Circuit. For the first two years, HMF did a private labeling for Ferraci, which proved to be the leg that got the company off the ground.

HMF (Hans Motorrad Factory) Engineering was created in 1997 and developed their first exhaust line for the Honda RC-51 and Suzuki GSX-R motorcycles. The demand for these performance exhausts catapulted HMF to create more highperformance aftermarket exhausts for motorcycles. During the “four-wheel revolution,” they started developing exhausts for the Honda 400EX. The aggressive, deep sound of HMF exhausts was absolutely what the off-road demanded.

In 2002, a young man named Johnny Gallagher Sr. came into the shop and filled the powers to be at HMF in on the offroad racing world. By 2003, Johnny introduced HMF to some of the top racers in the off-road world, quickly teaching them, the ins-and-outs of the race game. That same year, Hans met the infamous Mike Penland and joined his team to race the Baja 1000. In 2005, they won their class in the Baja 1000, only after two years running together.

In 2014, HMF saw another off-road revolution through the side by side world. Racing would forever change, and the aftermarket parts demanded changed right along with it. With years of experience under HMF’s belt, they dove headfirst into research and development. Racing out west in the Mint400 and Vegas to Reno gave them the knowledge to win the Baja 1000 again in 2018 in the Prop unlimited Turbo Class.

Today, HMF Engineering has fifty employees and has products for over 130 off-road models with over 17,000 individual exhaust skews. Other products that HMF offers is front and rear bumpers, rock sliders and spare tire carriers to list a few.

ATV World had the opportunity to catch up with HMF Racing’s Creative Director Lance Drew to ask him a few questions.

What is the best-selling/most popular product that HMF Racing offers? Why?

Our off-road exhaust systems are the most popular, there are custom colors and end caps to customize it the way you want. Not to mention the deep, aggressive tone which makes the signature sound of the HMF exhaust sound. We offer hundreds of different ATV and UTV models that have been proven on the racetrack.

What makes your stuff better or different from other similar products in the industry?

Our color customization on exhausts and bumpers and the incredible exhaust sounds. Our exhausts and bumpers are extremely durable protective.

When riders buy your product, they want to make sure it works, how do you test your products?

We do a lot of heavy testing to make sure what we put out is the best. We test our products by utilizing engineering testing practices in combination with using our sponsored riders who have never been known to take it easy on equipment. Simple said they test the products to their max. Our products will work and stand up to punishment, there are around 4000 racers around the world that use our products.

What’s the best way to purchase HMF Racing products?

The best way to order our products is from our website -HMFracing.com

Do you offer and type of warranty or guarantee?

We offer some of the best warranties in the business with 2 years on our Exhausts and 1 year on our equipment. You can visit our website for a complete list. www.hmfracing.com/support/ warranty

What new HMF product are you most excited about? Why?

The HMF Equipment lineup, featuring bumpers and accessories. hHps://www.hmfracing.com/equipped

Tell us something about the company that you wish more people knew.

We are known for our exhaust, but our Equipment and bumper lineup is something that everyone needs to know about. We’d also like everyone to know that we are a big supporters of smaller riders which the heart of the industry not just the top Pros.

In ten words or less tell us why someone should do business with HMF Racing?

HMF is a leading manufacturer of off-road exhaust systems and protective equipment. Our decades of experience has established our reputation as one of the most sought-after performance parts in the industry. This makes us a go to source for riders looking for the most.

What is something you are sure to find inside HMF headquarters lunchroom? Fridge?

You will definitely find pizza from the Ohio Pizza Co. and some Slim Jims. After hours you may or may not find some Coors and Bud Lights in the back.

Where is your office’s favorite place to ride?

We have a few places that we like to ride at. The Hatfield and McCoy trails is great spot in West Virginia with lots of trails of all different kinds and great lodging. We also like TexPlex a lot as Cody and Hunter Miller are big players and we are strong supporters of them. Mid-America is another one of our go to places, they’re great people to work with

What’s next for the company?

We are looking to expand the HMF brand as the Powersports central for aftermarket parts. Our 20+ Years in business has catapulted us to a new level.