News Briefs

Paris Harley-Davidson (as in Paris, Texas) has set a Guinness World Record for the Most Harley-Davidson Motorcycles in a Parade. The number to beat was 2,404, and the Paris H-D parade recorded 3,497 motorcycles on October 5 with Harley enthusiasts from 48 states, Canada and Europe traveling to the event.

 

Cardo Systems, Ltd. and Ducati Motor Holdings S.p.A. have announced retail availability of its special edition Ducati Red PACKTALK units at Ducati dealers in the USA. PACKTALK products are powered by Cardo's ground-breaking Dynamic Mesh Communication (DMC) technology, allowing up to 15 riders to connect seamlessly and feature Cardo's natural voice-command and sound by JBL.

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are reportedly preparing for their third extended adventure biking trip - riding Harley-Davidson LiveWires from the southernmost tip of Argentina to Los Angeles (6,800 miles), or maybe even Alaska. Back-up will be provided by two pick-up trucks probably carrying DC fast chargers. LiveWires have a range of between 95 and 140 (urban) miles. Best of luck boys!

The 36th edition of the popular Motor Beurs, Utrecht, will take place from February 20 to 23rd, 2020. Regularly attracting over 100,000 visitors - making it the largest motorcycle show in the Netherlands.

Indian Motorcycle was in 14th position in market share terms in Germany for the year to August 2019 with 1,016 units sold YTD for a 1.05% share - up by +9.36% over the year-ago period.

The cause of a fire at an Indian Motorcycle dealership is under investigation, with the owner reporting that damage to the bikes alone could exceed $1 million. Bison Thunder Motorcycle in St. Michael had extensive interior damage from the fire. Owner Doug Kauth reports that there were no injuries in the Sept. 25 fire. The dealership re-opened in an adjacent building ten days after the fire. The dealership also owns Bison Thunder Motorcycle, St. Paul.

 

Norton Motorcycles' founder Stuart Garner has appointed "prominent law firm and corporate adviser Fieldfisher to sound out potential investors". It is said that Garner is looking for GBP £5m to buy parts to fulfil a £26m order book. Previously Norton has relied on Garner's own financial resources. BDN reports that the company's most recent annual accounts to March 2018 show a 20% revenue increase to £6.7m, turning a loss of £201,842 in the preceding year into a £33,701 pre-tax profit.

Harley was in 6th place in Germany in market share terms for the eight months to August 2019, having sold 8,753 units in 2019 so far for a 9.07% market share, one of five manufacturers within 1.4% of each other behind runaway market leader BMW, but well ahead of Suzuki, Ducati, Triumph and Husqvarna. Their top seller YTD had been the Street Bob (1,008 units sold) - the 18th most popular motorcycle in Germany - with the Sport Glide XL 1200X, Breakout 114 and Sport Glide Special also registering in Germany's Top 50 YTD sellers.

KTM Industries AG, which is changing the name of its corporate parent company to Pierer Mobility AG, has signed a manufacturing joint venture partnership with Spanish trials bike specialist Gas Gas owner Black Toro Capital (BTC). The plan is for new models to be developed alongside the existing Trials and Enduro models, with production to be continued at the existing Gas Gas and Torrot electric vehicle facility near Girona in north east Spain (Catalonia). It is intended that Gas Gas branded models will be added alongside KTM and Husqvarna models in dealerships.


Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek