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Tuesday 17 August 2021

News Briefs


 

Dunlop is claiming "exceptional mileage performance" for its new Sportmax Roadsmart IV sport-touring tire - claiming +49% more performance than the Michelin Road 5 GT and up to a +26% increase in mileage over its own Roadsmart III. "The rear tire uses MT Multi-Tread technology with a long-wearing compound in the center of the tire and special lateral compounds on the shoulders for outstanding grip. Front and rear tire compounds contain Hi Silica X and Fine Carbon to increase wet grip and stopping performance. New sidewall construction improves wet and dry handling and comfort."

Harley-Davidson's Pan America is 'selling instantly' upon its arrival at dealerships in USA, according to an MBJ report.

H-D Victorville, Ca., has been renamed Death Valley H-D following a change in ownership. Sales director Matt Ensor is quoted as saying: "We are bringing more merchandise to the store, including additional pre-owned inventory and 180 new motorcycles. The name change was due to the national park being close to our area." The thinking, no doubt, will be that the new name could boost store traffic and make it a destination hub for riders touring the area.

Riders Share has announced that users can now rent adventure and dual-sport motorcycles on the peer-to-peer platform - with the newest models from BMW, Ducati, Honda, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM and Yamaha available for customers to choose from. Motorcycles can be rented on a one-off basis from the site or utilizing a Rider Pass subscription.

UK new motorcycle registrations (MCIA data) were +11.67% (13,981 units) for June and were running at +31.41% for the first six months of the year (54,405 units) as the industry lapped the worst of the 2020 Covid impact registration numbers. Total PTW registrations were +31.35% (57,614 units) YTD. The market share leader in the UK in June was Honda, followed by Yamaha, BMW, Triumph and Kawasaki.

Liberty Hill, Texas based Volcon ePowersports is expanding its operations to another state, with a new 1,500 sq ft storefront located in the RiNo Art District of Denver and a longer-term lease for about 6,000 sq ft elsewhere in the city.

After 16 years of ownership, Crouch Entity, Inc. sold Old Fort H-D in Arkansas to Todd Hickingbotham's dealership investment group - bringing his family of Harley dealership locations to a total of eight in central and the south-eastern U.S. The dealership will stay at its present location but be rebranded as Fort Smith H-D. It joins current Hickingbotham H-D locations Rock City (Little Rock, AR); Toad Suck H-D (Conway, AR); Boswell's H-D, Boswell's Ring of Fire H-D and Boswell's Country Roads H-D (Nashville, Madison and Cookeville, TN, respectively) and Iron Nation H-D (Edmond, OK).

Foxconn and Gogoro have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the expansion of Gogoro's Battery Swapping System and Smartscooters. The Taiwan based giants will accelerate Gogoro's global expansion by utilizing Foxconn expertise to "introduce new levels of manufacturing capabilities and scale for Gogoro." The Gogoro Network is a "hyper-efficient battery swapping platform" with nearly 400,000 riders and 2,100 battery swapping stations that hosts 270,000 daily battery swaps with nearly 200 million total battery swaps to date.

New motorcycle registrations in Spain (ANESDOR data) were down -11.59% for June (18,662 units) but +25.61% (81,900 units) for the first six months of 2021 as industry data lapped the worst of the year-ago Covid impact numbers. Total new PTW sales were +24.47% (90,639 units) YTD. The market share leader was Honda, followed by Yamaha, BMW, Piaggio and Kymco.

Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com