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Monday 8 November 2021

News Briefs


 

Indian Motorcycle was in 14th spot in Germany in market share terms (1.44%) for the first nine months of 2021, with 1,372 units sold. It does not yet have a model placing in the list of Germany's Top 50 bestsellers.

Vancouver, B.C., Canada based Damon Motors has announced that it will build a cleantech manufacturing and R&D plant in Surrey, B.C. The state-of-the-art, 110,000 sq ft facility is being developed to serve as ground zero for production of Damon's flagship HyperSport, "the world's smartest, safest, fully electric motorcycle."

The Top Mountain Crosspoint motorcycle museum that was gutted by fire in January 2021 is well on the way to a complete rebuild with more than 250 new exhibits planned for a re-opening in November 2021. The highest motorcycle museum in Europe, it sits some 2,200 m (7,200 feet) up at the top of the Timmelsjoch, a high mountain pass that creates a link through the Ötztal Alps along the border between Austria and Italy. Some 200 plus vintage motorcycles were destroyed in the fire, including a significant collection of rare Indian motorcycles.

A 68-year-old Fargo, Nd., man, the son of a former Harley and Indian dealer, recently won the Motorcycle Cannonball - dubbed the world's toughest antique motorcycle endurance run - on a 1911 Harley-Davidson. Dave Currier rode the 3,700-mile, 16-day, 11-State indirect route from Michigan to South Padre Island, Texas, on a bike that had the original engine - including the cylinder, crankcase and carburetor - and rock-hard seat!

Triumph Motorcycles and The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride (DGR) have renewed their partnership for five more years. Described as "one of the world's largest and most stylish charity motorcycle fundraising events," and focused primarily on men's health issues, Triumph has been collaborating with the DGR for eight years, and in 2019 some 116,00 riders raised $6m "by riding dapper together in an amazing 104 countries across the world." A 2020 "Ride Solo Together" pandemic-driven reimagining of the event saw 65,300 riders from 171 countries and 2,531 locations riding solo together, all connected together through social media, for a $4.1m total raised. In 2021 the event moved from September to May.


The name of the Belgium based manufacturer formerly known as Bullit Motorcycles has been changed. The owners decided that a new, future-facing corporate identity was required, one that feels more contemporary to take them in new directions and into new markets. The answer? Say hello to Bluroc Motorcycles. At present, the retro modern brand specializes in small displacement Naked style and Scrambler models, selling mostly in the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and Portugal.

The People's Republic of Montana has become the latest U.S. state to legalize Lane Splitting (Lane Filtering). The practice is restricted to passing stationary or slow moving traffic at 20 mph - in the same direction of travel. Montana is the third state to legalize the practise after California and Utah.

Canadian electric snowmobile and PWC manufacturer Taiga has added former Arctic Cat, John Deere, ODG/ARGO, Hayes and Case/CNH executive Doug Braswell as its new VP of Electrification Operations. The company has also announced the departure of COO Bernard Leblanc, and further expansion at its Shawinigan, Québec production facility.

Two high-profile Southern California Harley dealerships have been sold to Rami Yanni and Wise Auto Group, continuing a series of acquisitions for Wise. Orange County H-D in Irvine and Coronado Beach H-D were both owned by veteran H-D dealership owner Mark Smith, but they now become a part of the growing Wise Auto Group family. In June it was announced that Yanni and Wise were purchasing Victorville H-D. The group also owns Death Valley H-D, H-D of Yuba City, Redwood H-D in Eureka, California and Reno H-D, plus 14 automotive dealerships in total.


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