November 2024 saw Arctic Cat announce layoffs and a production pause at its Thief River Falls ATV, UTV and Snowmobile facility in Minnesota. The company said at that stage that it planned to restart production in Q1 2025 and stressed that it is not shutting the plant down permanently. However, only a month later parent company Textron stated that "upon completion of limited production runs to satisfy consumer commitments, production of powersports products will be paused indefinitely in the first half of 2025" with the owner looking for a buyer for its entire Arctic Cat subsidiary. This would likely also involve the St. Cloud Mn. facility. Hobbled by excess inventory, Arctic Cat sold to Textron for $247m in 2017. In January 2025 Textron reported 2024 sales of $13.7bn and forecast $14.7bn for 2025. Historically best known as a defence contractor, Providence, RI based Textron additionally owns brands such as Bell Helicopters, Cessna and Beechcraft.
The MRF reports that an important study has been released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) regarding high-visibility clothing. According to the IIHS, "clothing that makes pedestrians stand out to human drivers may make them invisible to automated crash prevention systems." Test dummies wearing clothing with features like reflective strips were invisible to technology designed to prevent crashes. While the tests were conducted using pedestrian test dummies, it's not hard to extrapolate what these findings might mean to motorcyclists. Some bikers choose to wear high-visibility clothing, in an attempt to make themselves more visible.
Based in southern California since 1959, Honda Motor Co. Inc. is among the motorcycle industry businesses that have stepped up to support those who have suffered in the devastating LA fires, donating $500,000 in disaster relief funds to the American Red Cross.
Despite its present difficulties (as a subsidiary of KTM) Varese, Italy based MV AGUSTA is still trying to keep its flag flying - marking the 80th anniversary of its founding as a motorcycle manufacturer in January 1945. Banned from returning to the airplane manufacturing industry in which it had made its name during the inter-war years, the company became a legendary presence on the racetracks of the 1950s and 1960s. MV has an unmatched record of 75 world titles to its name (38 riders), the first MV Agusta-branded motorcycle was officially launched in the fall of 1945 and went down in history as the MV 98. Count Domenico Agusta had a knack for selecting the best riders, many of whom became motorcycling legends: Franco Bertoni, MV Agusta's first rider, followed by Arcisio Artesiani, Carlo Ubbiali ("The Flying Chinaman"), Leslie Graham, Cecil Sandford, Fortunato Libanori, John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Gianfranco Bonera, Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read. The partnership between MV Agusta and Giacomo Agostini remains one of the most famous in motorcycling history: during his MV career "Ago" won 13 world titles, 18 Italian championships, and 10 Tourist Trophies, becoming the most successful rider in motorcycling history.
December 2024 saw Senators James Risch (R-ID), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Ted Budd (R-NC) introduce the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) Full Funding Act of 2024 to correct inadequate annual program funding - increasing it from $84m to $281m. The AMA helped create the RTP in the early 1990s. It uses federal gasoline tax revenue attributed to motorized off-highway recreational vehicles (OHRV) to fund, develop, and maintain trail infrastructure across the USA. As of 2023, the program has awarded over $1.6bn to over 25,000 trail projects across the US over the three decades - despite the fact that OHRV enthusiasts have paid nearly $9bn in gas tax during the same period. As at late January 2025, it is unclear whether this is one of the $2tn of Federal funding streams that have been suspended pending review.
Brembo preliminary results report revenues "stable" at € 3,841.2m with EBITDA at € 661.6m (17.2%). The results are in line with market guidance.
