Easton & Easton, a personal injury law firm, analyzed critical statistics in each U.S. state, including the number of fatal motorcycle accidents, the rate of fatalities among registered motorcycles, and the impact of impaired driving. Data was gathered from the NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). According to the report, Texas was ranked the second most dangerous state for motorcyclists, second only to Hawaii. Fatal motorcycle crashes account for 14.07% of the state's fatal motorcycle accidents that are attributed to the state's road networks. In 2022, 574 people in Texas died in motorcycle-related crashes - averaging 14.56 fatalities per 10,000 registered motorcycles. Almost half of drivers involved in these fatal accidents were speeding, while 44.99% were under the influence of alcohol, the report states. Missouri was third worst, followed by Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, South Carolina, Oregon, Arkansas and Delaware; www.eastonlawoffices.com
Comoto Holdings, encompassing Cycle Gear, RevZilla, J&P Cycles, and REVER brands, has partnered with the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) to further the Ride With Us initiative, a nationwide effort to introduce more people to the joys of motorcycle riding (PSB); www.mic.org
Data from the Mexican Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers and Importers (AMFIM), shows the Mexican motorcycle industry achieving record-breaking sales in 2024, with 1.85 million units sold (+7.7%) with brands such as Honda, Bajaj, BRP, and BMW selling strongly. It is reported that motorcycle imports totaled USD $577.5m in 2023, surpassing automobile imports. PSB says that projections suggest these figures could be matched or exceeded in 2024. Motorcycle sales have consistently outpaced those of cars in Mexico since 2022. Asian motorcycles topped Mexico's import market, with China accounting for 46.5% of its imports. India followed with 21.2%, Germany with 9.2%, the United States with 4.2%, and Thailand and Japan with 4%; www.amfim.mx
Finland based electric vehicle manufacturer Verge Motorcycles broke the Guinness World Record for the longest journey by an electric motorbike on a single charge - a Verge TS Pro traveling more than 192 miles in London in March. The trip lasted for just over 16 hours and took the riders through suburban areas inside London's notorious M25 ring road; www.vergemotorcycles.com
San Jose H-D (Cliff Chester) has been acquired by the owners of another SF Bay Area dealership - Oakland H-D (Mike Genthner and Jess Bettencourt).
The National Powersports Dealer Association (NPDA) has announced Sept. 21-23 as the date for its 2025 'Dealer Connect' education and networking conference at the Hilton Columbus Downtown in Columbus, Ohio; www.npda.org
Provisional figures from Pierer Mobility, KTM's Austrian parent company, say that it lost some € 1.2bn last year (approx. $1.35bn). PM's preliminary estimates stated that sales were down -29% for FY2024 at € 1.9bn, from € 2.7bn in 2023. Net debt is estimated at €1.643bn. The company cut 874 employees in 2024 and laid off another 750 in Q1 2025. Motorcycle sales in 2024 were 292,497 units, with 60,000 of those sold by Bajaj. It will exit the bicycle and e-bike business entirely, with the Husqvarna and GasGas e-bikes unit being sold-off. As a result of the haircut that KTM vendors had to accept (dumping some 70 percent of what was owed to them) PM says that it anticipates something in the region of a € 1.3bn 'Restructuring Profit' in balance sheet terms for 2025 restoring it to a "high three-digit million range" positive equity figure. Meanwhile, there are reports that KTM will not in fact be able to make the required € 600m payment to cover the 30% of vendor debt as required under the terms of its insolvency court deal and, as widely anticipated, the re-start of production ground to a halt after only a couple of weeks due to supply chain issues - reluctant vendors not shipping parts and other issues. Did someone say "smoke and mirrors?"
Citing the dire impact of California's intended ban of internal combustion engine vehicles, an April 2 SEMA news release said that a coalition of 335 small businesses urged U.S. House of Representatives and Senate leadership to put an immediate stop to the implementation of the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulation; www.sema.org
In late April, Bloomberg reported that the Indian government is considering eliminating its tariffs on motorcycles with displacements over 750 cc. India is the world's largest motorcycle market, having overtaken China some years ago as China implemented motorcycle bans in many major cities as part of a range of congestion management initiatives(!). It is reported that 2024 Indian market sales topped 18 million units.
