In the mainstream news, we have seen no shortage of companies pulling out of business operations in Russia and with Russian-aligned firms, as a reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
That growing economic and financial influence is also coming from the motorcycle industry, as we can count Harley-Davidson and Polaris as joining that list of brands who have made a stand against Russia’s hostilities.
Before there was an Asphalt & Rubber, I spent some time working for the United Nations, prosecuting war criminals from the Balkan and Rwandan conflicts. These we massively devastating events, where neighbors found ways to dehumanize each other and through that process, commit acts that rose to the level of genocide and crimes against humanity.
While those crimes unfolded, the world stood by and watched, and in the case of the massacre done in Srebrenica, forces of good were forced to stand idly by and watch evil perpetrated right in front of them.
My work then at The Hague was part of an effort to correct the wrongs of indifferent nations, who suffered the guilt of not doing more – not interceding, largely because their toolbox of remedies was so limited and complicated at the time.
For the past weeks, I have found myself watching once again as neighbors attack neighbors, and heinous acts are perpetrated against the innocent. It is as deeply troubling this time around as it was before, but it is also different.
The past few days have seen a new front against evil emerge, one that spans outside the realm of politics and non-governmental organizations. In Thomas Friedman’s flat world, economics and business have just as much influence as armies and politicians.
Companies that are willing to draw a line in the sand between profits and people are showing that they can influence the world in new ways, and that we have shared goals of prospering together. This is a new kind of modern warfare.
So, it is warming to see that those in the motorcycle industry who have a voice and influence over the events surrounding them are using that platform, and I am sincerely thankful to see in my inbox today the following open letter from MV Agusta CEO Timur Sardarov, himself a Russian national.
Suzuki’s quest for a team manager is at an end. After a year of searching for a replacement for Davide Brivio, who left MotoGP to join the Alpine F1 team at the end of 2020, Suzuki has finally announced the hiring of Livio Suppo to run the MotoGP team.
Suppo is a very experienced team manager, having set up Ducati’s MotoGP team when they first entered the class back in 2003, and having run the Repsol Honda squad after leaving Ducati at the end of 2009.
The debut of the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 was the headline event from 2021 – with the Bar & Shield brand offering its first motorcycle that truly deviated from the company’s cruiser lineup.
An integral part of Harley-Davidson’s “Hardwire” plan to restructure the company for the future, the Pan America 1250 is a conquest bike for the American bike-maker, with an eye on scooping up some sales from rival European brands.
Was it a success? That depends on whom you ask. American publications certainly seemed to think so, with the Pan America 1250 taking top honors in several of their shootouts last year. Meanwhile, the European press was less-enthused.
We will let you decide if home-team bias, on both sides of the pond, are at play there. For our money, we’d put the Ducati Multistrada V4 S in our garage before the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250, but reasonable minds can easily disagree on this thought.
Shootouts don’t balance the account’s books however, and for the bean-counters, the true measure of a motorcycle’s success is on the showroom floor.
To that end, Harley-Davidson sold just over 2,500 units of its Pan America lineup in the USA last year, according to our Bothan spies.
The house of brands under KTM’s management had a very, very good year in 2021, with their parent company Pierer Mobility reporting a 23% increase in motorcycle sales over 2020’s dismal figures.
The preliminary report doesn’t break-out sales by each motorcycle brand (KTM, Husqvarna, & GasGas), but it does separate out the firm’s bicycle and e-bike figures, which have been used in the past to buoy the marketing team’s efforts.
As such, we can rest assured that today’s announcement and positive progress is real, and not the spin we were getting in 2020, which saw the Austrian outfit taking a first-time dip in sales results in the past decade.
Californian regulators have voted to ban the sale of new gas-powered generators, starting in 2028.
The news comes as part of a larger crackdown on “off-road small-displacement” motors, which includes lawnmowers and leaf blowers, which will become outlawed starting in 2024.
Gas generator have their provisions, which give them an extra four-year reprieve, and none of this legislation outlaws the use of currently owned equipment.
After spinning out the LiveWire brand from the Harley-Davidson name earlier this year, the MoCo is getting ready to take its electric motorcycle company public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Harley-Davidson is taking LiveWire public (with the help of AEA Investors and Bridges Fund Management) through an interesting method called a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which is a method of creating an IPO without going through all the work that such an endeavor usually entails.
Mike Leitner, the man who was brought in to lead KTM’s MotoGP project from the very beginning, is to be moved aside by the Austrian factory.
KTM announced that the engineer and former HRC crew chief – he was crew chief to Dani Pedrosa for most of the Spaniard’s career – is to be moved into a consultancy role.
Although the KTM’s press release does not give an explict reason for the change, beyond a desire to “restructure the KTM Factory Racing hierarchy”, the move reflects a feeling that KTM’s progress toward its objective of winning a MotoGP title has stalled.
“Harley-Davidson delivered a solid third quarter and we have seen many of our Hardwire strategic initiatives perform well, providing encouraging initial proof points of our five-year strategy,” said Jochen Zeitz, chairman, president and CEO, Harley-Davidson.
That is how the Bar & Shield brand’s press release about its Q3 2021 sales starts out. The company goes on to acclaim its sales progress for this year, citing relevant metrics back to this time period in 2020.
For the motorcycle industry, 2021 is turning into a banner year, as motorcycle sales are booming across all segments. So, it shouldn’t surprise us too much to hear of record sales and standout quarters from motorcycle sales reports.
Here’s an interesting one for you though: Ducati sold more motorcycles in the first nine months of 2021 than it did in all of 2020 (which was 48,042 units).
Now granted, 2020 was an abysmal year for selling motorcycles, but even compared to 2019’s figures, the Italian brand is firing on all of its desmodromic valves.
Part of Kawasaki Motors Ltd.’s new direction as its own business entity, the Japanese motorcycle brand has ambitious goals for its near future, as it has announced plans for motorcycles with electric, hybrid, and even hydrogen drivetrains.
The strategy outlines that Kawasaki will debut 10 electric and hybrid motorcycles by the year 2025. That plan also includes the development of five off-road models that will use “advanced fuel” power plants.