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BMW Motorrad Sales Up 21% in Q3, But Down 5% for the Year

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2020 continues to be a tough year for motorcycle sales, though it comes with the silver lining that brands have seen a strong summer and early fall in terms of customers buying bikes.

Today, we see early sales numbers from BMW Motorrad typifying that trend, as the German brand is reporting big gains for Q3 2020, to the tune of 20.9% (52,892 units sold to customers).

That good news is tempered by the bigger picture though, as BMW Motorrad is still off the mark for the year so far, having sold only 129,599 motorcycles in the first nine months of 2020 – a 5.4% drop compared to this time last year.

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News

Dainese Acquires TCX to Bolster Footwear Business

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Italian motorcycle apparel manufacturer Dainese has acquired Italian motorcycle footwear producer TCX.

The move is an interesting one for the Dainese Group though, especially when it will come to merging the TCX lineup into Dainese’s own.

The stated reason behind the acquisition is that Dainese bought TCX in order to bolster its footwear lineup, with the goal of the Dainese Group to offer a truly head-to-toe range of products (for those who don’t know, the Dainese Group includes helmet maker AGV).

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News

Polaris & Zero Team Up on Electric ATVs, Side-by-Sides, & Snowmobiles

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Polaris Industries and Zero Motorcycles have inked a 10-year deal that will see the two American companies partnering on electric ATVs, side-by-sides, and snowmobiles (but not motorcycles).

While the 10-year duration might be an ambitious commitment, we do expect to see the fruits of this partnership to debut in just a year’s time, with the first model from this partnership expected to come in 2021.

The plan is for Polaris to develop, manufacturer, and sell electric powersport products that use Zero’s drivetrain hardware and software components.

This gives Polaris a jump on electrifying its fleet of vehicles, while it gives Zero some much needed cash from selling drivetrain systems.

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News

Lending Platform Octane Acquires Bonnier Motorcycle Group – Cycle World Will Stop Printing in October

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The rumors of the Bonnier Motorcycle Group (BMG) being for sale have been ongoing for a while now, but now they have finally come good, as Octane has been named as the buyer of BMG.

For those not familiar with Octane, it is a part of Fintech, and it operates as a portal for financing loans to powersports buyers. Why does a lending house want to buy C​ycle World, Motorcyclist, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, UTV Driver, ATV Rider,​ and ​Cycle Volta?

Octane CEO Jason Guss perhaps says it best in the company’s joint press release with Bonnier Corp.:

“We are acquiring these titles because we want to support brands that get people excited about powersports. Our goal for this acquisition is to ensure that unbiased product reviews, rigorous and objective testing, and informed storytelling​ will continue to be available to powersports enthusiasts.”

“When combined with Octane’s financing platform and dealership partners, consumers will soon be able to go directly from researching their dream vehicle to owning it, in a fast, seamless process.”

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Bikes

The New Honda CBR600RR Will Not Be Coming to the USA

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Sad trombone. The new Honda CBR600RR that we have been so excited about is destined not to come to US soil, American Honda has told us.

As we knew already, the 2021 Honda CBR600RR would not be coming to the European continent either, making the 600cc supersport a rather odd duck in terms of where it will be for sale.

Honda has confirmed to Asphalt & Rubber that the new CBR600RR will come to the Japanese market, and perhaps some other select Asian markets, primarily for racing homologation purposes, meaning it likely will be made in a small production volume.

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News

Ducati Sales Down 24% Worldwide for Q2 2020

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As more quarterly reports come in, we continue to see the trend that the global motorcycle industry is down by double digits for the year, and today’s numbers from Ducati Motor Holding continue to show that trend.

Reporting a 24.2% drop in sales worldwide for the first half of 2020, we also learn that Ducati sales were down 24.6% for Q2 2020.

While those numbers are nearly identical, diving into the model segments and quarterly results provides some intriguing data.

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News

Harley-Davidson Q2 2020 Sales Take a 27% Dive in the USA

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The second quarter sales results for Harley-Davidson are in, and once again the American brand is seen floundering with its sales, not only in the United States, but also abroad.

For Q2 2020, Harley- Davidson sees its American sales dropping by 27% compared to Q2 2019 – the same can be said of Harley-Davidson’s worldwide sales for the same time period, which fell by the same percentage.

Added to the already lackluster results from the first quarter of the year, Harley-Davidson sales have sunk 22% for the first-half of the year, with worldwide sales diving 23% so far this year, compared to last.

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News

Harley-Davidson Letting Go of 700 Jobs Worldwide, CFO Steps Down

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Harley-Davidson has taken another step forward with its “Rewire” plan, as CEO Jochen Zeitz is set to cut 700 jobs from the company worldwide, with 500 employees expected to be cut by the end of the year.

As a result of this news, the company’s current CFO, John Olin, is stepping down from his role effective immediately, thus ending his 17-year tenure at the Bar & Shield brand.

Replacing Olin as the interim-CFO at Harley-Davidson is Treasurer Darrell Thomas, who will hold the spot while the motorcycle manufacturer looks for a more permanent replacement.

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News

Adrian Morton Out as Design Director for MV Agusta

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A bit of a shakeup coming from Italy this week, as we get news that Adrian Morton will no longer be MV Agusta’s Design Director – working out of the Castiglioni Research Center (CRC) in Rimini, Italy.

Ending 20 years of work at the Italian brand, the news is surely to come as a disappointment for fans of MV Agusta, as Morton was the man behind the styling of the MV Agusta three-cylinder lineup, including the highly regarded F3 supersport and Brutale naked motorcycles.

Morton was also responsible for the Turismo Veloce, Rivale, RVS #1, and most recently the Superveloce 800, Brutale 1000, and Rush 1000. He is also known as the man behind the lust-worthy designs of the Benelli Tornado and Benelli TnT motorcycles.

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