News Briefs

In response to the Brexit triggered exchange rate instability (the GBP has lost considerable value relative to the Euro since the summer), Ducati has announced an average 4.8% price rise on existing models for the UK market effective January 1st 2017.

Pirelli’s Diablo Rosso III has been chosen by Ducati as original for the new Monster 1200/S in 120/70 ZR17 M / C (58W) TL (D) front and 190/55 ZR 17 M/C (75W) TL rear (D) sizes for both versions. The Mk III Diablo Rosso is said to feature a twin-compound construction (rear) with high percentages of silica, racing-derived profiles and a tread pattern that is an evolution of the flash symbol already present on the Diablo Supercorsa.

British Cafe Racer style helmet specialist Davida has updated is popular ‘Speedster’ open-facer with a v3 that sees it receiving dual approval markings – meeting ECER22-05 and DOT FMVSS No. 218.

Following its acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Peugeot’s scooter business, giant Indian conglomerate Mahindra has acquired ownership of the legendary BSA brand as the major players in the Indian PTM market continue to jockey for strategic and brand positioning.

Omnia Racing of Naples, Italy, offers dealers access to a massive range of branded parts and accessories – among them the high-tech Nitro range of shock absorbers and the legendary British made Hagon suspension programme.

INTERMOT say that their 2016 attendance was up at 220,000 visitors. A big part of the increase is thought to be due to the debut of ‘INTERMOT Customized’, the new show-within-show concept that plays host to the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, and saw Hall 10 at Koelnmesse emerge as the acclaimed new international headquarters event for the fast-growing custom motorcycle market. Some 70 percent or more of show visitors are reported as visiting ‘INTERMOT Customized’ – making it the #1 best attended custom bike show in the world.

German motorcycle registrations

German motorcycle registrations +7.33 percent for first ten months

The latest statistics released by the IVM, the motorcycle industry trade association in Germany, show new motorcycle registrations up by +37.22 percent in October at 4,760 units for the month – the best October market performance in Germany since before 2008.

Cumulative new motorcycle registrations for the first 10 months of the year are +7.33 percent at 104,733 units so far – also the best first 10-month market performance in Germany since before 2008, when there had been 97,694 registrations for the corresponding period.
In total powered two-wheeler terms, the market in Germany was up by +28.76 percent in October (7,637 units) and is +5.49 percent for the year-to-date at 149,975 units.
The top selling model in Germany so far this year is the BMW R 1200 GS (6,615 units), followed by Yamaha’s MT-07 (3,224 units), Kawasaki’s ER-6n (2,511 units), with the BMW R nineT now up to fourth best seller (2,370 units), ahead of Honda’s CRF 1000 ‘Africa Twin’ (2,249 units) and BMW’s S 1000 XR sixth (1,827 units).
With six models in the top 20 sellers list, it is no surprise that BMW remains motorcycle sales market share leader in its home market for the first 10 months of the year, having sold 22,861 units for a 15.24 percent market share (down a little from the 22,962 units they sold for a 16.15 percent market share in the first 10-months of 2015).
Yamaha is second with a 13.30 percent market share (19,954 units sold YTD), Honda third with 12.12 percent of the German market (18,175 units), KTM in fourth place with 9.90 percent (14,843 units) and Harley-Davidson, having overtaken Kawasaki for fifth spot, with 7.16 percent (10,743 units).
Sportsbikes have taken 30.43 percent of the new motorcycle market in Germany so far this year (31,869 units), with Enduro bikes the second largest sector at 24.01 percent of the German motorcycle market (25,148 units); so-called “Classically styled” bikes (Naked style models mostly) are the third most popular style of bike in Germany so far in 2016, taking 22.00 percent of the market (23.041 units), followed by “Chopper” style bikes as the fourth most popular sector (12.67 percent, 13,269 units YTD).

SHAD

CB500X luggage options

Barcelona, Spain based luggage manufacturer NAD is offering SHAD brand cases and bags that will increase the load capacity of Honda’s CB500X.

Their SH36 side cases mount with their new 3P side mounting system – an integrated, light and easy to mount design concept. With enough capacity to hold a XXL full-face helmet, they have “an elegant design and innovative shapes”. Its structural frame is said to give more rigidity and seal to make them lighter than other cases of similar characteristics.
For the tank, the small, magnetically mounted SL12 features reflectors and a compartment for Smartphones with touch screens.
The “practical and sporty” SH 39 is said to be the lightest of its class, with an optimised interior volume; all SHAD top cases include the plate and hardware.

NAD  S.L.
www.shad.es

Motorex

Racing Pro 10W/40 4-stroke MX engine oil

Motorex Racing Pro 10W/40 4T Cross is a synthetic reinforced mineral oil that has been developed for MX race use.
Features include high temperature stability and sheer strength, and high-tech additives to overcome the conflicting demands of a wet motocross clutch on the one hand, and the lubrication of a highly tuned and very high-revving four-stroke racing engine on the other.
The Motorex Racing Pro 4T Cross meets all requirements demanded by Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda for the use in their factory machines and motocross bikes.
“But you don’t have to be a works rider in order to use this MOTOREX racing oil“, emphasizes Ronald Kabella, Director Powersports of the Swiss oil refiners. “Any hobby racer will also benefit from the performance of this high-tech lubricant due to the increased engine output and optimised engine reliability”.

MOTOREX
www.motorex.com

MIVV

MIVV power gain options for ‘Africa Twin’

Italian exhaust manufacturer MIVV has a selection of replacement muffler and full system options for Honda’s popular CRF 1000L ‘Africa Twin’.

Back in 1993 the MIVV R&D department developed exhaust set-ups for the ‘original’ XRV 750 ‘Africa Twin’, and now, 23 years later, with Honda having brought the iconic brand name back, like so many long-established aftermarket vendors, MIVV are now offering AT V 2.0!
Two mufflers are available from MIVV’s Sport range - ‘Oval’ and ‘Speed Edge’, with both available in two street legal versions for a 4-option line-up.
All are equipped with a removable dB killer, with the additional option of a “No Kat” tube, also in two versions - one of which is compatible with the factory silencer, the other additionally compatible with MIVV’s own header pipe design.
The top-of-the-line ‘Speed Edge’ features a “crushed” body on the inner side, so it hugs the motorcycle chassis and provides weight savings. It uses anchoring straps and a carbon end cap (3K twill impregnated with special resins to resist high temperatures). The body is in stainless steel, available for the Africa Twin in Steel Black finishes.
Weight savings of more than 6kg are available with up to +2.2hp and +3.4 Nm power and torque gains for the street legal ‘Oval’ with the carbon end cap at 4,600 rpm; with weight savings and increased power of +1.59hp with +2.44 Nm torque for the street legal ‘Speed Edge’.

MIVV S.p.A.
www.mivv.it

ShowZone

UK Dealer Expo, Stockholm, Zurich, Dublin and Madrid headline a busy new year show schedule
 
The ‘majors’ may be over for another year (two years in the case of INTERMOT), but with the debut of ‘INTERMOT Customized’ showing that there is vibrancy on the biggest of stages.
However, the next three or four months now see a number of the smaller European markets and specialty events take their moment in the spotlight as we head into 2017.
The new year kicks-off with the popular UK Dealer Expo at Stoneleigh, near Coventry in England, opening its doors for the 22nd time for three days from Sunday January 15 to Tuesday 17.

With new motorcycle registrations growing quickly in the UK, the past four years are said to have seen an average of 3,800 visitors representing some 1,800 UK motorcycle industry businesses. With research showing that 89 percent of all show visitors are decision makers, with 80 percent of them going there to do business, it is no wonder that a massive 91 percent of 2016 exhibitors said they planned to return in 2017.

The UK Dealer Expo is Europe's largest Dealer specific show. It averages 3,800 visitors, representing some 1,800 businesses, 89 percent of who are said to be buying "decision makers"; at the time of going to press IDN was told that exhibit space is already sold out for 2017, with 6 weeks to go until the show opens on January 15th, 2017

The Expo is some 30 minutes away from Birmingham International Airport and at the heart of the UK motorway network 
www.motorcycle-expo.com
A week later Moto Bike Expo (MBE) will fill four halls at the Verona Expo Centre in northern Italy from Friday January 20 to Sunday 22. A combined custom and ‘mainstream’ consumer expo, “Verona” has seen attendance grow ever since its move from Padua in 2009. www.motorbikeexpo.it
At the end of January, Sweden’s annual show, MC-Massan, returns to the capital Stockholm (26 to 29 January 2017) in its biennial rotation with Gothenburg. www.mcmassan.se
Meanwhile, in the United States, the annual specialty V-Twin Expo will take place at its usual downtown exhibition centre venue in Cincinnati, Ohio (Saturday January 28 and Sunday 29. www.vtwin-expo.com
Billed as “The Only Show of its Kind”, which it is - as the only independently owned and operated dealer show for the Harley-Davidson aftermarket and custom v-twin parts and accessory industry – it is nonetheless a crowded few weeks for motorcycle dealers of all kinds in the United States with the market’s two major parts and accessory distributors holding their own dealer shows in February: Tucker Rocky/Bikers Choice are playing host to their dealers in Texas on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 of February, and just 10 days later Parts Unlimited/Drag Specialties set up shop at the RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 February.

In fact, that weekend are at least three motorcycle industry events in play that we know of, with the annual MCN Show (as it is known) taking place at the Excel Expo Centre in East London from January 17 to 19 www.mcnmotorcycleshow.com and the excellent Swiss Moto being staged at Zurich from February 16 to 19 www.swiss-moto.ch; the following weekend it is the chance for Dutch riders to join in the fun with Motorbeurs, the largest motorcycle show in The Netherlands, taking place from 23 to 25 January at Utrecht www.motorbeursutrecht.nl

Highlights in March and April include (but are not limited to!) the biennial Carole Nash Irish Motorbike & Scooter Show, taking place at Dublin, Ireland, from March 3 to 5
www.irishmotorbikeshow.com; MotoSalon, Prague, March 2 to 5 www.pvv.cz;  Moto Days, Rome, March 9 to 12 www.motodays.it; Daytona Bike Week, Florida, USA, March 10 to 19
www.officialbikeweek.com

MotoMadrid from March 24 to 26 www.salonmotomadrid.com; Tokyo Motorcycle Show, March 24 to 26 www.motorcycleshow.org; InaBike, Jakarta, Indonesia, March 29 to April 1 www.inabike.net; Motorcycle Taiwan, 20 to 23 April www.motorcycletaiwan.com.tw

Öhlins

Kenth Öhlin appoints new CEO

Having bought back 95 percent of the ownership share from Yamaha in 2007, founder Kenth Öhlin has finally implemented a succession plan that will see him hand over day-to-day management of the suspension business he started at the age of 25 years old in 1976. 
The appointment of Henrik Johansson as CEO guarantees continuity - Johansson having been with the Swedish business for over 20 years, most recently as Deputy CEO, with an emphasis on strategic planning and management.
Kenth Öhlin will remain as owner, board member and President and said: ”I am pleased and proud to have had the opportunity to develop Öhlins Racing AB for 40 years. Now is the time to hand over to a leader who can continue the epic journey.
“I myself will remain active in the company as an advisor, and hopefully can continue to contribute with my knowledge in areas such as technical development, sales and racing activities”.
Johansson said: “It’s truly an honour to get this assignment and, as such, the overall responsibility to lead Öhlins Racing AB into the future. I believe that I gained a good knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses, but also understand what we need to develop to maintain our position as one of the benchmarks for advanced suspension systems around the globe”.
Öhlins Racing AB is a privately owned Swedish company. The headquarters and main production site are located just north of Stockholm, Sweden, and Öhlins has branch offices and subsidiaries in Sweden, Germany, Thailand and USA.
Yamaha Motor Europe N.V bought a majority stake in Öhlins in 1987. Kenth Öhlin stayed with the company during that time and oversaw a successful 25-year collaboration that saw Öhlins become almost ubiquitous as a “go-to” race suspension brand during an era in which Yamaha enjoyed unparalleled track success.
With the downturn storm clouds looming, Kenth Öhlin was able to reacquire ownership in 2007. The support from Yamaha enabled the company to develop many of the ideas that Kenth Öhlin had, not least that of the CES valve (Continuously Controlled Suspension System) patented in 1984, and an automotive industry staple still to this day.

www.ohlins.com