To mark its 110th anniversary last year, Harley-Davidson held a rally last summer in Rome, at which it presented two Big Twins, one a 2013 Dyna Super Glide, to the Pope. Not known as a weekend warrior, Pope Francis signed the gas tank “Francesco” (perhaps his Harley chapter name?) and sent it to be auctioned, with the proceeds going to Caritas, a Rome-based charity. Sold at Bonhams’ Paris auction (to a European bidder) in early February, the bike far exceeded pre-sale estimates, raising €210,000, making it the sixth most expensive motorbike ever auctioned.
___
Triumph Motorcycles America Ltd has announced a recall of certain 2013 Trophy SE models on which a design flaw may result in the left-hand centre stand mount being subject to fracture. The company is also recalling 2,800 Tigers and Trophys for an ECU fix.
___
BMW has announced a recall of more than 50,000 motorcycles in the United States (affecting 18 different model types/ 7 model years) for a potential fuel pump leak. A similar recall in Canada affects more than 6,000 bikes.
___
A year after being bought from BMW by KTM majority owner Stefan Pierer, Husqvarna has opened a new 15,000 square foot facility at Murrieta, California. Having radically
re-engineered the plans that BMW had for the Marque back to a complete motocross line-up, the company completed relocation of manufacturing from Italy last year and unveiled an all-new Mattighofen, Austria built Husqvarna line-up at an opening weekend bash that included some 300 US Husqvarna and several legendary former Husqvarna riders such as Dick Burleson, Malcolm Smith and Mark Blackwell – nowadays a senior executive heading up Polaris Industries’ motorcycle manufacturing activities (Victory and Indian) and recently elected chairman of the MIC.
Following news last week that Yamaha have confirmed that they will again exhibit at AIMExpo (Orlando, October 16-19, 2014), Tucker Rocky, one of North America’s largest parts and accessory distributors, has also confirmed its confidence in the future of the exhibition by announcing an expanded presence this year. Now slated as a 4-day joint industry/consumer event, Tucker Rocky VP Marketing Hank Desjardins said that “AIMExpo addressed a void in this industry that was long overdue”. The organisers say that they already have 200 exhibitors committed to this year’s second annual event.
____
Kawasaki has announced a 10,000 Thailand-manufactured dirt bike recall in the United States because of a potential fuel leak between the tank and the fuel tap. Affected models are 2010 KLX110CAF/DAF, 2011 KLX110CBF/DBF and 2012 KLX110 CCF/DCF recreational off -highway motorcycles.
____
Suzuki’s financial data for the first three quarters (9 months) of its 2013-14 fiscal year reveal that despite a reported 13.1 percent decrease in motorcycle sales volumes worldwide, North American sales are holding up relatively well. At about 32,000 units, they are only slightly below the level achieved in the comparable year-ago period, and thanks to favourable exchange rate changes, their North American motorcycle sales revenue was actually up at 28.2 billion Yen ($275.7 million) from the 23.9 billion Yen reported for the first nine months of 2012-13.
