Metisse Motorcycles owner Gerry Lisi is to build a new 1,850 sq m factory and museum at his present Oxfordshire headquarters in the UK. Industry icons Don and Derek Rickman broke ground on the new facility at a ceremony in November. The plan is for the licensed McQueen replicas to be handbuilt alongside the recently announced MK5 framed 1000 cc parallel twin.
Motorcycle Live in the UK in November saw Norton unveil two prototypes of its planned Norton Atlas - the Nomad and the Ranger naked style Roadsters. The 84 hp twins are using the 1200 cc from the long-planned Norton V4, cut in half, and is targeting production of 2000 Atlas units a year from 2019.
U.S. distribution giant Tucker Powersports has announced the hiring of industry veteran Greg Blackwell to the new position of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Blackwell’s 30-year industry Tour of Duty includes KTM North America, Lemans Corporation (Parts Unlimited), Metzeler Motorcycle Tire North America, and, most recently, as president of MTA Distributing. Tucker Powersports is a division of the Motorsports Aftermarket Group (MAG).
Motorex has again been honoured by KTM as an A+ supplier in their prestigious “KTM Supplier Quality Excellence Award”. The Swiss oil brand (blended by Bucher AG) is ‘First Fill’ oil for new KTM models and a major player in KTM’s factory race team endeavours.
Windscreen specialist National Cycle (Maywood, Illinois) has received ECE R43 L-Class Certification for Quantum Hardcoated Polycarbonate with UV protective coating for use on powersports vehicles with windscreen wipers. Thermoformed or injection moulded, Quantum Hardcoated Polycarbonate is said to be 56% lighter than glass and is widely acknowledged as the most impact resistant material currently in use for motorcycle windscreens. The test involved wiper testing the material to over one million cycles!
The MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro was chosen by some 35% of 16,000 plus EICMA voters as “The most beautiful motorcycle of the show". The competition, organised by the largest Italian monthly motorcycle magazine, Motociclismo, saw the Ducati Hypermotard SP come second, followed by the Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory.
Brembo will be the exclusive ‘Official Brake Supplier’ for all the Energica bikes in the inaugural MotoE Championship. The fully electric single brand competition will be staged at five European circuits for the 2019 World Championship, together with MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.
The FIM has added its support to the European Training Quality Label - a voluntary certification scheme launched in 2015 by ACEM and the DVR - a leading German road safety NGO, to help motorcyclists clearly and easily identify high-quality post-license training programmes in Europe.
Italian boot brand TCX has a new CEO - Andrea Nalesso joins from the Equipment and Footwear division of Oberalp Group, where he was GM, prior to which he spent five years at Dainese as Director of Sales and Marketing. Based near Treviso, TCX was founded in 1999 and acquired by London based equity investor Keyhaven Capital Partners in May 2017.
Suzuki is nearing completion of its new combination engineering, development, engine production and vehicle assembly facility at Hamamatsu, Japan, where parent company Suzuki Motor Corp. (SMC) is headquartered. Announced in 2014, the 70,000 sq m facility (on a 16 Ha. Site) will consolidate operations, including engine production from Takatsuka and final assembly from its Toyokawa factory.
