News Briefs
MPN reports MIC data that puts the number of dual-sport motorcycles sold in Q2 2019 in USA (ADV/Adventure Touring models) at about 11% of the market for two-wheelers. Overall in 2018, the MIC said that of the 12.2 million motorcycles in use, 5% were dual-sport bikes and that of the nearly 30 million people reported as riding a motorcycle in 2018, nearly 10m of them ride both on-road and off-road.
Annual SxS retail sales in the US were higher than motorcycles for the first time in 2018. Cited MIC data puts US SxS sales at 458,000 new units in 2018, against 457,000 new motorcycles.
Triumph's UK and Ireland Sales Manager Bruno Tagliaferri retired at the end of August after 29 years with the company and after 44 years in the motorcycle industry, including time with Honda. Tagliaferri was one of the first to join the reborn Triumph in 1990.
As part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the Ducati 916's production launch, the Ducati Museum is now featuring design guru Massimo Tamburini's 916. The 916 on display is one of the three prototypes from which he developed the bike until its industrialisation in 1994. Tamburini, who had already developed the Paso 750 for Ducati, unleashed what Ducati are describing as "a real revolution" with the 916 with aerodynamics and chassis developed on the roads of Rimini and at the Misano and Mugello circuits for six years without ever using the wind tunnel! The example in the museum features details that are more similar to those of the 916 SP series, the highest performing model of the 916 series.
The Piaggio Museum in Pontedera (Pisa), the largest motorcycle museum in Italy and one of the biggest in Europe, has been recorded in the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame, obtaining a Certificate of Excellence for the fifth consecutive year. The 5,000 sq m museum first opened in 2000 and underwent a major refurbishment in 2018. It has attracted 700,000 visitors since it opened and features more than 250 historic vehicles.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MNW
