The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) in the USA has announced cancellation of the planned Columbus, Ohio AIMExpo slated for January 2021. It has also been announced that the annual International Motorcycle Show series that is usually staged in various indoor venues in December and January has been cancelled permanently in favour of an alternative summer outdoor event series concept.
Contrary to rumours, speculation and expectations, it looks like the creditors left holding the baby when Norton Motorcycle (UK) Limited filed for bankruptcy in the UK in January this year may well get their money back after all - including several hundred people who invested some of their pension pots into one or more of the pension plans that ex CEO Stuart Garner appeared to have used/misused to prop the business up. According to the statutory 'Statement of Affairs' prepared by the bankruptcy managers, if the assets remaining to be sold realise anything close to market value, then there should be enough left to pay off all creditors, with a surplus.
At the time of publication, the 28th Salon Du 2 Roues, the dealer expo in France, remains planned for February 18-21 at the EurExpo complex, Lyon. All info and enquiries via the event website at www.salondu2roues.com
Among brands selling at least 250 units YTD in Germany, the largest market share gains have been posted by Fantic Motor (+76.82%); Zero Motorcycles (+65.56%); Indian Motorcycle (+43.60%); Royal Enfield (+36.29%); Benelli (+23.50%) and Husqvarna (+19.44%). Due to production slowdowns, the biggest losers in market share terms have been Beta (-20.25%) and Aprilia (-18.81%).
In a reorganisation of its CRC Design Centre at San Marino, MV Agusta has announced Giorgio Mazzotti and Alessandro Volpini as Design Director and Technical Manager respectively. Both will report to Brian Gillen, formerly Technical Director but now promoted to R&D Director.
Spy pictures from India and published on rideapart.com and elsewhere appear to suggest that Husqvarna is working on 200 cc Vitpilen and Svartpilen follow-ups to its 250s in Asia. The engines are thought likely to be the 26 hp BS6-compliant 4-T single already used in the 200 Duke and RC 200.
Showa unveiled a new technical track truck at the WSBK Pirelli Spanish round - a flagship asset to improve its paddock service to the WSBK teams it supports as part of its focus on production bike-based championships and strategy to transfer "what we learn on the track into new technology on the road".
Piaggio has agreed a deal with Poste Italiane for the supply of some 5,000 three-wheel scooters - the 125 cc Euro 5 Piaggio 3W with 95 kg load capacity. The deal is reported to be worth some € 31m. Piaggio says it has sold more than 53,000 scooters to the main European postal services.
Honda has reached 10 years since it started production of its (still unique) Dual Clutch Transmission technology for motorcycles. It first appeared on MY2011 models in dealerships in Europe in 2010 (on the VFR1200F Sports Tourer) and since then the company has sold over 140,000 motorcycles equipped with Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) in Europe. In 2019, 45% of Africa Twins, 52% of NC750Xs and 67% of Gold Wings sold in Europe had the DCT version.
Honda has filed a trademark for 'Motocompacto' in the "land vehicles, namely, electric scooters" category, suggesting that an urban electric scooter could be on the way, according to rideapart.com. The name appears to be an update on the Honda Motocompo folding "trunk bike" minibike that was sold from 1981 to 1983.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MNW, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com
