Following a similar 'incubator' investment acceleration announcement by Honda some months ago, 2022 will see Yamaha establish a US$100m, 15-year investment fund. The mission is to seek potential business partners and start-ups for collaborations that will accelerate the development of environmental technologies. The Yamaha Motor Group has set a new goal of aiming for carbon neutrality throughout all of its business activities, including across the life cycles of its products, by 2050. The fund will be operated by Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley (YMVSV).
Powersports Business (PSB) has announced "an exclusive powersports dealer experience" - the PSB Accelerate Conference - to "bring together dealers and industry leaders to focus on key issues, business growth and future planning" at the Atlanta, GA, Hyatt Regency, on November 8-10, 2021. Features will include workshops, seminars, case studies and keynotes - "a unique experience filled with networking discussions, receptions and thought-leadership."
Puerto Rican phenomenon David Fondon piloted the Taylors, SC. based Moore Mafia (Chris Moore) Brock's CT megaphone titanium full exhaust system equipped 2020 GSX-R1000 to a 7.91 ET at 170 mph at the Maryland International Raceway in May 2021. In doing so it became the world's first stock engine bike to break the 7-second barrier - making it the quickest and fastest stock engine motorbike (no nitrous/power adder) on the planet.
Mentor, Ohio based Race Winning Brands (RWB - the owner of Wiseco Piston and Rekluse clutches among others) has acquired Mooresville, North Carolina based Victory 1 Performance - "a leading automotive supplier of manufactured and forged high-performance titanium and alloy valves." Victory represents the eighth add-on acquisition for RWB - a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries that is headed up by powersports industry veteran (ACCEL/Mr Gasket etc) Bob Bruegging as President.
SEMA has welcomed the reintroduction of the RPM Act for 2021, but says that a major effort is also needed to ensure that it passes into law. "Our voices have been heard! After receiving more than one million letters from enthusiasts, the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act) has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2021-2022 session of Congress. The RPM Act must now be enacted into law to guarantee the right to modify street cars, trucks and motorcycles into dedicated race vehicles, and ensure that industry can offer parts that enable racers to compete."
Portuguese helmet manufacturer NEXX is celebrating its 20th anniversary of "embracing a culture of innovation" and "constantly evolving to remain at the forefront of the ever-changing motorcycle helmet industry. We continue to invest in human capital development, in R&D and value-added products, manufacturing processes and cutting-edge technology and equipment in order to realise our vision. Staying ahead of our competition means thinking outside of the box - we liberate our designers and engineers to step out from what they know today, catalysing their passion and the brand values for the visionary design that will be needed for tomorrow".
Dallas, TX. based pre-owned automotive and powersports vehicle E-tailer RumbleOn reported improved net income and positive adjusted EBITDA for its Q1 to end of March 2021. It is projecting year-over-year revenue growth of 66 to 78% in Q2 and gross profit growth of 113 to 125%. Total vehicle unit sales were 3,500, +32.2% from 2,647 in Q4 2020, of which 1,006 vehicles were powersports units (+17% over the year-ago period) worth $10.9m in revenue (+27.7%). Powersports gross profit per unit sold was $2,961. Net loss was -$4.5m (improved from -$5.5m Q4 2020); the positive adjusted EBITDA of $0.02m for Q1 2021 was an improvement from -$2.8m in Q4 2020. RumbleOn is due to complete its merger with 22 location brick and mortar pre-owned unit seller Ride Now Powersports in late June or July of this year.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com
