In support of the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, Triumph has announced an upcoming partnership with American guitar brand Gibson. The collaboration will be based on the legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar and the 1959 Triumph Bonneville T120 motorcycle.
Investcorp (the Bahrain Sovereign Investment fund/BIC), who bought Dainese from founder Lino Dainese in 2014 (for € 130m), has judged that the time is right to do what most private equity investors do with their acquisitions sooner or later - take the profit and "flip the asset". In a deal said to be worth some € 630m ($692m) including debt, the new owner is Washington D.C. headquartered private equity investor The Carlyle Group (CG.O). During its ownership, Investcorp says it more than doubled Dainese's sales to € 250m and expanded core earnings (EBITDA) at a double-digit rate annually. Lino Dainese is credited with many firsts, not least the back protector, knee sliders and the wearable air bag. He diversified his business by adding the legendary, 1947 founded Italian AGV helmet brand in 2007.
Touratech has won Motorrad's Best Brand Award for 2022 in the Accessories and Conversions class. Established in 2006, the awards have 22 categories with over 50,000 readers taking part in the voting.
Brazilian off-road tyre manufacturer Borilli Racing has chosen Athena Motor Ibérica as its sole distributor throughout Spain and Innteck for Italian distribution. Borilli offers two tyre ranges - its 7DAYS ENDURO and MX77/MX777 lines. Borilli has also announced that it will again be an Official Partner with the Spanish Enduro Championship in 2022. In Italy Borilli is the title sponsor of the MX Pro Series and the "number one choice of David Philippaerts" in the MX1 Prestige.
Two and a half years after the project was first announced, Aston Martin says it will start deliveries of its 183 hp, 180 kg AMB 001 V-twin Superbike. As of early 2022, ten of the original 100-unit limited-run batch of € 100,000 Brough Superior builds were still available.
Yamaha has been voted three Red Dot design awards for 2022 - for the YZF-R7 and MT-09 motorcycles, and for its SuperJet PWC. "These honours mark the 11th year in a row - every year since 2012 - that a Yamaha Motor product has received a Red Dot Design award".
BMW has hoovered up three wins in Motorrad Magazine's "Motorcycle of the Year 2022" awards, with four second places and one third spot. The BMW M 1000 RR was voted first place in the "Sports Bikes" category, the R 1250 RS took the "Best Tourer/Sports Tourer" award, with the R 1250 GS/Adventure picking up the "Enduro/ Supermotos" segment win. Second place awards went to the BMW S 1000 XR ("Crossover"), the BMW R 18/Classic ("Chopper/Cruiser"), R 1250 R ("Naked Bikes") and to the BMW R nineT/R nineT Pure in the "Modern Classics" category (in which the R nineT Scrambler was also voted third).
Honda has won 'Product Design 2022' Red Dot design awards for the NT1100 motorcycle and ADV350 scooter.
Motul has partnered with British brand Ariel Motor Company. Core business for Ariel is the manufacture of hand-crafted, Honda engine high-performance recreational vehicles, with the Ariel Atom proving an international success on both road and racetrack. In 2014, Ariel added the high-performance Ariel Ace motorcycle to its range.
December 2021 saw sales of electric cars in Europe overtake diesel models for the first time, with the switch to battery-powered vehicles enjoying record growth on the back of government subsidies and emissions regulations. More than 20% of new cars sold across 18 European markets, were powered exclusively by batteries, while diesel cars, including diesel hybrids, accounted for less than 19% of sales. Some 176,000 battery EVs were sold in western Europe during December alone, an all-time record and more than 6% up on the year-ago number.
German workshop diagnostics specialist Hella-Gutmann has been acquired by French automotive supplier Faurecia. The H-G flexible all-brand 'mega macs' motorcycle diagnostics and troubleshooting systems and software are a popular choice for motorcycle workshops in Germany.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com
