We were saddened to hear of the death of Ken Boyko at the end of August. After his time at DG Performance Specialties in the 1970s and 80s he went on to be a co-founder of exhaust specialist Cobra Engineering (Yorba Linda, CA.) but his influence, contacts and friendships represented so much more. Ken was a major figure in the parts and accessories industry, on the West Coast, nationally and internationally - he and his astute marketing 'savvy' were a regular and familiar presence at shows in Europe as well as in the USA. He had a connoisseur-grade motorcycle collection and pioneered the development of the so-called 'Metric Custom' segment, commissioning pioneering Japanese platform customs that did much to shape the wider future of the custom motorcycle market. He played an important role in the development of the MIC Aftermarket Committee and was a tireless advocate for the motorcycle industry. Kudos to Ken for a 'life well lived', our appreciation for what he did four our industry, and our condolences to his family and friends.
Yamaha reports 2024 first half total global unit sales broadly flat at 2.491 million units, up by 29,000 units over the first half of 2023. Sales in Europe were up by 12,000 units at 133,000 for the period January to June 2024. North American sales were up by 6,000 units at 51,000; domestic Japanese sales were down by 2,000 units at 36,000, while total Asian sales were down by 53,000 units at 1.908 million.
The Honda factory racing team (HRC) won its third consecutive FIM Endurance World Championship Suzuka 8 Hours at the end of July. Riding the CBR 1000RR-R Fireblade SP, Takumi Takahashi, Teppei Nagoe and Johann Zarco gave Honda its 30th win in the 45th annual 'Suzuka' - Takumi Takahashi has become the outright record holder with six Suzuka 8 Hours wins, while Teppei Nagoe and Johann Zarco celebrated their first wins at the event.
Owned by Indian conglomerate TVS, British comeback kids Norton Motorcycle has hired former Manchester United Football Club CEO Richard Arnold as its new Chief Executive Officer.
MV Agusta's new President and CEO, Hubert Trunkenpolz is quoted as saying that though now under the PIERER Mobility AG umbrella, there are no current plans for MV to share engines with the other Pierer brands - excepting perhaps for MV to share KTM engines if they make it onto the MotoGP from 2027. Trunkenpolz is the grandson of KTM founder Hans Trunkenpolz (the 'T' in 'KTM') and a KTM board member.
Ducati delivered 32,098 motorcycles in the first six months of 2024, down by -8.6% on the 35,120 deliveries in the first half of 2023. Revenue was € 606m (H1 2023: € 663m), while operating profit fell to € 92m (H1 2023: € 116m). The operating margin amounted to 15.1% (H1 2023: 17.6%).
For Q1 of its FY 2024/2025 (the period from April - June 2024), Suzuki reports total global motorcycle production of 520,000 units, up by +9.5% (+45,000 units) over the year-ago, with global sales totalling 523,000 units (+8.9%). European sales were flat at 13,000 units. North American sales were also flat at 11,000 units. Asian sales were massively up at 433,000 units (+36%), with India by far its largest market (247,000 units, +54%), followed by China, which was down by -19% at 104,000 units. Total consolidated revenue from motorcycle activities was up at 104.819bn yen (85.9bn yen in Q1 of 2023). Revenue from motorcycle activities in Europe was fractionally up (+0.4%) at 15.2bn yen. United States motorcycle activity revenue was essentially flat (+0.1%) at 11.5bn yen.
In July, Kawasaki conducted the world's first public demonstration run of a hydrogen ICE (internal combustion engine) motorcycle (by a mass-production motorcycle manufacturer) at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan (on the occasion of the 'Coca Cola' Suzuka 8-Hour). Designed and built as part of research that began in March 2023, the machine has a hydrogen engine based on the 998 cm3 in-line four supercharged engine found in Kawasaki's Ninja H2, with modifications made to allow direct injection of hydrogen fuel into the cylinders. The motorcycle's chassis was designed to accommodate hydrogen fuel canisters and a hydrogen fuel supply system on-board.
