German specialist SIP Scootershop is donating € 3,000 to Mary's Meals, an international organisation that gives starving children access to education through school meals; www.sip-scootershop.com
The iconic, cult Czech JAWA brand is back on the Italian market. Moreno Persello (of Bikers Life magazine and show fame) is in the process of establishing a specialist network of selected dealers and workshops who share a passion for the opportunity that JAWA's contemporary classic range of 350 to 650 cc models represent. The line-up extends from café racers and bobbers to scramblers and adventure bikes. There are currently importers for the Czech designed, Mahindra, India manufactured JAWA brand in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Poland and, now, Italy. www.jawamotors.it
Despite a € 1m equity investment by Indian electromobility company Motovolt in 2023, German "human-hybrid" two-wheeler concept designer eRockit Systems GmbH (Hennigsdorf, Brandenburg) has filed for bankruptcy. The news follows that of the failure (in bankruptcy or with production otherwise suspended) in 2024 or earlier of E-Mobility GmbH/Kumpan (Germany, 2023), e-scooter startup 'UNU' (by EMCO, Berlin, 2023), Energica (Italy), Cake (Sweden), Canadian electric snowmobile and PWC manufacturer Taiga Motors (bought by UK entrepreneur, Stewart Wilkinson in October 2024), Juiced Bikes (San Diego, USA), Onomotion (Berlin), vanMoof (NL - mostly e-Cycles, subsequently acquired by McLaren F1 in UK), Arc Motorcycles (UK - at one stage financially connected to Jaguar Cars, who, BTW, have now fully abandoned ICE automotive production in favour of Electric - it won't end well!), Sondors/Metacycle (USA) the Erik Buell conceived Fuell Motorcycles (USA) and a number of other ePTW projects around Europe and elsewhere. Harley-Davidson is losing a lot of money on its LiveWire operation after a largely failed SPAC flotation and has its fingerprints on two prior e-PTW bankruptcies in the San Francisco Bay area in the form of Mission Motors (2015) and Alta Motors (2018). Some Alta staff had left to found Damon Motorcycles of Vancouver (of well-regarded 200 mph HyperSport fame). Damon recently concluded a fund-raising SPAC vehicle IPO on the NYSE (Ticker:DMN) but at the time of writing (November 20, 2024) shares were trading at less than $2.00, well below their a target price of $12.00 having opened at around $5.00 at the time of the flotation. Its tough out there for the electric motorcycle sector.
