The sound of distant guns signals the approaching battle, it's not fully upon us just yet, but it soon will be. Two combatants in the high end luxury motorcycle market carry opposing flags, the reborn Brough Superior enters the fray armed with V-Twin rumble while the rebel entrant, Curtiss, packs electric power. While this particular battle between high priced, low volume … [Read more...]
Motorcycling is Affordable if You Want it to Be – It’s Up to You
Is motorcycling expensive or affordable? Yes. Wait, ... what? The simple fact is that you can spend as much or as little as you want to and enjoy it either way. The latest and greatest factory machinery is often beautiful to look at with all of the performance the pros demand, but if you want to ride on the street with a bit of the competition look, have fun and still have … [Read more...]
Harley Davidson’s Project LiveWire Preparing for Debut in 18 months
When Harley Davidson announced the closure of the Kansas City manufacturing plant, they also gave notice that Project LiveWire would be coming to market in 18 months. LiveWire, the new Harley Davidson electric motorcycle, is a corporate moonshot, they're going for the high tech end of the motorcycle industry, a decidedly different environment from that occupied by the big twin … [Read more...]
Harley Davidson Closing Kansas City Plant
Whether the rest of the economy is doing better or not, Harley Davidson is having problems selling new motorcycles and, as a result, they're consolidating manufacturing with the closure of the Kansas City plant in 2019 and moving production to York, PA. Harley-Davidson worldwide retail motorcycle sales fell 6.7% in 2017 compared to 2016. The company's U.S. sales fell 8.5% … [Read more...]
Will the Growing Economy Boost Motorcycle Sales?
Over the past year, the economy has been booming. If you have a 401(k) or an IRA for retirement and you've been paying attention, you're probably grinning about how much it's grown. Companies are giving bonuses and wage increases, big companies are investing huge sums in the US, unemployment is way down, so it's worth wondering, will customers start returning to motorcycle … [Read more...]
Yamaha Niken Means Leaning 3 Wheelers May Just Hit the Big Time – Updated
Two years ago we wrote about the Yamaha MWT-9, a sport bike with two wheels up front, it looked mean and nasty, in a good way. At that time, leaning 3 wheelers had been out for years in scooter form and some companies were building conversions for big tilting touring rigs, but the obvious question was, why not on something more sporty? The MWT-9 looked like Yamaha was on track, … [Read more...]