Fast Motorcycle Industry News

Sturgis Rally Tax Revenue: Overall tax revenue from this 71th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is down nearly 6 percent compared to 2010. The South Dakota Department of Revenue reports revenue collected so far during the rally period is $1,127,552 compared to $1,197,344 a year ago. This is a 5.8 percent decrease. Sales and tourism tax revenues collected from temporary vendors at this year’s rally totaled $907,954 in the Northern Hills, which includes Sturgis and all other communities in Meade and Lawrence counties. That is an 8 percent decrease from last year. The number of vendors displaying and selling products continued a downward decline. There were 976 vendors at this year’s rally compared to 1,040 in 2010 and 1,149 in 2009.

Harley-Davidson Inventories Too Low? During the last 3 years, because of the economy, many Harley dealers have closed because of too many unsold bikes on the floor with bikes losing their value. One of Harley priorities was to keep its brand value by limiting production to not overwhelm its dealers with models difficult to sell.  A survey by Robert W. Baird & Co. re;eased last week seems to show that Harley is again in better control of its production now better adapted to demand. As a matter of fact nearly 60 percent of Harley dealerships said inventories are now too low. A lot of trades are going on between dealers to fin the right model in the right color to satisfy clients. On average, dealers report 10% more unit sales during these last 8 weeks than for the same period last year.

MSF Launches Motorcycling Naturalistic Study. The year-long research project includes 100 bikes, routinely being ridden in real-world traffic, and equipped with an array of data acquisition systems to provide comprehensive, real-time, near-crash, pre-crash and actual-crash information that is unprecedented in motorcycle research. Each motorcycle is equipped with five color cameras, a GPS, accelerometers, gyro, forward radar, machine vision lane tracker, brake lever and pedal input, and more. The study will track two age groups each – one in the 21-to-34 age group and one in the 45-to-64 age group – on seven motorcycle models from five brands. Motorcycle types include sport bikes, cruisers and touring bikes. The MSF is a not-for-profit organization sponsored by BMW, BRP, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Piaggio, Suzuki, Triumph, Victory and Yamaha.

8 Responses to “Fast Motorcycle Industry News”


  1. 1 1550tc Aug 30th, 2011 at 8:37 am

    keys words revenue collected

    the HD store is the only place that gave me a receipt, rest of my purchases except lodging were cash
    they are still giving you numbers off the padded 600k attendance numbers numbers or the rally lasts a month now LOL

  2. 2 TRexSG Aug 30th, 2011 at 8:38 am

    So of course people will ride these like they normally would….correct? I mean the 5 cameras, GPS, gyro, radar, lane tracker and all won’t have any affect them.

  3. 3 Jeff Nicklus Aug 30th, 2011 at 9:40 am

    I wish that the “State” would release their “true” quesstament on attendance at this years rally …. I’ll bet it is 35-40% down from last year. In short attendance sucked, in my humble opinion.

    Over & Out,

    Jeff

  4. 4 XH-D Rider Aug 30th, 2011 at 11:44 am

    With more camp grounds offering you full entertainment and lodging and food no one is riding the roads spending money.
    If you look at the price of T shirts and what the vendor has in it for coast yes there asking to much when Obama isn’t creating jobs. Yes it should be down and I’ll bet next year will be down again

  5. 5 Richard Aug 30th, 2011 at 11:52 am

    It’s down mostly due to two reasons…The people are getting tired of getting “ripped off” by motels, bars etc., and the economy which is still in “recovery”. We went elsewhere and saved a bundle on lodging.

  6. 6 Arie Aug 30th, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    RE: Sturgis – I agree with Richard. In the past I have stayed at a hotel. Paying $250 a night for the 7 days I attend is just too much. Especially for a $70 a night room! Did not go this year… Camping next year… Guess I’ll just have to deal with the weather when it comes!

    RE: MSF – A great idea to collect some data. But, I have to agree TRexSG… Having all of these monitoring devices on my scoot would definitely influence my riding style.

  7. 7 Charlie F. Aug 30th, 2011 at 9:44 pm

    if the MSF is doing the study, it must be true, unbiased and fair. HAHAHA

    The MSF is funded by the motorcycle manufacturers and is the farthest thing from biased there is.
    You think ABATE and the MRF are the evil empire, look into the MSF.

    Whatever the study is, it is scewed to benefit the funders and DC, not the motorcyclists best interest.

    I know of what I speak.

    C.F.

  8. 8 MDSPHOTO Sep 4th, 2011 at 8:29 am

    So is Harley going to now follow their hold mantra, one which Apple has used successfully for years, to limit supply in the hope of raising demand and therefore prices?

Comments are currently closed.
Cyril Huze