Fast Motorcycle Industry News

cyril-huze-fast-news-18The New Indian Scout FTR750 Will Turn Some Demo Laps For The First Time This Weekend. Indian Motorcycle will kick off an exciting weekend at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California this weekend with Short Track Hooligan Racing featuring the Indian Motorcycle SuperHooligan class as well as featuring the Indian Scout FTR750 that will run some demo laps for the first time in public on Saturday. Although the new Indian Scout FTR750 will make it’s racing debut in the Ramspur Winery Santa Rosa Mile AMA Pro Flat Track Pro GNC class on Sunday, September 25, the all-new motorcycle will run it’s demo laps on Saturday, September 24, during the Pro-Am night at the fairground’s short track circuit in the Chris Beck Arena. The Scout FTR750 will be piloted by Joe Kopp for both the demo laps and the racing on Sunday. We are excited that flat track fans will finally get the chance to see and hear the first Indian Factory Race bike since 1953,” says Gary Gray, Product Director for Indian Motorcycle. “Racing is a huge part of Indian’s legacy, and we are proud to bring this brand back to the professional AMA Flat Track circuit.”

Erik Buell Racing (EBR Motorcycles) Announces The Release Of Their 2017 Sportbike Models. “You can imagine the challenges of restructuring the new company, but we have made really nice progress building our base for 2017 to launch this week,” said Bill Melvin, owner of EBR. “Our dealers have had nice success selling bikes this summer and we have many new ones coming on. Our quality is continuously improving, our supplier relationships established, and now we are looking towards the future. This fall, we have something ‘Quick, Dark, and Low’ in the works that should be exciting for urban street riders, and we are making real progress on expanding the range of models of the 1190 platform, as well as developing and delivering accessories that our EBR riders want. There is a bright future for EBR, and as part of that, work is proceeding on a sub-$10k platform for 2018.”

Harley-Davidson Inc. Shares Continue To Jump Around On Speculation It Will Be Buyout Target Of Equity Firm Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts. Last Wednesday, HOG shares jumped 7% as speculation resurfaced. However, a company spokesperson responded, “There isn’t anything going on on this end that we’re aware of to specifically drive that.” Amid the buyout buzz, HOG’s options pits have caught fire. As of yesterday Sept 22nd, HOG now sports a year-to-date gain that’s approaching 15%. Over the last three months, the shares have outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 11.3% percentage points.

Apple Reportedly In Talks With Self-Balancing Motorcycle Startup Lit Motors. Apple has been negotiating with McLaren and now The New York Times confirmed that it’s also in talks with Lit Motors, a Bay Area startup that manufactures self-balancing motorcycles. Apple would have already hired away several former Lit Motors engineers. The company is known for its C-1 vehicle, which looks like a cross between a motorcycle and Google’s self-driving car prototype.

BMW And Honda US Motorcycle Dealers Top-Ranked For Response To Customer Contact Through Dealer Websites, reports Pied Piper Management Company. BMW and Honda dealerships ranked highest in the 2016 Pied Piper PSI® Internet Lead Effectiveness™ (ILE™) Motorcycle Industry Study, which measured how motorcycle dealerships responded to customer inquiries received through dealership websites. Study rankings by brand were determined by the Pied Piper PSI process, which ties “mystery shopping” measurement and scoring to dealership sales success. Pied Piper has found that today more than 8 out of 10 motorcycle shoppers research their purchase online before ever visiting a dealership in person. Today interaction through a website is likely to be a new customer’s first contact with a dealership. Motorcycle industry average performance has improved compared to previous years. For example, in 2008, Pied Piper found that motorcycle dealerships on average responded in any way within 24 hours only 30% of the time. Response increased to 72% of the time in 2013, and 89% of the time in 2016, as “auto responder” customer relationship management (CRM) software became more common. CRM software is only the first step though, since acknowledging a customer inquiry with an automated response fails to answer customer questions. Despite acknowledging customer inquiries 89% of the time in 2016, motorcycle dealerships answered customer questions only 41% of the time.

8 Responses to “Fast Motorcycle Industry News”


  1. 1 Fritz Sep 24th, 2016 at 2:18 pm

    Interesting to see what happens should the equity firm do that buyout.

  2. 2 AppleRealtiyFix Sep 24th, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    The fact is Apple isn’t dealing with either entity . Its all just rumor and circumspect created initially by the Financial Times in a desperate attempt to sell more papers with now the NYTimes falling down the same Rabbit Hole for the exact same reasons . The fact is Apple has NO interest what so ever in being involved directly or otherwise with either M/C or automotive production where it now takes ten billion dollars to barely make a million . As for the H-D buyout . That one is anybodies guess as to the veracity of the rumors or where it may wind uo

  3. 3 Roscoe Sep 24th, 2016 at 5:57 pm

    That’s the first I ever heard of an HD buyout!

  4. 4 bigitch Sep 24th, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    maybe it was erik buell trying to buy the motor company

  5. 5 Tom Ryan Sep 25th, 2016 at 10:05 am

    I’ve been kind of wondering what Erik Buell and Bill Melvin have up his sleeves when they mentioned that they have something ‘Quick, Dark and Low’ in the works. Could it be a Café Buell or something which may be a cross between a Livewire HD electric bike and a lighter weight Sportster?

  6. 6 Emmett Sep 26th, 2016 at 7:19 am

    Didn’t the motor company learn anything from AMF??

  7. 7 Woody's Sep 26th, 2016 at 9:06 am

    Apples and oranges? If it hadn’t been for AMF they’re very well may be no Harley in a recognizable form now. AMF may have made major mistakes, but they also made millions of dollars in capital Investments and upgrades to production including new facilities and fiberglass that didn’t look like the surface of a grapefruit.

  8. 8 Reyn Mansson Sep 26th, 2016 at 9:17 am

    New 2017 EBR’s? You must be kidding.
    The market is loaded with new never sold 2014s – just look at eBay or Cycle Trader.
    And a once $18,995 1190RX can be had for just about half of that all day long.

    My nominee for most hyperbole in press release of the day goes to EBR

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Cyril Huze