Strong Rumor Of The Week. Royal Enfield Trying To Buy Ducati. Royal Enfield would have approached Ducati Motor SPA owned by German auto conglomerate Volkswagen AG. Royal Enfield is the second Indian manufacturer after Hero MotoCorp, that is rumored to be in consideration to acquire the Italian motorcycle brand. While neither Ducati nor Royal Enfield have confirmed this development, there are possible good reasons for such a buy. 1- Volkswagen sale of the Italian brand that could $1.5 billion to fund VW’s multi-billion Euro shift to develop electric vehicles. 2- Ducati and Royal Enfield won’t overlap in motorcycle segments, but could share some technologies 3- As Royal Enfield aggressively looks at expanding its global footprint, a brand like Ducati can only improve RE’s reputation and international standing further. 3- Then, there is Ducati’s expansive network that RE can tap into, which will work as a catalyst for the manufacturer’s global ambitions. If that were to happen, Ducati bikes in India will come at even more competitive prices, opening the possibility of a larger customer base for Ducati in the world’s largest two-wheeler market.
AMA Supports National Historic Vehicle Register Act. The American Motorcyclist Association supports a federal bill that would create a national register to preserve the records of historic vehicles, including motorcycles, that have made a significant impact on U.S. history and culture. The National Historic Vehicle Register Act (S. 966), introduced by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), would require the U.S. Department of the Interior to establish a register housed in the Library of Congress to preserve examples of American history and engineering innovation by documenting historically significant automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, and commercial vehicles. IT would include short narratives, photographs and engineering drawings of each vehicle. To be eligible for the register, vehicles must be connected to a significant person or event in American history, have a unique design or be a rare model.
The Electric MotoGP Is Finally Coming. What would be better than racing electric motorcycle vehicles (EV) in order to advertise their inherent qualities? The Isle of Man TT Zero, which by the way is coming up May 27 to June 9, 2017 may give you a taste of what an electric MotoGP could look like…by 2019. Electric motorcycles racing around at 200 km/h (~125 mph) should give us 10 laps of proof that EVs can race in almost any form. A few independent teams have shown interest and are ready to push the electric racing boundaries even further. To follow…
The Quail Motorcycle Gathering. Veteran motorcycle restorer and collector John Goldman won Best in Show honors at the 9th annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering on Saturday, singled out among owners of more than 300 extremely rare machines for the historical importance and faithful restoration of his 1957 Mondial 250 Grand Prix race bike.
KTM planning To Go Electric. More brands are following or will very fast. As another example, the last generation KTM 390 Duke model has been spotted being road tested, equipped with a massive aluminum battery box in Austria…
I don’t know… Royal Enfield owning Ducati would be a bit like Yugo owning Ferrari. It just doesn’t seem right!
Also at the Quail, the “FullerMotus” a Motus MST-R, customized by Fuller Moto won the Industry Award.
RE has used tariffs very effectively and is expanding. How nice for them.
RE has done nothing with tariffs. They make a bike people want at a price they want to pay. Add on top of that they’re the world’s oldest motorcycle company with continuous production, which for some God-only-knows reason seems to be all that matters to so many bikers and there you have a successful motorcycle company.
Royal Enfield owning Ducati is the beginning of the end for Ducati.
i have no problem with RE or ducati. let the moto snobs cry all they want. this would be a plus for both brands.
i have no interest in electric motorcycles. none. zip! nien! nada!
doubly so for any racing.