However business is at Maurice Slaughter’s three east-coast Harley dealerships, things have just taken a big upturn as his wife of 37 years, Cynthia Slaughter, just gifted Maurice a surprise Ducati Superleggera, number 130 of 500. It just got off the boat last week. Personally, I think if more of this was going on, we’d have a lot more happy marriages. Read all about it at the the Virginia Pilot online here.
The post Gee Thanks, Hon! appeared first on Motorcycle.com News.
Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta seems intent on cracking the enormous Chinese motorcycle market.
In 2019, they signed an agreement with Chinese manufacturer Loncin to make 300-400cc bikes branded as MV Agusta for the world market.
Now they have signed a deal with another Chinese company, QJ-Motor, to distribute their bikes in China and possibly produce their bikes “at a later stage”.
New MV boss Timur Sardarov told us earlier this year that Chinese motorcycle manufacturing was well established and the economy was “quick-reacting economy, not disorganised”.
“They have one goal and they are ready to grow again,” he said.
“Their market is showing incredible growth already after the coronavirus.
“Let’s be very clear, we are developing our own platform and Loncin will industrialise it and produce for us for the world market.”
He rebutted suggestions the low-capacity Chinese-made bikes would dilute the premium Italian brand.
“Porsche is a premium product, but they have different products from $1m down to $50,000 and it’s still a premium product by quality not price,” Timur says.
“They (the Chinese-made bikes) will be the most expensive bikes in their category because they will have premium components.
“In comparison with KTM and Honda they will be more expensive, but have better performance and better build.”
The new deal with QJ-Motor will initially involve the distribution of MV Agusta models through a network of flagship stores across the country.
However, it may also involve production of their bikes in China, according to the strange wording in their press release:
“At a later stage the partnership will also have important developments on the industrial front, and collaboration in that sense is presently being defined.”
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria has long been criticised for being anti-motorcyclist, but now one rider is hoping to change all that by nominating for the RACV board.
John Mulder is a member of both the Classic Motorcycle Club of Victoria and the Australian Street Rod Federation which entitles him to describe himself as a “genuine motoring enthusiast”.
“I’m a strong believer in the principle that the needs of all transport users in our community should be given equal value and the needs of one particular group should not be promoted at the expense of another,” he says.
John’s appointment to the RACV board would not only bring an active motorcyclist’s perspective to the table but also the experience of a company director with a long list of senior executive and non-executive director appointments to his name.
If John is successful in his bid to join the RACV board he would be ideally placed to represent the interests of all Victorian motorcyclists during future policy development discussions.
John and his wife Annie are both part of the Victorian motorcycling community, and living in Torquay at the start of the Great Ocean Road why wouldn’t they be!
His ride of choice these days is a 1977 Harley he brought in from the US 10 years ago and has lovingly restored.
John says he is happy to speak with anyone from the motorcycling community who has a view on the future of our passion.
“The key matters raised with me to date include the lack of transparency surrounding the Victorian motorcyclist safety levy, the lack of consideration given to motorcyclists in road construction and road maintenance activities, and the cost of registration in Victoria given the modest impact that motorcycles have on our road surfaces compared with other vehicles,” he says.
“When speaking with fellow riders I get the distinct impression that many believe that over recent times our needs have most definitely been compromised by Government policy that is focused more on the needs of drivers, cyclists and public transport users.
“Motorcyclists find this trend difficult to understand when several reputable research studies have confirmed the benefits of promoting motorcycling within our communities.
“The positive impacts on traffic congestion, pollution, and parking in built-up areas are obvious for all to see,” he says.
Voting is now open and if you are an RACV member check your inbox for an email from CorpVote or your mobile for a text message.
If you have received neither contact CorpVote on 1300 147 797.
The majority of RACV members haven’t chosen to vote in previous elections but if you want your interests represented on such a significant Victorian motoring body, exercise your right and help put John Mulder on the board. Voting closes on 30 September 2020.
You can view John’s candidate statement at www.johnmulder.com.au
Contact: John Mulder
Email: [email protected]
Ph. 0419 890471
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
QJ-Motor Co., one of China’s largest two-wheel manufacturers, will handle distribution for MV Agusta within China.
Begin Press Release:
Varese, Italy, September 19, 2020 – MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. has announced a new strategic partnership with QJ-Motor Co. for the distribution of the brand’s motorcycles in China. QJ Group is one of the largest and most prominent two wheeler manufacturers in China, with extensive commercial presence in the region. The agreement will initially concern the distribution of MV Agusta models through a network of flagship stores across the country, providing the highest standards of service to Chinese customers. At a later stage the partnership will also have important developments on the industrial front, and collaboration in that sense is presently being defined.
After the successful launch phase in collaboration with Fekon Co., who was instrumental in the introduction of MV Agusta motorcycles in China, QJ will now take over the 7 existing mono-brand stores and expand the sales network with an additional 21 stores within 12 months and service centres with the objective of rapidly and significantly incrementing MV Agusta’s presence and visibility on the Chinese market. QJ has an impressive track record and considerable experience in managing international prime brands.
Timur Sardarov, CEO MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. said “I am thrilled about this agreement with QJ for the second phase of our expansion into the Chinese market. It is a very ambitious long term partnership that will make MV Agusta the number one Italian premium motorcycle brand in China in the next 5 years. QJ is one of the leading global players in terms of scale, market presence and quality standards and I am confident that with such a solid partner we will reach, and possibly beat, all our commercial objectives very rapidly. We are also developing a further, important collaboration on the industrial front, which we will announce shortly.”
Dongshao Guo, General Manager of Qianjiang Motor Co. commented: ”We thank MV Agusta for choosing to establish a new strategic partnership with us. MV Agusta is a world-famous brand with a long history, and also an old friend and close partner of Qianjiang Motorcycle. This cooperation is not only a strong combination of the two sides’ business, but also a further recognition of the brands and ideas of each other. We hope that in the future we could work together to bring in for the Chinese customers more high-performance motorcycles that are fashionable, easy to handle, and fun to ride. We aim to make motorcycle travels freer, greener, and more passionate.”
About MV Agusta Motor S.p.A.
MV Agusta is one of the world’s leading premium motorcycles manufacturers. Based in Varese, in Northern Italy, it crafts legendary racetrack-derived bikes. Iconic design and class-leading performance through advanced technologies and materials make MV Agusta motorcycles admired the world over and celebrated as unique pieces of Motorcycle Art. Since 1945, the brand has evolved to become a point of reference in the industry, having won 37 World Championship titles. A record still undisputed. www.mvagusta.com
About QJ-Motor Co.
QJ-Motor Co. is a subsidiary corporation of Geely Technology Group, as well as is one of the largest and most prominent two wheeler manufacturers & engines in China, with extensive commercial presence in the region. It was found in 1985, owns a variety of brands including Benelli, QJMOTOR, Molinks & Dolnnext. QJ-Motor Co. is supported by a leading design team and the world-class advanced engineers as well as a National Enterprise Technology Center and a National Accredited Testing Laboratory. With strong capabilities to deploy the latest technologies in products (from 50cc to 1200cc), QJ-Motor Co. has kept the champion for eight years at above 250cc large displacement motorcycle market segment. For more information, please reference www.qjmotor.com
The post MV Agusta Announces partnership with QJ-Motor Co. appeared first on Motorcycle.com News.
This morning, Harley Davidson announced that they will be bringing Gina Goetter onto the team as CFO according to GlobalNewswire. She has been a top financial executive at Tyson Foods and will be officially making the move on Sept 30. A ton of stuff is happening over at the Harley office, as just a few months back Jochen Zeitz was elected official president and CEO of the company.
The company is going through some big changes to hopefully section off more of the market for themselves after a lackluster performance over the last decade. It’s no surprise to me that they’re cleaning-house and attempting to breathe some fresh air into the 100+year-old brand. They have given this direction change an official title of “The Rewire” to continue through 2020 with 2021 introducing “The Hardwire” going onwards. We can only hope it pans out for them because the Harley Davidson brand is an important piece of American history.
“Gina is a CFO with the experience to drive a transformation of core processes and reporting for improved operational efficiency, build a global shared services model and modernize accounting and controls,” said Jochen Zeitz, chairman, president and CEO of Harley-Davidson. “She will add to the fresh perspectives and new capabilities now represented at the leadership level that complement the experienced talent that has been promoted from within. We have a diverse management team structured in a new way that is designed to fuel Harley-Davidson’s brand desirability and lead Harley-Davidson as a high-performing organization.”
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
The long-awaited annual Aldi motorcycle gear sale will be held throughout Australia on 30 September 2020, a month after its usual date due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And this year it will be held on a Wednesday rather than a Saturday, which will make it difficult for those who work.
Most of the riding gear on sale is fairly typical — gloves, pants, thermals, socks, and helmets — and all for males with no women-specific gear this time.
It’s a smaller-than-usual selection of items with no motorcycle jackets this year.
Other sale items are a tank/tail bag, disc lock, and bike cover.
The annual sale is usually extremely popular with riders but has also attracted its fair share of criticism for taking business away from dealers.
Those who support the sale say it provides good quality gear at cheap prices which encourages riders to wear safety gear when riding.
For example, the Euro-approved riding jeans cost just $89.99, disc lock and cover are $29.99, gloves $39.99, tail/tank bag $39.99 and the full-face helmet with drop-down sun visor is just $79.99.
Supply is limited, so it’s recommended that riders queue up early.
Sizing is also limited with the helmet, for example, in medium, large, and XL only.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Want to own your own motorcycle company? Carducci Dual Sport is offering a motorcycle design for sale. The unconventional adventure bike, the SC3 Gera Baja is based on a Harley-Davidson Sportster but is so much more than the Sportster is.
The SC3 was created by Jim Carducci who has a background in aerospace and engineering in Silicon Valley. He’s also a gearhead and obviously a rider.
The motorcycle is named after Tony Gera, 2016 Baja 1000 Ironman champion, he rode the bike and helped test the prototyped version of the bike.
According to ADV Pulse, Carducci is selling the manufacturing rights to the parts he has designed. This includes 2D and 3D CAD drawings and models for those parts as well as for the complete bike, the complete list of materials, assembly instructions, and exclusive use of the Bajaj patent and manufacturing rights.
Essentially, you’re getting everything you need to manufacture and sell the motorcycles. Carducci said that he has seen a lot of interest in the SC3 and would like to see the bike handed off to someone who can concentrate on manufacturing. He wants to specialize in designing, documenting, prototyping, and testing new customs.
Carducci said that’s he’s hoping to get $150,000 for the rights to everything listed above. and then $48,000 for the SCE Gera Baja CB#1. This is the only controlled build of the bike.
This could be a good choice for a company that wants to get into the ADV bike segment. It will be interesting to see what happens with the sale.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Motorcycle travel documentaries can encourage you to go on your own adventure and help inspire you. There’s another really good one coming. Sterling Noren of Noren Films managed to capture his 6,000-mile journey over 30 days of riding solo.
The 25-part series was filmed and produced was filmed by the rider and he knows what he’s doing. Noren has been creating motorcycle documentaries since 1998.
Noren has been creating the Backcountry Discovery Routes series of videos for the past 10 years. He’s well known for his work. This year he wasn’t able to do that because of COVID-19, so he took matters into his own hands.
He took his time and made the route up as he went. “I didn’t have an itinerary. There was no schedule. I was free to wake up and ride as far as I wanted, or as little as I wanted every day,” said Sterling.
He wanted to show how easy it is to take a backcountry trip in the USA. He travels through Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.
The episodes will air September 23, and you can watch it for free on Sterling Noren’s YouTube channel. You can also watch the trailer for the video series below.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
There’s knock-off just about everything these days, including motorcycles. RideApart noted an interesting bike that is a very clear clone of a Kawasaki Z1000.
The bike is called the Yamax Z400. From far enough away, it looks exactly like the Kawasaki motorcycle. Upon closer scrutiny, however, the Yamax Z400 is nothing of the sort.
The motorcycle features only a 400cc parallel-twin engine, though it’s packaged in a way to really make it look like the bike is all that the Z1000 is.
The motorcycle features a 96 mph top speed and appears to be built in China. The bike is currently for sale at a Moroccan motorcycle dealership, and I don’t see it being offered in many other markets at this time.
The motorcycle is currently offered at 38,900 Moroccan Dirhams, which is about $4,230 USD. If I were in the market for a 400cc machine, I’d rather look to the Kawasaki Z400 for only about $700 more.
The Yamax Z400 is proof that knock-off motorcycles are everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kawasaki reach out to the owners of Yamax about some kind of infringement.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
“So yeah, it was the first day we had the test to work alone and without pressure and try to be consistent. We had some new things to try that helped also. It was a really good test, then in the weekend we did some really good small steps, we are still missing in quali but in the race I started good, the first lap I was really good, aggressive, trying to recover a lot of positions.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
