The Benelli Motorcycles display at EICMA in November 2023.
Benelli Motorcycles is an Italian brand with a storied 113-year history. Following last month’s EICMA show in Milan, Italy, Benelli announced a new distributor for its motorcycles in North America. Read the full press release below.
We are thrilled, yes, thrilled, to announce a momentous first in the 100-plus-year history of Benelli. Its motorcycles are now distributed in North America by Keeway Group, co-owner and exclusive worldwide corporate manager of the Benelli brand. In short, Benelli is finally represented by Benelli in the North American markets.
Founded by the six Benelli brothers in 1911, in the seaside city of Pesaro, Italy, the original Benelli factory is now the Benelli Museum, still fully owned by the brand. Originally conceived as a brand of passion, Benelli soon went racing with youngest brother Antonio “Tonino” quickly achieving many victories. Racing in Italy evolved into racing internationally, with Benelli earning two GP world championships. Every year Benelli and the city of Pesaro celebrate Benelli Week, a tradition that began 13 years ago at the company’s 100th anniversary in 2011.
Keeway Group, the corporate manager of the Benelli brand, also has other brands to provide dealers a robust array of two-wheeled vehicles. Keeway’s growing complementary line of scooters and small-displacement motorcycles will also be offered in the U.S. market, at a later date in 2024.
The Benelli Motorcycles display at EICMA in November 2023.
At November’s EICMA, the international motorcycle exposition taking place in Milan, Italy, the side by side displays of Benelli and Keeway were teeming with media, dealers, and consumers, from all corners of our round planet. Attendees included over 400 distributor and dealer representatives from 66 countries. With design studios in Italy and Spain, and primary manufacturing in China, Benelli and Keeway are truly international brands.
The initial 2024 Benelli models will be arriving in the USA in the first quarter of the year, with additional models arriving in the second quarter. Specifics about the models heading to North America will be made available in the near future.
Keeway America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Keeway Group, with main offices and warehouses for distribution located in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. We welcome powersports professionals to inquire about joining our seasoned team. For additional information, visit Benelli’s U.S. website or contact [email protected].
The Tennessee Motorcycles and Music Revival will return to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, from May 16-19, 2024. Back for its seventh year, this event will keep attendees entertained with plenty of motorcycle activities, vendors, daily live music, stunt shows, food trucks, and more.
Loretta Lynn’s spacious 3,500-acre ranch allows plenty of room to roll and romp through the woods and across the hills. Back for 2024, the ADV Experience package was a hit last year and includes three days of trial riding, biker games, morning coffee, skills building, and demo rides on Harley-Davidson Pan Americas, and general admission to the rest of the TMMR activities. The ADV Experience is open to any make or model of adventure bike, and the package costs $149, just $20 more than the price for general admission.
Along with the wooded trails on the ranch, there are also fields to camp in, the Fist City Track for bike shows and games, a country store and museum, and three music stages. TMMR boasts its “two-wheeled playground” and invites attendees to enjoy Harley-Davidson demo rides, racing, ADV trail riding, the V-Twin Visionary performance bike show, an all-class bike show, biker games, group motorcycle rides, the BC Moto Invitational bike show, and more.
The ranch’s location an hour west of Nashville guarantees plenty of musical talent. The 2024 lineup won’t be announced until after the new year, but you can expect to see a schedule packed with several live performances each day including outlaw country, Southern rock, country, bluegrass, and rock ’n’ roll.
Loretta’s Roadhouse is the main stage for nightly music during TMMR. For the 2023 event, the Loretta Lynn tribute featured Loretta’s granddaughter Tayla (purple dress) introducing guest performers and storytellers, like Tim Watson on the fiddle who performed at Loretta’s funeral.
Tennessee Motorcycles and Music Revival offers a variety of camping options to suit your needs. Basic tent camping is available onsite, and RV hookup spots are also available. For those looking for a more sophisticated stay, the campground also offers fully furnished glamping tents for rent. Hotels and Airbnbs in the area are also available but fill up fast. Members of the U.S. Special Operations Forces can take advantage of the partnership with Special Ops Xcursions for complimentary tickets and camping.
The Fist City Track, which hosts racing and biker games during TMMR, also hosts Amateur National Motocross Championships every year.
General admission for the Tennessee Motorcycles and Music Revival is $129, and VIP upgrades are available. Pricing for tent, glamping, and RV spots on the ranch has not yet been announced. To stay up to date on TMMR news, sign up to join the email list or text “TMMR” to (883) 306-6093. Ticket sales start on December 1, 2023.
Can-Am and the Road Warrior Foundation (RWF), recently came together to host an unforgettable “Adventure Therapy” ride that covered nearly 2,000 miles aboard Can-Am Spyder 3-wheel vehicles. This year marked the 10th Annual Road Warrior Ride, which gives veterans the opportunity to disconnect from their day-to-day life and experience the incredible healing power of riding the open road, all completely free of charge.
The veterans were selected by RWF from a pool of hundreds of applicants, and as is the focus of every RWF adventure, they were all post-9/11 veterans with various injuries, both physical and mental. Something else they all shared: a craving for adventure and a need to inject some excitement in their lives. Riding is a perfect recipe for a group of likeminded strangers with so much in common.
“Can-Am has been the title sponsor of the Road Warrior Foundation since it was established in 2013, proudly helping to enable its mission to provide Adventure Therapy to U.S. Military veterans,” said Martin Ethier, Global Marketing Director, Can-Am. “We firmly believe that the open road is open to all, and through this sponsorship, we are able to bring that to life for a group of incredibly deserving riders.”
Prior to hitting the road, the group gathered in Lake George, NY, where they spent time getting to know each other and received a hero’s welcome from more than 300 Can-Am owners at SpyderQuest, an annual Can-Am owners event in beautiful upstate New York. Several of the riders had only recently acquired their motorcycle license, and most had very little experience riding in a group, so prior to the main event, Can-Am and RWF representatives did some closed-course and classroom training on the fleet of vehicles provided by Can-Am. Then it was time to hit the open road.
“Can-Am 3-wheel vehicles are the only vehicles that allow us to do what we do because it’s so easy to learn to ride,” said Stephen Berger, co-founder of the Road Warrior Foundation and U.S. Air Force veteran. “BRP provides us a fleet of vehicles that we keep all over the country, so for this ride and other smaller ones we have throughout the year, we’re able to get veterans of all skill levels out riding quickly by putting them through the Can-Am Rider Education Program.”
As always, once the wheels were rolling, the excitement was undeniable from all. The veterans experienced amazing views, great roads, and landmarks such as the National Baseball Hall of Fame in NY, the Flight 93 National Memorial in PA, and the National Museum of the USAF in OH. Undoubtedly, though, one of the biggest highlights was a Can-Am off-road experience at Badlands Off-Road Park in Attica, Indiana, where Can-Am dealer, Attica Motorsports, hosted the group while they enjoyed riding Can-Am Maverick, Defender, and Commander off-road vehicles through the park’s 1,400+ acres.
In addition to providing the fleet of vehicles, Can-Am also gave the riders a full suite of riding gear to cover the various climates they covered on their way from New York, through Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, and ultimately concluding at a Can-Am owners’ event called, “Spyders in the Ozarks,” with more than 300 Can-Am riders welcoming them as they rode into Nixa, MO.
About Road Warrior Foundation
The Road Warrior Foundation is an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that’s run by veterans, for veterans. The organization primarily utilizes powersports as Adventure Therapy to produce a challenging environment that puts deserving veterans back in the driver’s seat. The Foundation’s powersports experiences range from quick day-trips to multi-day rides like this one, as well as off-road days and snowmobiling excursions.
About BRP
BRP Inc. is a global leader in the world of powersports products, propulsion systems and boats built on over 80 years of ingenuity and intensive consumer focus. Through its portfolio of industry-leading and distinctive brands featuring Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft and pontoons, Can-Am on and off-road vehicles, Alumacraft and Quintrex boats, Manitou pontoons and Rotax marine propulsion systems as well as Rotax engines for karts and recreational aircraft, BRP unlocks exhilarating adventures and provides access to experiences across different playgrounds. The Company completes its lines of products with a dedicated parts, accessories and apparel portfolio to fully optimize the riding experience. Committed to growing responsibly, BRP is developing electric models for its existing product lines and exploring new low voltage and human assisted product categories. Headquartered in Quebec, Canada, BRP has annual sales of CA$10 billion from over 130 countries and a global workforce of close to 23,000 driven, resourceful people.
The Ultimate Driving Museum of the BMW CCA Foundation in Greer, South Carolina, celebrates the 100th anniversary of BMW Motorrad with an exhibit titled “BMW Motorcycles: A Century of Innovation,” which runs through January 20, 2024.Over 57 rare and historically significant two- and four-wheeled motorcycle-powered vehicles are on display, taking the visitor on a historical tour from the very first 1923 BMW R 32 through the latest 2023 100 Years Edition motorcycles.
The exhibit highlights the world-leading technical innovations, racing victories, world records, and the pure passion that has driven BMW’s motorcycle division to this day.
In December 1922, BMW chief designer Max Friz put the first full-scale BMW motorcycle on the drawing board. At its heart was a 494 cc, 8.5 hp, air-cooled two-cylinder, four-stroke boxer engine. The first BMW motorcycle, the R 32, was unveiled in September 1923 at the German Motor Show in Berlin. Production began that same month in an area of the BMW engine works on the edge of the Munich’s Oberwiesenfeld airfield. Just 56 motorcycles were built that first year. Those humble beginnings of BMW motorcycle production launched an unprecedented success story that has spanned a century.
The BMW motorcycles on display at The Ultimate Driving Museum include a selection of prewar singles and boxer twins, postwar street and racing machines, including the 1938 R 51 Super Sport raced by Tim Reid in the 1939 Isle of Man TT, the world championship-winning 1958 Fath Kneeler sidecar racer, and Reg Pridmore’s 1976 AMA Superbike championship-winning R 90 S, plus a world-traveling R 80 G/S and other assorted rarities from the 100-year span of BMW Motorcycle history.
The Ultimate Driving Museum is located across the street from BMW Plant Spartanburg, the largest BMW Group production plant in the world, and just down the road from the BMW Performance Driving School and U.S. Rider Academy.
Suzuki Motor USA is hosting the Hayabusa Homecoming commemorating the 25th anniversary of the iconic bike. The event will take place on Nov. 11 in conjunction with the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, California, with several perks exclusive to Suzuki owners, including free entry into the races on that Saturday. For more information, read the press release below.
Suzuki Motor USA invites Suzuki owners to join the Hayabusa Homecoming, a commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the legendary Suzuki Hayabusa during the In-N-Out Burger Finals at the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Happening Nov. 11th at one of the birthplaces of professional drag racing: In-N-Out Burger Dragstrip, Pomona, California.
This event is open to anyone attending the In-N-Out Burger Finals. Owners of Suzuki and Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycles will receive free grandstand entry for Saturday, VIP Suzuki Parking for the day, and an In-N-Out Burger lunch voucher.
Hayabusa Homecoming will be held at the Suzuki display located within the NHRA midway from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11. Suzuki motorcycle owners attending the Hayabusa Homecoming will receive free entry to the races on Saturday, and there will be special activities throughout Saturday for all who stop by the Suzuki display. Planned events for the Hayabusa Homecoming include:
Free grandstand entry for Saturday at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA finals to the first 200 Suzuki motorcycle riders who register online.
Free VIP Suzuki motorcycle parking near the NHRA Midway (Suzuki and Hayabusa owners only.)
A complimentary In-N-Out Burger lunch voucher. (Suzuki and Hayabusa owners only.)
The first 200 Suzuki Hayabusa riders to register will also receive an exclusive Hayabusa 25th Anniversary gift pack commemorating the famed sportbike.
An appearance by the Moore Mafia’s Chris Moore, a renowned drag bike builder and YouTuber who will be running his custom Turbo Hayabusa on the historic NHRA Pomona track, showcasing the jaw-dropping performance of the Suzuki Hayabusa.
Exclusive Q&A Session and fan interaction with Chris Moore and the Vance & Hines/Mission Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle team members, including:
Current NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship series leader Gaige Herrera.
Four-time Pro Stock Motorcycle NHRA World Champion Vance & Hines rider Eddie Krawiecz.
Six-time Pro Stock Motorcycle NHRA World Champion Vance & Hines team Crew Chief Andrew Hines.
Vance & Hines Hayabusa and Chris Moore’s custom 25th Anniversary Suzuki Hayabusa drag bike on hand at the Suzuki display.
Attendees can have their photo taken on a real Vance & Hines Pro Stock Hayabusa.
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class autograph session with Suzuki racers.
See all of the latest Suzuki models on display, get Suzuki swag and more.
Hayabusa Homecoming attendees will experience not only world-class Hayabusa NHRA drag racing competing on the legendary Pomona track, they will also be on-hand to celebrate the Hayabusa’s redefinition of motorcycle performance since 1999.
Stay tuned for more information and updates at the Suzuki Cycles website or follow Suzuki social channels @SuzukiCycles. Nov. 11 approaches as quickly as the Hayabusa does, so do not miss out on the Hayabusa Homecoming. It will be a great day for all Hayabusa and Suzuki fans!
Attendance for this exclusive celebration is extremely limited and limited to Suzuki motorcycle and Suzuki Hayabusa owners. Hayabusa Homecoming registrants will also receive access to exclusive Suzuki ticket pricing to purchase additional In-N-Out Burger Pomona Finals tickets directly from NHRA.
Join Suzuki and experience the Hayabusa Homecoming 25th Anniversary party, interact with the legendary Vance & Hines/Mission Suzuki team, and witness championship-caliber drag racing with Suzuki!
The BMW Motorrad Days Americas area dominated the Henderson Auctions Fan Zone at this year’s Barber Vintage Festival. It featured motorcycle displays, a beer garden, a stage with live music, food trucks, vendors, and more. Be-yond the Fan Zone is the racetrack, which hosted AHRMA racing and BMW parade laps.
America should designate a national park dedicated to motorcycles, and I nominate the Barber Vintage Motorsports Park. Set on 880 acres in the lush, rolling hills east of Birmingham, Alabama, it’s a motorcycle dreamland. A 16‑turn, 2.4‑mile racetrack designed with input from John Surtees and Dan Gurney winds through the campus. There are no grandstands, just well‑manicured grassy hillsides where spectators can spread out chairs, blankets, and umbrellas.
The crown jewel, of course, is the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, which holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest collection of motorcycles: more than 1,800 of them representing 200 manufacturers from 22 countries.
With more than 1,000 motorcycles on display, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is overwhelming.
More than 1,000 motorcycles are on display at any given time, and they are spread out over five floors in a spacious, well‑lit cathedral of speed and engineering. The top floor of the museum houses the Barber Advanced Design Center, an industrial design lab.
Barber has hosted rounds of AMA/MotoAmerica Superbike racing since 2003. I attended the Superbike races in 2004, where I watched the dominant Mat Mladin battle it out against Jake Zemke and Miguel Duhamel. It also hosts American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) racing.
During a museum tour, BMW archivist Fred Jakobs took a deep dive into historical models like this 1938 R 51.
Barber hosts two annual motorcycling events: Barber Small Bore, which celebrates the wild and wacky world of minibikes, and Barber Vintage Festival, which brings together vintage bike fans for a three‑day festival packed with AHRMA races, demo rides, bike shows, seminars, museum tours, vendor areas, and a huge swap meet.
Demo rides are a popular activity at the Barber Vintage Festival, and BMW offered both on‑road and off‑road demos.
This past October, the 18th annual Barber Vintage Festival hosted the inaugural BMW Motorrad Days Americas – a spin‑off of the event that takes place every summer in Germany – to celebrate the 100th anniversary of BMW Motorrad.
BMW invited members of the motorcycle media and friends of the brand to be part of the event, which gave me the opportunity for a long-overdue visit to the festival and museum. I’ve been told that you can’t do justice to the museum in less than a full day, and truer words have never been spoken. The scale, depth, and breadth of the collection is mind‑boggling.
If it has a motor and two wheels – and sometimes three or four wheels – it can be found at the Barber Vintage Festival.
On Friday, our chummy group of motojournalists saddled up on a fleet of BMW R 18 Roctanes to ride from our hotel to Barber. We were joined by Peter Nettesheim and his daughter, Kate. Nettesheim’s New York home showcases the world’s largest collection of BMW motorcycles. He owns at least one of every BMW model built between 1923 and 1970, including the oldest known example of the first motorcycle BMW built, the 1923 R 32, as well as various newer models and an extensive collection of BMW paraphernalia.
The 1923 R 32 was BMW’s first production motorcycle.
Upon arriving at Barber, I hopped on one of the shuttles that carries visitors along the park’s ring road surrounding the racetrack and ferries them to the museum, the Fan Zone, the swap meet, the Proving Grounds, the paddock, and the spectating areas. Motorcycles were parked on nearly every available patch of grass, and the age range and diversity of bikes were impressive. The blue smoke and ring‑a‑ding sounds of 2‑strokes filled the air, and old‑school minibikes piloted by hipsters and overgrown boys zipped around everywhere. Harleys, Hondas, and Hodakas of various vintages and conditions sat proudly on makeshift kickstand pads, some with “For Sale” signs tucked into the handlebars. Name any motorcycle brand, and it was represented somewhere by someone.
The BMW ride‑in bike show included John Langston’s 1928 R 62 that he rode in the 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball and an R 75/5 chopper.
My first stop was the sprawling Proving Grounds, which was the staging area for demo rides offered by BMW, CFMOTO, Indian, KTM, Royal Enfield, Triumph, Yamaha, and electric bike maker Ryvid. BMW had an enormous fleet of bikes on hand and was offering both on‑road and off‑road demos. Next to BMW’s demo area, our very own Quinn Redeker gave hourly police‑style riding demonstrations on a BMW R 1250 RT‑P, and his humor and skills weaving through tight cone patterns kept folks thoroughly entertained.
Near the Proving Grounds was the Isle of Triumph, an immersive fan experience located inside the racetrack with live music, a bike show, art installations, and vendors selling food, drinks, and merch.
BMW Authority Sales Ambassador and Rider columnist Quinn Redeker gave a demonstration of police‑style riding.
Next, I made my way over to the Henderson Auctions Fan Zone, which overlooks the racetrack and had a bouncy‑house kids zone, American Motor Drome Company’s Wall of Death, the Urias Family Globe of Death, and a vendor area, where I visited our friends at Royal Enfield, SW‑Motech, and Wunderlich America.
Taking up most of the real estate in the Fan Zone was the BMW Motorrad Days Americas area, which included displays of current and historical models, a beer garden, a stage with live music, a merchandise store, and partner displays, including Edelweiss Bike Travel, RawHyde Adventures, and the BMW Performance Center.
GS Ambassador Shawn Thomas during the world‑first public unveiling of the 2024 R 1300 GS.
On the stage at noon, GS Brand Ambassador Shawn “Rock On” Thomas and BMW Motorrad VP Region Americas Trudy Hardy gave a few introductory remarks before pulling a cover off the 2024 BMW R 1300 GS – the bike’s first public showing since being announced on Sept. 28 (see page 7 for details). After Stefan Reiff, BMW Motorrad’s VP of Customer, Brand and Sales, gave an overview of the new GS, Thomas rolled it off the stage, and I captured a short video of him starting up the bike, which is available on the Rider YouTube channel. The R 1300 GS was on display the rest of the weekend, giving folks a chance to check out the bike up close.
At dinner on Friday night, I had the privilege of sitting with Udo Giestl, who worked as an engineer for Butler & Smith, the former U.S. importer for BMW motorcycles. He built the R 90 S racebikes that Reg Pridmore, Gary Fisher, and Steve McLaughlin campaigned in the inaugural 1976 season of AMA Superbike racing. McLaughlin and Pridmore finished 1‑2 in the Daytona 200 that year, and Pridmore won the championship.
From left, Udo Giestl, Fred Jakobs, and Steve McLaughlin with Pridmore’s R 90 S.
On Saturday, Giestl’s son, Eric, led the BMW parade laps on a restored version of Pridmore’s R 90 S racebike, and he was flanked by Peter and Kate Nettesheim on two vintage BMWs from Peter’s collection.
That same day, Revival Cycles hosted a BMW‑only ride‑in bike show, which included well‑maintained bikes of new and old vintages as well as various customs, like an R 75/5 chopper with a raked‑out springer front end. I joined several other journalists for an in‑depth tour of the BMWs in the Barber Museum given by BMW archivist Fred Jakobs, who had traveled from Germany to attend the event.
The BMW parade laps were led by Eric Giestl on Reg Pridmore’s 1976 AMA Superbike championship‑winning R 90 S, Peter Nettesheim on a 1966 R 60/2, and Kate Nettesheim on a 1958 R 50.
It was a full, fun weekend with more to do than there was time to do it. No word yet whether BMW Motorrad Days Americas will become an annual event, but no matter what, put the Barber Vintage Festival on your calendar (Oct. 11‑13, 2024), and make sure you allow plenty of time to explore the museum.
Our guest on Episode 67 of the Rider Magazine Insider Podcast is Ellie Cooper, who got trapped in India during the Covid lockdown and spent more than two years living there and exploring the country by motorcycle. The July 2022 issue of Rider included Cooper’s feature “Himalayan Cliffhanger” a gripping story about her riding India’s death road 2,000 feet above the Chenab River.
The November 2023 issue included “India from Head to Toe,” about riding her Royal Enfield 4,500 miles from the high Himalayan passes to the southernmost tip of India. Check out Cooper’s book, Waiting for Mango Season, available on Amazon, to read more about her adventures in India.
Rider EIC Greg Drevenstedt is at the Barber Vintage Festival at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, and BMW Motorrad has just unveiled the new BMW R 1300 GS, a thorough overhaul of BMW’s top-selling model with a larger, more powerful 1300cc engine, a new chassis, 26 lb less weight, fresh styling, and new technology. Check out the two videos below for the unveiling and to hear the R 1300 GS fire up and rev.
On Saturday, Oct. 7, from 7-10 a.m., there will be Suzuki Motorcycles, Cars, and Coffee event at Suzuki Motor USA headquarters in Brea, California.
The event is open to all brands of motorcycles and cars, and Suzuki will provide donuts, coffee and water. There will be have several new models out on display.
The map below shows where to enter the Suzuki Motor USA campus off Nasa St. From the 57 Freeway, go east on Imperial Hwy, turn left on Valencia St., then turn left on Nasa St., and pull into the parking lot. There is room for more than 300 motorcycles and cars.
Ride your Hayabusa or V-Strom, or drive your Grand Vitara or Samurai, and come have some fun!
IMTBike Motorcycle Tours has published its full 2024 calendar. Destinations include Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, the Alps, and Morocco along with MotoGP tours and global tours in Turkey, Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam. Check out the IMTBike 2024 tour calendar for dates, details, and pricing. Sign up now to lock in IMTBike’s current prices.
Many of IMTBike’s tours have new improved routing for 2024, and the company’s fleet of more than 200 BMW motorcycles will be updated with the latest 2024 models. Established in 1997, IMTBike has been conducting motorcycle tours for 26 years, and it has not only extensive experience but a reputation for high-quality tours. Check out the IMTBike testimonials page to find out what many satisfied clients have to say.
