Friday 9th November 2018
Polaris Industries has reported motorcycle segment sales, including PG&A, of $155 million for the third quarter of 2018, which is flat compared to the third quarter of 2017, but with gross profit up at $20 million compared to $10 million in the third quarter of 2017.
Adjusted for the Victory wind-down costs recorded in both the 2018 and 2017 third quarters, motorcycle gross profit was $21 million in the 2018 third quarter compared to $18 million for the 2017 third quarter.
North American consumer retail sales for the Polaris motorcycle segment, including both Indian Motorcycle and Slingshot, decreased high-single digits during the 2018 third quarter. Indian Motorcycle retail sales increased low-single digits, in spite of an overall weak North American motorcycle market.
Slingshot's retail sales were down during the quarter. Motorcycle industry retail sales, 900 cc and above, were down low-teens percent in the 2018 third quarter, meaning that Indian Motorcycle gained market share for the 2018 third quarter on a year-over-year basis.
Scott Wine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Polaris Industries Inc., said that "the dedication and strong execution of our Polaris team continued to drive broad based growth across the business in the third quarter.
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Wednesday 7th November 2018
Maywood, Illinois-based manufacturer National Cycle now has VStream Windscreens in tough 4.5 mm Quantum hardcoated polycarbonate for the updated 2017 to current Yamaha FZ-10/MT-10.
This high-quality material, along with state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques, provides "outstanding clarity, impact strength and scratch resistance unmatched by any windscreen maker worldwide".
These new windscreens are available in three heights - Sport in dark tint, Sport-Touring in light tint, and Touring in clear. "This means there is a perfectly sized windscreen for almost every rider. All will offer improved wind protection and riding comfort compared to OEM or other aftermarket windscreens".
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Tuesday 6th November 2018
"The Next Chapter in Our Long and Rich Brand History"
Leading custom tire manufacturer Avon has announced the next stage in the development of its Cobra brand tire program with the unveiling of the Cobra Chrome.
Available in extreme custom sizes with rear tires up to 23 inch and widths of up to 330 mm, the Cobra Chrome is said to offer "excellent wet braking and stability" thanks to enhanced compounds and new construction that deliver "improved stopping distances in wet braking tests, high stability in all conditions, with precise feel and tire feedback."
Avon's latest tread pattern and advanced construction produces an over 5% larger tire footprint compared to the existing Cobra, with improved tire life - its highly durable compound and latest technology tread pattern design delivering 10% extra mileage.
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Friday 2nd November 2018
Danish specialist SBS Friction has announced that it has "secured a 100% safe brake pad programme" by embracing mechanical bonding for their ceramic and sintered brake pads.
Last year SBS succeeded in launching a sinter material for street brake pads using NUCAP Retention System (NRS) technology for their SP programme. Now a new range of world leading road racing brake pads with NRS technology has been tested for a year and will be launched with a new Dynamic Racing Concept at EICMA. SBS says it has committed to going towards being "100% NRS Safe" throughout its brake product line.
The NRS technology is said to be the most advanced mechanical pad to backing plate attachment technology in the industry with a zero-failure rate in over a billion units worldwide.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018
Harley-Davidson has announced its Q3 financial results, and while it is reporting that international retail motorcycle sales were up +2.6 percent compared to 2017, retail sales in the United States were down -13.3 percent, putting worldwide retail sales down overall at -7.8 percent.
The domestic U.S. 601+ cc industry was down -9.8 percent in the third quarter compared to 2017. Harley-Davidson's third quarter U.S. market share was 50.9 percent, while Harley-Davidson's European market share was up +0.8 of a percentage point to 10.4 percent through September.
Third quarter revenue from the Motorcycles and Related Products segment (Motorcycles segment) was up versus the prior year. Operating margin as a percentage of revenue increased in the quarter compared to 2017 due to higher gross margin and lower SG&A as a percent of revenue.
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Monday 29th October 2018
The 13th AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, staged at INTERMOT Customized, Cologne, October 3-7, is widely being hailed as a success, with the standards and numbers of bikes entered reaching standards and numbers not seen since the event moved to Europe, or before.
At 85 individual builders, the number of competitors is a new record, as anticipated, but so too is the number of countries - they came from 30 different countries, including some (Indonesia, Malaysia and India) for the first time as the global passion for custom motorcycles continues to spread around the world.
At 98 the number of bikes was also a record since the two bikes per competitor maximum was introduced 12 years ago, and although estimates are always tricky, at around 150,000 visitors, the 'AMD' and INTERMOT Customized again confirmed its status as the largest international custom show and custom motorcycle industry expo ever seen.
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Sunday 21st October 2018
Russian customizer Zillers Garage scored a convincing first place in the 13th annual AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building at INTERMOT Customized, Cologne, Germany, October 7.
With 'Insomnia', Zillers' Yamaha SR 400 based masterpiece, rising star Dmitry Golubchikov takes the coveted title of Avon World Champion of Custom Bike Building for the next two years, and becomes the first winner of the AMD World Championship from Eastern Europe.
Sponsored by leading custom tire manufacturer Avon Tyres, the Freestyle class at the AMD World Championship is internationally recognized as being the premier showcase for originality, innovation craftsmanship and advanced custom motorcycle design and engineering.
In a very broad international spread of top honours, second place and first reserve champion went to Omar Jumiran, all the way from Malaysia for 'BoneX', his exquisite handbuilt, race-inspired AJS 350 engined drag style one-off special. Omar qualified to compete at the AMD World Championship as a result of his win at MotoNation, Kuala Lumpur in 2017, one of the international network of AMD's official affiliate custom bike shows.
Third place and second reserve champion went to Károly Orkonyi from Hungary for 'Speedster King', his futuristic 1700 cc handmade rigid.
Altogether 51 bikes competed in Freestyle, with no less than 13 different countries featuring in the top 20.
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