Dawn of the DCT?

June 19, 2010 Leave a comment

Dual Clutch Transmissions (or DCTs) have been around for quite some time. In fact Porsche and Audi pioneered the technology in the mid-nineteen eighties in their race and rally cars respectively. However, it took quite some time for the technology to filter through to production cars. Volkswagen was one of the pioneers in the automotive sector, and the transmissions are now making an impact on the market. DCTs use two independent clutches for odd- and even-numbered gears which allow for faster shift times.

Read more of this post

Filed under Technology Tagged with , , , , ,

Venturi acquires Voxan

June 6, 2010 Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago Voxan sold off its assets, as reported in an earlier article. With this it seemed the name Voxan would feature on motorcycles no more, but now it is reported that the company has been bought by Venturi, the Monaco based manufacturer of electric cars.

Read more of this post

Filed under Industry Tagged with , ,

Positive results Triumph

May 23, 2010 Leave a comment

This year saw Triumph’s 20th anniversary of the make’s relaunch, under John Bloor’s leadership, and unlike some other start-ups in the last 2 decades, where we have seen a number of bankruptcies, Triumph is posting healthy results. This despite the recent financial crisis.

Read more of this post

Filed under Industry Tagged with , ,

BMW HP KUNST concept

May 20, 2010 Leave a comment

This striking concept for a BMW was conceived by a small team of design students at ISD of Valenciennes in France. The minimalist design incorporates a hydrogen fuel cell with a Li-Po battery. The fuel cell is positioned at an angle where traditionally the engine would be. The bike features both front and rear single sided swing arms that incorporate electromagnetic suspension. Like more traditional BMW’s it uses a shaft drive but is powered by a 100 kilowatt motor.

Read more of this post

Filed under News, Technology Tagged with , , , , ,

Harley Davidson Summer 2010 Campaign

May 19, 2010 Leave a comment

Harley Davidson has teamed up with Victoria Secret’s model Marisa Miller for a third time. After promoting the HD V-Rod Muscle and featuring in the Harley Davidson ‘Salutes the Military’ campaign, the supermodel is now promoting the Nightster series.

Read more of this post

Filed under Marketing Tagged with , , , ,

30 Years of BMW GS

May 19, 2010 Leave a comment

As part of a 30 years anniversary celebration of the iconic GS motorcycle, BMW will launch special editions of the F650GS, F800GS, R1200GS, and R1200GS Adventure models. All models will get a white paint scheme with red and blue “30 Years GS” stickers on the tank. Just like the original the anniversary bikes will get the trademark red seating. The first GS was launched back in 1980 and was called the R80 G/S, where G/S stood for Gelände/Straße meaning offroad/road.
Read more of this post

Filed under News Tagged with , ,

Designer Profile: Miguel Angel Galluzzi

May 7, 2010 1 Comment

The Italian designer Miguel Angel Galluzzi was born in Buenos Aires in 1959. He designed amongst others, the iconic Ducati Monster back in 1992. This was the bike that made the naked bike segment exciting again and can be considered as one of the most influential motorcycle designs. The motorcycle gave Ducati a then much needed sales success.

Read more of this post

Filed under News Tagged with , , , ,

BMW Motorcycle sales are up Q1 2010

May 7, 2010 Leave a comment

BMW Motorcycles has seen a surge in sales in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year. This despite the 500 cc+ segment seeing negative growth of 12.3 % worldwide. In terms of units they sold 20,840 compared to 17,232 in Q1 2009, representing a 20.9% increase.

Read more of this post

Filed under Industry Tagged with , , ,

Voxan assets sold off

April 30, 2010 1 Comment


The French motorcycle maker went into liquidation several months back. Regrettably, Voxan was forced to sell its assets of in an auction in March. Voxan ran into financial trouble before, at the end of 2001, and was bought by Société de Développement et de Participation in 2002 to guarantee continuation. This time however, the maker could not secure enough funds to continue trading.

Read more of this post

Filed under Industry, News Tagged with , , ,

Changing motorcycle segments

April 29, 2010 Leave a comment


The UK motorcycle market is a significant market in Europe, being the 5th largest after Italy, Spain, France and Germany respectively. Over the last two years we have seen a downward trend in motorcycle sales in most of the European markets. Although this trend has continued at the beginning of 2010, there are signs of recovery.

Read more of this post

Filed under Industry Tagged with , , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.