Mark Bayer's Motorcycle News Resource Pages

WHAT'S NEW IN THE WORLD OF MOTORCYCLE'S! LOCAL EVENTS ARE LISTED ON PAGE FOUR!

INDEX:

Home Page[1]; news and the best "motorcycle news" site links at the bottom of this page;

Pages [2] & [3]; pictures of motorcycle developments;

page [4]; local events and links to local clubs and businesses;

page [5]; associated groups link page;

After researching the pages on this site, there are dozens of more great sites on: www.vcme.9f.com

The field of motorcycling is going through a renaissance today. New makers, resurrected historic names, and current manufacturers are creating some really exciting bikes. I thoroughly enjoy the sport and want to help those interested in keeping up with what's new. Make sure and go to page four to view local & regional events.

I have made a few notes of my own but have also placed some of the best links to motorcycle "news" resources:

SUMMER 2009 NEWS:

(I) Harley Davidson has announced that Buell will be discontinued after the 2009 model year. The last bikes will be produced on October 30th.of 2009. Buell's were marketed for 26 years. Buell was never a dominant bike on the race tracks, but considering their size and racing budget, they did a lot with very little. This is not a criticism of Buell, just the realization that it takes mega-bucks to run a racing program. Buell will certainly be remembered as a unique sport bike!

(II) Harley also announces that MV is up for sale. They owned the MV brand for about one year. It is rumored that Volkswagen might be interested in the brand in that they had made an attempt to buy Ducati.

(III) The new Norton 961 SE, a modernized retro bike will be marketed in the US in 2010. Check out the bike on www.nortonmotorcycles.com Norton states that 200 bikes will be built and sold in 2010. According to Norton, all the bikes have already been sold. A US distributor has been selected and plans are being made to get the factory completed so new bikes can be built! What a problem to have, no factory and the full run of bikes already sold out! Just get some over to the US, ASAP!

(IV) Honda has announced an all new V-4, VFR Interceptor to be offered late this year as a 2010 model. It will have a 1200cc, 172 hp engine which includes some revolutionary technology which will impact the future of the high performance engine. It will also include a twin clutch six speed transmission which can work as a manual or an automatic. I hope Honda gets that "automatic" transmission right, I just don't get real excited about automatics in bikes, I hope I'm found to be wrong! However, I will be anxious to see the first road test! Make sure and check out the picture on the next page.

(V) New motorcycle sales in the US hit an all time high in 2005. Every year since that time, there has been around a 10 to 12% drop. Here are the sales figures for 2008:

2008 bikes sold first six months of 2009

Honda 337,339 units down 36% (109,321 units)

Yamaha 349,604 units down 55% (97,035 units)

Suzuki 348,465 units down 53% (92,111 units)

Harley Davidson 218,939 units down 35.1% in 2009

Kawasaki 191,337 units down 35% (62,492 units)

Triumph 41,619 estimated(2008) units worldwide US salesdown around 13% Estimated US sales in the 11,000-12,000 unit range with a 10% worldwide increase in 2007 and another 1+% increase in 2008.

BMW 101,000 units worldwide down less than 10%

BMW sales in the US are estimated to be in the 12,000+ range.

The Norton is another name which seems to return over and over again! Read below:

The original Norton motorcycle was built from 1902 till 1975. Financial problems have led to the bike's demise several times. From 1902 till 1953 the name stood on it's own, then was sold to AMC (Associated Motorcycles), a British group. AMC also marketed AJS, Matchless and several other less known brands. AMC became Norton-Villiars, then Norton-Villiars-Triumph, then was gone. In the late 1980's the name returned as a Wankel engined bike but was not a big success. In 1999 Kenny Dreer, an American, bought the rights to the name and developed a beautiful version of the Commando. Note the picture below. He never produced a production bike. Within the last year, a British business man has purchased back the name and has continued the development. Stuart Garner hopes to offer a bike for sale this year. The bike he is developing for sale is a newer version of the 588cc Rotary bike developed in the 1990's. I don't think the rotary (Wankel type) will do well in the US, it didn't even do well in Britain. The Commando pictured below is supposed to go on sale in the US during 2010. Production is rumored to start this month (September 2009).