Posts Tagged ‘Motorcycle news’

Motorcycle News Highlights October 2025

Posted: November 4, 2025 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle news
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1. MotoE World Championship (electric-motorcycle racing) suspended

Dorna Sports (along with Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, FIM) announced that the MotoE series will be put on hiatus after the 2025 season.
The reason: insufficient fan interest and slow development in the electric-motorcycle market.
This is a notable setback for electric road-racing motorcycles.

2. Norton Motorcycles outlines a major revival strategy under new ownership

The British heritage brand Norton (now under TVS Motor Company) is inviting UK-based retailers to join its network ahead of a global relaunch at the EICMA 2025 show in Milan and reportedly secured a ~USD 267 million investment for manufacturing and operations in the UK.

3. Ride of the Year: Can‑Am Canyon Redrock named 2025 Motorcycle of the Year

According to Rider Magazine, the Can-Am Canyon Redrock (a three-wheel “roadster” from BRP) is awarded the 2025 Motorcycle of the Year. Rider Magazine


The publication noted that the broader motorcycle marketplace is increasingly diverse—with over 117 new or updated models eligible this year. They pointed out that lighter, more accessible machines (including 3-wheelers) and electric/alternative-power machines are helping reshape the market. The award to the Canyon Redrock underscores how category-creep is real: what counts as “motorcycle” is evolving.

4. U.S. dealer-/industry initiative to grow riding participation

Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) in the U.S. has partnered with Comoto Family of Brands (owner of Cycle Gear, RevZilla, J&P Cycles) to roll out a nationwide “Ride With Us” initiative aimed at introducing new riders and lowering barriers to entry.
Highlights:

  • The campaign provides hands-on experiences, free ride-intro events, training-bike access, gear, coaching and guides on licensing.
  • The tagline: “What does a motorcycle rider look like? Exactly like you.” It emphasizes inclusivity and aims to attract a broader demographic.
  • The effort also encourages existing riders to “Recruit a Rider” — inviting friends/family to join.

Implication: With the new-motorcycle market under pressure in many regions, growing the base of riders (not just sales) becomes a strategic priority. Increasing participation may help sustain culture, aftermarket sales, gear/accessories, and ultimately new-bike demand long-term.

Motorcycle Recall October 2025: Honda

Posted: October 30, 2025 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news, motorcycle recall
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motorcycle recalls check your vin for recalls united states motorcycle recalls NHTSA recall

Be aware that this motorcycle recall list is for the United States for the last 30 days, there is no way I could cover the entire world. But in the world of global manufacturing, if a motorcycle is being recalled in one country there is a good chance it is under recall in others.

Also, this should not be considered a definitive list, check for yourself if you have any questions.

If you are US based, use the NHTSA website http://www.safercar.gov. Enter your VIN number to see if your motorcycle is affected by the recall.

If you are based outside the USA, use the appropriate website to locate recalls that may impact you.

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NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V723000

Manufacturer Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)

Components POWER TRAIN

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2025 CB1000SP Hornet SP motorcycles. The pivot bolt on the gearshift pedal may loosen and detach, resulting in the inability to shift gears. As such, these motorcycles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 123, “Motorcycle Controls and Displays.”

Remedy Dealers will replace the pivot bolt, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed December 19, 2025. Owners may contact Honda’s customer service at 1-866-784-1870. Honda’s number for this recall is KT2. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning October 28, 2025.

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RIDE ON, RIDE SAFE

Indian Motorcycle’s Future in Question

Posted: October 14, 2025 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle news
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What You Need to Know: Indian Motorcycle Sold to Private Equity

It’s official. Polaris has sold a majority stake in Indian Motorcycle to Carolwood LP, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm. And while the press releases are full of buzzwords like “growth” and “heritage,” we’re calling it straight: this is a loss for the riding community.

From Revival to Revenue

Polaris bought Indian in 2011 and did what many thought impossible—they brought the century-old brand roaring back to life. From the Scout to the Challenger, Indian became a real rival to Harley-Davidson, blending classic Americana with modern engineering. Riders responded. The brand grew. The culture thrived.

But now, Polaris is walking away. Despite Indian generating nearly $478 million last year, it wasn’t profitable enough for Wall Street. So they sold it off to a firm that doesn’t build bikes—it builds balance sheets.

Meet the New Owners: Carolwood LP: Riders, Meet Your New Landlord

Carolwood LP isn’t a motorcycle company. It’s a private equity firm. Their business isn’t about the ride—it’s about the return. They’ve tapped Mike Kennedy, a veteran of Harley-Davidson and RumbleOn, as CEO. Sure, he knows the industry. But this move feels more like financial engineering than passion for the open road.

Private equity firms are known for cutting costs, streamlining operations, and chasing short-term gains. That might work for tech startups or retail chains—but motorcycles aren’t just products. They’re culture. They’re community. They’re us.

I believe motorcycles are more than machines. They’re stories, diners, roadside repairs, and community rides. Indian was part of that story—a brand reborn through grit and rider loyalty. Now it’s in the hands of suits who probably think a Scout is just another SKU.

My Take: What This Means for Riders …. Not Good

Carolwood says they’ll preserve Indian’s heritage and keep the Spirit Lake and Monticello factories running. They promise no disruption to dealers or customers. But promises are cheap. What happens when profits dip? Will they outsource manufacturing? Slash R&D? Gut the design team?

We are losing a legacy.

What do you think?

KTM’s Financial Crisis: What You Need to Know

Posted: December 3, 2024 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news
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What you need to know: Senator John Thune new Majority Leader

You may not know this, but John Thune is a proud motorcyclist. He has been recognized by the MRF and AMA as a “champion” of motorcyclists’ rights.

My Take: This is a good thing for those of us that ride.  Senator Thune has been a friend of motorcyclists, and he should continue supporting us from this more powerful position.

KTM in Grave Danger

KTM is in debt 2.5 billion Euros (2.65B US) and has filed for insolvency and self-restructuring. Of course, this also pertains to KTM other products; Husqvarna, MV Agusta and Gas-Gas.

As a result of their self-restructuring they are making changes, some of which include:

Layoff of European employees, with 500 more by the end of the year.

Board of Directors cuts the number from 6 to 2 people.

Production halted planned

Halt of MotoGP development (it claims it will be on the grid in 2025)

My Take: WOW!!!  We all know that the world of motorcycling is declining as the boomer and generation X grow older. However, I do not think that many were aware that KTM was in this much debt!

KTM and its other brands are in danger.  I could see a sell off of Husky and MV Agusta as their names alone are very valuable, but Gas-Gas might not make it. With the cost of running racing teams, I would not be surprised to see KTM withdrawing from everything racing but MotoGP.

We will have answers about the future of KTM sooner rather than later.  KTM has until the end of February 2025 to get healthy or file bankruptcy.

Motorcycle News: More on Kill Switches and a Bently Motorcycle?

Posted: December 21, 2023 in custom motorcycle, Motorcycle, Motorcycle news
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ijustwant2ride.com

DOWN Shift – Vehicle Kill Switches  

Nothing has changed except that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published it preliminary report on the Biden Infrastructure mandate regariding vehicle kill switches. The NHTSA is looking for public feedback on this issue.  One of the areas that they are looking for input is on false positives.

My Take – False positives shutting your car/motorcycle off is one major area of concern I have with this proposed legislation.  Even with 99.9% success rate that would leave millions of vehicles shutdown every day. Another major area of concern for me, can the police or OTHER government officials shut down your car remotely?  Just because they say that it will not happen does not mean it will not happen. You can supply that feedback and make your voice heard on this new regulation by going to regualtions.gov and searching for the docket number, NHTSA-2022-0079.

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UP Shift – Bently and Ducati team up for a luxury motorcycle

The Ducati Diavel V4 motorcycle is getting the Bently Batur treatment.

The Bently Batur with a twin-turbo 12-cylinder 730HP engine is the most powerful Bentley ever to leave the production line.  The Batur was limited to a run of just 18 but Ducati can let you get a taste of that exclusivity.

The Ducati is painted a Scarab Green color that pulls from the Bentley Mulliner palette. The lines of the motorcycle are being updated to reflect the Bently’s characteristics.  Featuring forged rims that reflect the shapes of the car. The bike’s two-tone grille comes directly from the Batur while the triangular exhaust pulls from the sports car and front mudguard, fairing and upper view of the tank are meant to look like Batur’s hood.

Even with the Bently treatment buyers have option:

    Two-seat or single-seater tail configuration. The rider’s seat is covered in black Alcantara and red fabric that matches the look of Batur’s seats. The Bentley logo is embroidered on the rear pad.

    A “jet” helmet

    A matching jacket

Ducati will sell only 550 of these luxury motorcycles. Fifty examples are reserved exclusively for Bentley owners, who can add even more custom elements.

Each bike comes with a certificate of authenticity, a passenger seat and motorcycle cover, delivered in a personalized wooden case.

My Take – WOW.  No pricing was available when I wrote this post, but I expect it will be out of my tax bracket.  I put this as an upshift as it draws attention to the motorcycle industry.  If a Bently Batur owner gets a matching motorcycle, maybe just maybe they might buy a bike that they will actually ride.

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Ride on, Ride Safe

Motorcycle News: National Motorcycle Museum and Moto Guzzi Rallies

Posted: March 2, 2023 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news
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ijustwant2ride.com

Down Shift – National Motorcycle Museum is closing.

Sadly, the National Motorcycle Museum will close its doors in September. The museum in Anamosa, Iowa, was opened 22 years ago by the owners of J&P Cycle John and Jill Parham. John passed away in 2017.

Their notification stated, “We have struggled for several years to cover wages and utilities partly due to low visitations.”

The museum states that it will auction its collections to pay outstanding bills. This auction will include both motorcycles and memorabilia that the Parham’s collected over their many years in the motorcycle industry.

My Take Just another sad note reflecting both the results of the pandemic and the state of the motorcycle industry in America.  Also, I am not sure that Anamosa, Iowa is a destination for a lot of folks. I would not be surprised if more “niche” museums closed their doors in the near future.

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Up Shift – Moto Guzzi Experience

Moto Guzzi motorcycles are sponsoring 3 events around the USA.  The first up is in Bozeman, MT (June 28th-July3rd 2023).  The second is in the Smoky Mountains starting in Knoxville, TN (August 30th-September 4th). The third Moto Guzzi Experience runs October 18th – 23rd in the Ozark Mountains around Bentonville AK.

All these events include tour leaders and support vehicles, and you can rent a Moto Guzzi if you do not want to ride yours to the event. Base costs? $2,500 if you rent a motorcycle, $1,500 if you bring your own and passengers cost $1,000. That cost includes hotels, full board (minus alcohol), the tour leader and support vehicle.

Folks who attend the event will get a discount on a new V100 Mandello or a V85TT afterwards.  Discounts of up to $1,250 on a new bike is never a bad thing.

My Take: I am assuming these events are going to be similar to what the Harley Owners Group does with their annual rallies If that is the case it should be a lot of fun. In fact, we were at one of the HOG rallies last year in the Smokey Mountains. If you attend of these Moto Guzzi events let me know I would like to hear how it turned out.

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Ride on, Ride Safe

Motorcycle News: Tesla is killing motorcyclists.

Posted: August 22, 2022 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news, motorcycle safety
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ijustwant2ride.com

Up Shift – URAL motorcycle departs Russia.  

URAL has been a Russian motorcycle company for, well, forever.  But with the economic sanctions leveled against Russia for the Ukraine invasion, URAL had a hard decision, to stay or go.  They went.

URAL has moved out of their home factory in Irbit, Russia, to Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan, with the move forcing the brand to hire new workers in Kazakhstan.

“People understand that what’s happening doesn’t represent the brand,” says Madina Merzhoeva, VP of marketing and international sales, in an article from CycleWorld.

“Ural has always been about integration into the world. It’s always been about community, doing things together and connecting. Probably unlike any other motorcycle brand, in a sense, because by nature there are two or more people riding in a Ural.”

My Take – What else could they do if they wanted to survive? I would expect there to be quality control issues for the next couple years as a new workforce is taught how to build URAL motorcycles.

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Down Shift – Tesla is killing motorcyclists.

Is the Tesla autopilot software not able to “see” motorcycles? In two recent event involving Tesla the apparent answer to that question is no.

In July 2022 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent investigation teams to two crashes where Tesla’s crashed into motorcycles on freeways in the darkness. Both were fatal.

The first occurred 4:47 a.m. July 7 on State Route 91, a California freeway. A white Tesla Model Y was traveling east in the high occupancy vehicle lane. Ahead of the Tesla was a rider on a Yamaha V-Star motorcycle.

The vehicles collided, and the unidentified motorcyclist was ejected from the Yamaha. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Fire Department.

The second crash happened about 1AM July 24 on Interstate 15 near Draper, Utah. A Tesla Model 3 was behind a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, also in an HOV lane. “The driver of the Tesla did not see the motorcyclist and collided with the back of the motorcycle, which threw the rider from the bike,” the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a prepared statement.

The motorcyclist was pronounced died at the scene.

From 2016 to now the NHTSA has investigated 39 crashes involving autopilot features 30 of which were Tesla.  The Tesla’s involved 19 deaths.  

My Take – Not sure why it is taking so long to issue a recall for this autopilot feature?  Tesla is taking the brunt of the investigations but is that because they are worse than the other manufactures or because there are more Tesla’s on the road.

My recommendation…. If you see a Tesla coming up behind you, get out of the way.  There is no way to know if the dummy driving the car is on autopilot or not.

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Ride on, Ride Safe

Motorcycle News: Moto Guzzi Worldwide Events, Beware of E15 Fuel

Posted: May 4, 2022 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news, motorcycle safety
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ijustwant2ride.com

This is my take on motorcycle news that grabbed my attention. There is a whole lot more out there, but this is the news that I want to discuss. Drop me a note if you disagree with my take.

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Up Shift – Moto Guzzi Experience  

Moto Guzzi is helping more of us to get back to normal in the post pandemic world by offering events around the world.  These events are going to be held in 9 countries including the US.  Some of the events have already occurred like the ones in Corsica and Crete but others are still to come.  You can check out this website for detail for global events but look her (RideApart) for info on the US rides.   

My Take – I am so happy to see events like these make a comeback.  Harley Davidson has done so with their regional HOG rallies and having Moto Guzzi doing their thing is great!

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Down Shift – E15 fuel is getting a special dispensation this summer. Normally E15 is removed from the fuel supply, because of pollution concerns.  This year it is going to stick around in an attempt to lower gas prices as E15 is normally 5-10 cents a gallon cheaper. E15, by the way, means that the fuel has up to 15% ethanol.

Please be aware that E15 fuel is bad for your motorcycle (and other small engines).  Manufacturers state that using E15 will cause damage to your engine AND the EPA has not certified any motorcycles or ATVs for fuel with more than 10% ethanol.

“E15 has been shown to damage carbureted and fuel-injected motorcycles, reduce gas mileage and decrease shelf life of the gasoline,” said AMA Director of Government Relations Michael Sayre. “The fact that it is illegal to use in motorcycles, and that clear labeling at the pump is not required, poses a significant risk for misfuelling.”

My Take – The current administration has taken this action, among other things, to reduce the “pain at the pump”.  The American Motorcyclist Association and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation both have taken action to make sure that proper labeling of pumps and rider education on the action are occurring.

So, what is more important the price of fuel or the environment or poll numbers…. You make your pick.

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Ride on, Ride Safe

Motorcycle News: A trip to the South Pole and a Ducati record.

Posted: November 16, 2021 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news
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ijustwant2ride.com

This is my take on motorcycle news that grabbed my attention. There is a whole lot more out there but this is the news that I want to discuss. Drop me a note if you disagree with my take.

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Up Shift – Royal Enfield at the South Pole – How do you celebrate 120 years making motorcycles? You take a ride to the South Pole! Starting November 26th Royal Enfield is taking two modified Himalayans on a 39-day, 480-mile adventure to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

The motorcycles, ridden by Royal Enfield worker Santhosh Vijay and Dean Coxson, will ride in the tracks of the support vehicles. The bikes have been tested in Iceland to make sure they are capable for this tour of the real down under.

My Take – This is pretty cool (LOL get it)!  Some purest have poo-pooed the fact that they are riding in the competed tracks of the support vehicles, but I don’t have a problem with that. I guess that they are riding to the pole in the summer is an issue as well.  No, Royal Enfield is stepping up their game.

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Up Shift – Ducati has record sales – Ducati is claiming that 1 in 4 superbikes sold is a Ducati Panigale. Not only that but they passed last year’s sales in the first 9 months of 2021. 2021 has been their best year ever with 49,693 motorcycles sold before the fourth quarter even began. The Multistrada was the best seller followed by the Scrambler 800, Streetfighter V4 and then the Monster.

My Take – 4,475 of that record setting number were sold in the US so we are doing our part! Congratulations to not only Ducati but to the industry!  Maybe, just maybe we are on the upswing of a new peak in motorcycling.

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Ride on, Ride Safe

Motorcycle News: Triumph and a Parking Concept

Posted: August 19, 2021 in Motorcycle news
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Well, we have, mostly, finished our move to Front Royal, VA.  Still looking for some items and figuring out where to put stuff so the fun continues!

Up Shift – Triumph Motorcycle Test Ride tour – Triumph is going to a lot of events this year to get people to test ride their bikes. They will be at IMS Outdoors, TouraTech Dirt Daze, Overland Mountain West and Americade. Click on this link to see the details.

My Take – I signed up to “skip the line” at the IMS Pennsylvania event.   I really like that companies are getting back out there …. Even if Covid is making a comeback. 

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Hitting Neutral – New Concept for Charging/Protecting Motorcycles – Yet another idea for the electric revolution. Roll up into the chalk where steel plates will protect your front axel from thieves. Stow your gear in the integrated, climate-controlled locker, and go about your business. Also, there is a camera so you can keep an eye on your bike while you are out and about.

It will hold both electric and gas-powered motorcycles, so it is not exclusive to the revolutionaries. You will use an app to reserve and pay for access to the parking system.

My Take – The press release stated that it will us hydrogen fuel cells to power the parking stations thus becoming even more green and I am much more in favor of hydrogen then electric so that part gets a thumbs up.  The rest “MEH”, it will get an up shift if they ever get past the concept stage.

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Ride on, Ride Safe

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