When Pierer Industrie AG purchased Husqvarna from BMW in January, it was obvious some major changes were on their way. Pierer Industries AG is owned by Stefan Pierer, who happens to be chief executive officer of KTM, which also happens to be the parent company of Husaberg. That’s three European motorcycle manufacturers with strong off-road lineages in the same family. Something was bound to happen.

Well the other shoe has finally dropped, with the announcement of Husqvarna and Husaberg reuniting to forming a new company to be called Husqvarna Sportmotorcycle GmbH, with . The move reunites the two Swedish marques after years under the ownership of other companies in Italy, Austria and Germany.

Husqvarna and Husaberg have a shared history. Husaberg originated as a splinter group of Husqvarna engineers that started its own company in 1988 after Husqvarna was acquired by Cagiva. From that point on, the two Swedish brands went their separate paths. Continue Reading »

American motocross pioneer, race team manager and motorcycle industry executive Mark Blackwell is getting another honor: being recognized as an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend. Blackwell, who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2000, will be feted alongside the 2013 induction class during AMA Legends Weekend, Oct. 18-19 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort, Spa and Casino in Las Vegas.

Blackwell will be honored alongside Torsten Hallman, another member of the of 2000 class, who will be recognized as a Legend for helping introduce motocross to America and for founding gear maker Thor. Like Hallman, Blackwell excelled at several different facets of the motorcycle industry.

As a racer, Blackwell was one of America’s first motocross racing stars, competing in the late ’60s and early ’70s. In 1970, Blackwell was hired to ride for Husqvarna and traveled to Sweden to train with the factory riders. He came back to the U.S. the following year and raced in the Trans-AMA series, winning the American class title by beating Brad Lackey by a single point. In 1972, Blackwell won the prestigious Daytona Motocross before returning to international racing in Europe. Continue Reading »

Harley-Davidson dealers outscored dealers from other brands to take the top spot in the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index U.S. Motorcycle Industry Study for the second consecutive year.

The annual study measures the effectiveness of motorcycle dealerships, rating them on how they perform in different categories, such as inviting customers to sit on a floor model, offering demo rides and asking for a customer’s contact information. The study was conducted from July 2012 to April 2013 with data collected by 2,503 hired “mystery shoppers”.

We’ve included the full scores below as well as the scores from past years. One caveat however: Pied Piper PSI has rejigged its study questions and adjusted the weighting and scoring for the 2013 study to achieve an average score of 100. This resulted in a significant scoring changes compared to last year’s study and a wider range between the highest and the lowest scores.

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CRP, the Italian company who made a splash last year when it announced it would make a production electric motorcycle, has been strangely quiet lately. With no news coming from the team in Modena, Italy, we wondered, what’s CRP been up to lately?  Continue Reading »

BMW released its year-end 2012 financial report, reporting revenues of 1.49 billion euros (US$1.93 billion) from its motorcycle business in 2012, up from 1.44 billion euros in 2011. The increased revenues came in a record year for BMW with the company selling an all-time record of 106,358 motorcycles in 2012.

Despite the increase in sales revenue, BMW reported a much smaller profit from its motorcycle business, earning 9 million euros (US$11.6 million) in 2012, compared to 45 million euros in 2011. The decrease is mainly due to the sale of Husqvarna to Pierer Industries announced earlier this year. BMW says it decided to sell Husqvarna to focus on urban mobility and electric-powered vehicles, though a shrinking market for off-road models was another contributing factor. The sale is still subject to Austrian merger control authorities, which are expected to approve the sale in the first half of 2013. Continue Reading »

The BMW Group has announced the sale of 110-year old Husqvarna Motorcycles to Austrian-based Pierer Industrie AG. “The BMW Group signed a purchase agreement with Pierer Industrie AG (Austria) for the acquisition of Husqvarna Motorcycles. The acquisition will proceed subject to approval by anti-trust authorities. Both companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price,” says BMW in a press release.

Pierer Industrie AG is the principle shareholder of KTM. Originally a Swedish company, BMW acquired Husqvarna in 2008 when it purchased the Italian Cagiva MV Agusta group. The sale of Husky comes somewhat as a surprise considering the amount of money BMW has spent restructuring the company. BMW says the sale is part of a realigning strategy to focus urban mobility and e-mobility efforts. Continue Reading »

Cyril Despres won his fifth career Dakar Rally while helping KTM win for the 12th consecutive time, in taking the motorcycle class in the 2013 edition of the famed off-road race.

KTM was again the dominant manufacturer with the top five finishers in the motorcycle class riding motorcycles from the Austrian manufacturer. Despres finished with an overall time of 43:24:22 for the win, including a 15-minute penalty for swapping an engine after the one he was using in his KTM 450 Rallye failed. The engine problem hindered Despres on the marathon 7th and 8th stages but he received help from another KTM-supported rider, Marek Dabrowski who offered his engine in an emergency swap.

Second place went to Despres’ KTM Red Bull Factory teammate Ruben Faria (43:35:05) while Francisco Lopez finished third with a time of 43:43:10 and would have finished second if not for his own 15-minute penalty for an engine swap on the 14th and final stage. Rounding out the top five were KTM riders Ivan Jakes and Juan Pedrero. Continue Reading »

Troy Bayliss is hosting a dirt track race in Australia featuring 24 current and former racing stars. The inaugural Troy Bayliss Classic takes place Jan. 19 at the three-time World Superbike Champion’s home town of Taree, Australia.

The race will feature entries representing different racing disciplines. Participants include former MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen, current MotoGP racer Randy de Puniet, three-time Speedway World Champion Jason Crump, Australian Superbike racers Shawn Giles and Jamie Stauffer, former AMA Supermoto Champion Troy Herfoss, motocross racers Stephen Gall, Toby Price, and Josh Brookes, and off-road racer Chris Hollis. Continue Reading »

Italian website Motociclismo.it reports BMW is working on a new 450cc racebike to be used in youth racing series at select rounds other World Superbike Championship and the British Superbike Championship.

According to the report, the new track-only sportbike will use a 450cc single-cylinder engine, likely the Husqvarna-developed version of the engine used in the BMW G450X. The engine will be mounted in an all-new chassis with racing suspension, wheels and carbon fiber fairing.

The new sportbike would be used in a single-spec racing series for young racers from 15-18 years of age, with Motociclismo.it reporting it would be held over six rounds of the WSBK and BSB. This would follow a similar formula to the European Junior Cup which takes place at select WSBK rounds and which, at least for the 2013 season, use the new Honda CBR500R as its racebike. Continue Reading »

The 2013 Dakar Rally will again be held in South America with event organizers announcing a new route for the 34th running of the off-road race. Now in its fifth year in Latin America, the 2013 edition of the Rally will feature a new route running from north to south, starting Jan. 5 in Lima, Peru, and ending Jan. 20 in Santiago, Chile.

The new route puts the desert portion of the course in the first few days of the Dakar Rally, the first time the event has ever started in a desert. The course follows the Pacific coast before turning inland, briefly traversing Chile before crossing the Andes into Argentina which offers a mix of terrain towards San Miguel de Tucumán for the midpoint of the Rally.

After a day of rest in San Miguel de Tucumán, the Dakar Rally continues south towards Córdoba before turning northwest and through the Andes again back to Chile before again following the Pacific coast southward towards the finish in Santiago. The entire course spans about 5000 miles of challenging terrain for the 459 entries registered for this year’s race. Continue Reading »