Paolo Berlusconi, brother to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is rumored to be making a play for MV Agusta as Harley-Davidson continues to look for a purchases of the iconic Italian brand. According to Motociclismo, Berlusconi’s name continues to be mentioned in the same sentence as the Italian company, as the purchase would play well into Belusconi’s holdings in scooter manufacturer Garelli.
Blasphemy, heresy, stupidity, sacrilege, un-American, and downright irreverence. Go ahead, get all those words out of your system. I’ll wait. The default opinion of marketers, analysts, and the general population is that Harley-Davidson has one of the strongest brands in the United States, this being confirmed by the fact that every business student in America has studied Harley’s marketing efforts if they’ve ever taken a brand management course. So why would I start a three-part series on how to fix Harley-Davidson by arguing to change one of the most revered marketing houses in the motorcycle industry? Giving credit where credit is due, Harley-Davidson, or I should say its admirers in business school academia, wrote the book on demand generation marketing geared towards the baby-boomer generation. However, in defending this market position, Harley-Davidson has painted itself into a corner by only engaging a very small segment of the population with its product. Unless they redefine and reposition their company image and who it resonates with, Harley-Davidson is going to watch the continued erosion of its footing in the motorcycle industry, and also the continued deterioration of its only industry leading quality: its brand.
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The subject as to where Valentino Rossi will race in the future and finish his career has been a subject of much speculation, and seems to endure through the seasons. As usual we’ve already seen the speculation that Rossi may drive a Formula 1 car for Ferrari, or join Ducati for a perfect storm of corse italiano. Rossi usually likes to fan the rumors by staying non-committal, but in a recent interview with Motosprint Magazine, the nine time World Champion Valentino Rossi revealed that he would like to stay in racing for another three years, likely ending his career with Yamaha.
The Italian press is one of those entities that you have to both love and hate at the same time. Rumors are swirling today in Italy about a possible merger between Ducati and Piaggio that is being investigated by strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Co. According to reports, the goal of such a merger would be to create one large Italian motorcycle manufacturer capable of competing with the Japanese Four. However like all good gossip, you have to consider the source and run things past the smell test, and this rumor smells like something fanciful made up by the Italian media.
After crashing four S1000RR’s during WSBK’s stop at Phillip Island, and then missing the race entirely, Ruben Xaus hasn’t exactly put his best foot forward in the 2010 World Superbike Championship season. For some the continuation of the Spanish rider’s career on a factory supported Superbike seems to have a death clock already running, and the rumor is that Xaus has to prove his worth or risk being shown the door from the BMW WSBK team.
MCN is reporting that the long-rumored MV Agusta three-cylinder, dubbed the MV Agusta F3 by the media (but not likely to be called this by MV), has been put on hold while MV Agusta looks for a new home outside of Harley-Davidson family. MCN goes on to report that the F3’s rumored displacement has been bumped up from 675cc to nearly 800cc.
Rumors are indicating that KTM has invited Indian manufacturer Bajaj to increase its stake in the Austrian company from the current 30% to up to 90%. While neither party has confirmed the news, it is reported that Bajaj has accepted KTM’s offer, and will immediately purchase an additional 21% of the company’s stock, making it a 51% majority shareholder. Bajaj will then increase its ownership to 90% at a later undecided time.
This article takes a doubly interesting turn of events. You may remember that a week ago we brought to you the unveiling of the Bimota HB4 Moto2 race bike. The HB4, the first time a Honda motor has been in a Bimota in 25 years, was to be campaigned by FB Corse in the first running of the 250GP replacement series, Moto2, but has mysteriously been left out of the Moto2 Provisional race list.
Equally unnerving was the postponement of the FB Corse MotoGP & Moto2 press launch, which was allegedly due to FB Corse boss, Andrea Ferrari, undergoing hand surgery. The timing of that postponement drew some skeptical attention since it was right in the middle of the Hoppergate saga, which saw American rider John Hopkins teetering back and forth between riding the FB Corse MotoGP machine or taking a seat in the AMA Pro Superbike series.
Now with Hopkins making his intent to ride in the AMA clear, the FB Corse MotoGP bike yet to be unveiled, and the Bimota HB4 absentee from the Provisional Moto2 racing list, there are rumors circulating in the American and Italian racing camps that this entire thing is a charade and done for publicity.
UPDATE: The 2010 Yamaha FZ8 has now been officially released.
In addition to getting leaked photos of what the 2010 Yamaha FZ8R or Fazzer 8 will look like, Motociclismo.it has also gotten shots of what they believe to be the FZ8 in its final form, i.e. in the nude. The fairing-less motorcycle will be built of the same chassis as the 2010 Yamaha FZ8R, but will sport a different headlight to accentuate the exposed frame and motor more adequately. Photos after the jump.











