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After spinning out the LiveWire brand from the Harley-Davidson name earlier this year, the MoCo is getting ready to take its electric motorcycle company public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Harley-Davidson is taking LiveWire public (with the help of AEA Investors and Bridges Fund Management) through an interesting method called a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which is a method of creating an IPO without going through all the work that such an endeavor usually entails.

Within the motorcycle industry, Asphalt & Rubber has earned itself a reputation for breaking stories from our so-called “Bothan spies”, as insiders often tip us off to intriguing stories and happenings in the two-wheeled realm.

Just a few weeks ago, we got one of those interesting tips, one that said that Dainese was being put up for sale. So, we called the bossman himself, Dainese CEO Cristiano Silei (an announcement too that A&R was able to break because of our Bothan spies), to see what the story was all about, and indeed if the rumors were true.

The call resulted in a terse answer, and perhaps an expected response, but Silei also provided an interesting explanation of Dainese’s current investment position, and what results the company has seen since its purchase three years ago (another story that our Bothans were first to get the word on).

We have been here before, with financial news outlets discussing the possibility of Volkswagen divesting Ducati Motor Holding from its collection of companies. Let’s be clear, this talk about talk…not talk about action.

The idea of VW selling Ducati isn’t new. We first reported on this rumor back in September 2015 – when VW was found fudging around with its diesel-powered cars. Many thought the ramifications of Dieselgate would mean a bevy of brands being unload by the German car company. Nothing came of that.

Then last year, around June 2016, more talk of Ducati’s divestiture came to the forefront. The rumors were so strong, that Audi AG (the direct owner of Ducati) had to publicly state that the Italian motorcycle brand wasn’t for sale.

So here we are today, again with reports that the highest levels of Volkswagen are considering looking into selling their little motorcycle brand.

It looks like Italian electric motorcycle maker Energica has finalized the details of its initial public offering of stock on London’s AIM Italia stock market.

As such, Energica’s IPO will take place January 29th, with over 1.65 million shares being offered at €3.20 a piece, this makes Energica’s IPO worth potentially €5.3 million.

With this money, Energica hopes to become the worldwide market leader of electric motorcycles within three years.

That will be at tall order, for the Italian company, as America’s Zero Motorcycles already boasts a much larger dealer network, and proven track record of sales.

Fresh off the European newswires, reports out of Italy are tipping motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta as looking to offer up to 30% of the company on the stock market. If true, the move would make good on MV Agusta’s hope of going public by 2016 — noticeably quite ahead of schedule.

Additionally, reports out of Germany are also indicating that Daimler AG (owner of Mercedes-Benz), is looking for a minority stake in MV Agusta, and approached the Italian company these past few weeks about that possibility — a move not to dissimilar to the one that saw Audi AG acquire Ducati Motor Holding.

Small affordable video cameras are changing the way motorcycle enthusiasts record their two-wheeling adventures, and one name has dominated the market: GoPro. The San Francisco Bay Area company is looking now to continue that growth; and to help achieve that goal, GoPro is searching for $100 million in capital.

According to documents filed on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), GoPro will look for that money with an initial public offering (IPO).

Planning to be listed at GPRO on the NASDAQ exchange, GoPro disclosed $985 million in revenue last year, up 87% from 2012; while net income topped $61 million, nearly double the $32 million GoPro earned in 2012.

It has long been rumored that Brammo, Inc. CEO Craig Bramscher envisions his company heading to Wall Street for an initial public offering one day, but now we are getting our first public words from Bramscher about how he hopes that his Oregonian company can go public in the next year or so.

Quoting remarks made at the Portland Business Journal Power Breakfast, the Sustainable Business Oregon is reporting that Bramscher is targeting late-2014 to mid-2015 for an IPO, with the figure of a $150 million being banded about as a fundraising goal from the public stock offering.

Right on heels of the news that Massimo Bordi has left MV Agusta, we get news from the Italian marque that Giorgio Girelli has been appointed the new Executive Vice President of MV Agusta Motor SpA. According to the company’s press release, Girelli’s appointment to the MV Agusta’s Board of Directors is part of three-year goal to take the motorcycle manufacturer’s stock to the public market. In case you weren’t sure, this is what a horrible idea looks like.