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US Female Motorcycle Ownership Reaches All-Time High

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More and more women are riding motorcycles, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council’s (MIC) latest motorcycle ownership survey. The data from the survey shows that out of the 9.2 million motorcycle owners in the United States of America, 14% of them are women. Booyah!

This figure is a stark contrast to the 8% ownership rate for women that was found in 1998, though it shows that the motorcycle industry still has a great deal of ground to cover when it comes to appealing to both sexes equally.

Encouraging though is the fact that 30 million people in the USA swung a leg over a motorcycle, with over a quarter of those people being female (some presumably as passengers), which shows that the sport and industry is at least reaching out beyond the gender lines.

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US Motorcycle Sales up 7% in Q1 2011

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The Motorcycle Industry Council is reporting that US motorcycle sales are up 7% in Q1 of 2011, with 102,547 units being sold in the year’s first three months. Leading the charge were scooter sales, which were up nearly 50% to 6,246 units, while on-road units were up as well, pushing 70,879 units in Q1 (a 6.9% gain).

Despite the strong numbers from on-road and dual-sport models, off-road vehicles did not fare as well, with ATV sales down 16% and off-road motorcycle sales down 5.5% (47,702 & 18,725 units respectively), making 2011 still a mixed bag depending on what side of the industry you are on.

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Products

Yamaha Power Beam – A Damper for Your Chassis

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You can just tell there’s an engineer in Yamaha’s R&D department that dresses up like Wesley Crusher on the weekends just a little too often. Despite how tragically named this product is, Yamaha’s Power Beam is an interesting solution to a problem that few riders have the delicacies of detecting, yet will likely purchase anyway.

Originally developed for the Yamaha YZR-M1 during the 2003 season, the Yamaha Power Beam will initially be made available to 600 lucky T-Max scooter owners in Europe, which on its face makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

However given the hot-rodding culture in Europe that surrounds the T-Max (and the two-wheelers Jell-O like chassis), the “more horsepower than sense” crowd will likely gobble up this latest go-fast trick part from Yamaha.

Looking down the pipe, there is the likelihood that the Yamaha Power Beam will make its way onto future sport bikes from the tuning fork brand. What the Power Beam does is dampen the rate of flex in the chassis, presumably allowing the steel/aluminum frame of the motorcycle to move to its prescribed tolerances, but in a manner that’s more predictable and favorable to a rider’s needs.

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Former Vice Chairman of GM Bob Lutz Drops $1.5 Million Investment into Electric Scooters

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Current Motors (clever name) of Ann Arbor, Michigan just got a healthy cash infusion, as General Motors’s former Vice Chairman (and avid motorcycle collector), Bob Lutz, just dropped a check off for $1.5 million to the electric scooter manufacturer. While money is well and good, and we imagine the folks at Current are more than amped (oh yes, we just did that) about getting money during these tough capital-raising markets, the real electrifying news here is that the charismatic executive will be taking a seat on the company’s advisory board.

With a resumé that includes names like GM, Ford, Chrysler, and BMW, Lutz’s insights on bringing vehicles to market and overall business acumen will be a huge boon for this relatively unknown startup, and could easily galvanize other investors into investing in the company.

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Honda Sales up 28% for Q1 2010

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Honda has closed its books for the first quarter of 2010, and the company’s motorcycle, scooter, and ATV sales are up 28.2% over Q1 of 2009. Selling over 2.8 million units (compare that to Q1 2009’s 2.25 million units), Honda’s sales created $3.7 billion in net sales. Honda reported $3 billion in net sales during the same time period last year. While the Asian markets powered most of Honda’s sales, North American sales were up 11% to 60,000 units sold.

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Industry Report: Have We Found the Bottom?

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The latest data from the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), suggests that the end of cascading motorcycle sales may be near. According to the MIC, the combined new unit sales for motorcycles, scooters, and ATVS during the past 9 months were down 40% from last year’s numbers. While still frighteningly low, these results show a 2% rebound in sales when compared to the first 6 months of 2009.

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Brembo Opens New Plant in India

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After aquiring Indian firm JV KBX from Bosch last October, Brembo has opened the doors of its brand new plant in India this week. The plant will be dedicated to the production of disc brake systems for scooters and motorcycles between the displacement of 125cc and 250cc’s in the Indian market.

The move positions Brembo to challenge the Lombard Group, which currently holds over 50% of the market share for disk brakes of motor vehicles in India. In case you didn’t know, the Indian market is mainly composed motorcycles between 50cc’s and 350cc’s. This makes the acquisition and new factory a huge strategic move for Brembo in a rapidly developing nation.

Brembo is selling the brake products under the name Breco, which is their mark specifically dedicated for motorcycles and scooters with small and medium displacements in developing countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and in the other nations of Southeast Asia.

Brembo’s activities in India began in 1998 through a license of its technology for the production of brake discs for motorcycles to the Indian Kalayani Brakes, later acquired by Bosch Chassis Systems India Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of the German multinational of a similar name. In 2006 it was turned into KBX, the Joint Venture Joint between Brembo and Bosch.

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