Were you one of the lucky 500 people who plans to put a KTM 1290 Super Duke RR in their garage this year?
If you weren’t quick to act, then the answer is probably no (the same answer should be given for those of us living in the North American market as well – sad trombone), as the Super Duke RR sold out in a mere 48 minutes when it became available for pre-order.
If you read Asphalt & Rubber regularly, you’ve likely realized that New Jersey isn’t exactly our favorite state. Really, it’s any state that’s not California that gets some loving jabs from us, and even then we have our preferences on where is the best locale in The Golden State. It’s all good fun to us, and we thank the citizens in the rest of the US for playing with to our humors. That being said, New Jersey is rapidly improving its standing here at A&R (recent office polls place it higher than Iowa!), signing into law today a bill that will allow dealers in New Jersey to sell motorcycles on Sunday. Amen.
After Asphalt & Rubber broke the news about the MV Agusta purchase last week, many of the details about Harley-Davidson’s sale of MV Agusta to the Castiglioni were known or rumored at the time of the purchase’s announcement later in the day; however the exact figures and terms of the agreement were not officially known. Having filed the appropriate forms with the SEC, Harley-Davidson (a publicly traded company) has had to disclose the terms of MV Agusta’s sale, which don’t paint a favorable picture for the Milwaukee brand, but show how Castiglioni “bought” his company back despite bids coming from other parties.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. has retained the services of French investment banking group BNP Paribas to help sell the sportbike manufacturer MV Agusta, thus taking the next step in divesting the Italian brand from the Milwaukee company. Helping fuel speculation, BNP Paribas, with its team based out of Milan, Italy, is another sign that MV could end up in Italian hands after its sale concludes.