Sport Touring Renaissance??

I’ll need help with that how to do that Joe.

I tried spraying WD40 on my problematic joints but it didn’t help.
 
junglejim said:
Come on you guys. At 80 years old now I’m on my 6th “last bike”. I don’t think there’s a (numerical) limit but mother nature provides us with a limit eventually. Since the NT1100 isn’t available here this Tiger is appealing. But I already have a Tiger 800. It has been good to me it’s already set up just like way i want it, except it’s dirty. I want a new clean one. Jim Moore and I seem to show up with the dirtiest bikes at Spearfish every year.

On the other hand my riding has become less enjoyable due to the terrible traffic and drivers. I willing to take my chances with the roads and usual hazards but the risks which I can’t control are increasingly concerning. I can’t seem to relax and enjoy riding until I get west of the Missouri River. I live in a very rural area (not a single traffic light or 4-lane road in my county). So my urban riding skills aren’t polished. So my attitude towards riding is more limiting than my health (so far). And that little reality turns off my lust for the new Tiger.
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This from Revzilla...it does not take into account any possible tarrif issues.
Industry update: Major manufacturers mostly report sluggish 2024 sales

While everyone has been watching KTM's efforts to stave off collapse, some other data points have emerged about how the global motorcycle industry is doing and have gotten less attention. And not for the first time in recent months, it's a mixed picture.

BMW booms, Ducati declines​

One company with no complaints about 2024 is BMW Motorrad, which set a sales record by moving 210,408 motorcycles worldwide last year. Europe accounted for 56% of those sales, with another 8% in the United States, followed closely by Brazil and China. The big adventure models, the R 1300 GS and R 1250 GS, continued to be the company's bestsellers in 2024.

The head of BMW Motorrad, Markus Flasch, said that puts BMW in first place "in the global premium motorcycle segment." I guess that may depend on how you define "premium," but it's clear BMW is well ahead of other brands who consider themselves in the premium category, such as Ducati and Harley-Davidson. What's clear is that BMW's results were the brightest point among the sales statistics released recently.

The results weren't as rosy for Ducati, which reported global sales of 54,495 motorcycles in 2024, a 6% decrease from the previous year. "The result is part of a particularly complex competitive scenario and a global situation characterized by uncertainties on several fronts," the company stated.

The Multistrada models remain Ducati's bestselling line and Italy is still its top single-nation market, accounting for 18% of sales. The United States was next at 13%, though Germany closed in on second place with 12% of Ducati's sales. The U.S. sales number represented a 14% decrease from the year before.

Harley-Davidson slides, Indian idles, LiveWire low voltage​

Multiple manufacturers are cutting back production because dealer inventories are too high and that's putting pressure on dealers. Harley-Davidson accelerated that process by reducing shipments by a significant 53% in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 2023. Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Root said dealer inventories at the end of 2024 had been whittled down to a level lower than the end of 2023, thanks to the reduced shipments, and efforts to shrink dealer inventories would continue into the first half of 2025. At the same time, the company announced that employee headcount had been reduced by 7%.

For the year, Harley-Davidson reported a 7% decline in retail unit sales and $417 million in operating income, which was down 47% from 2023. On the brighter side, sales were up 8% in the most expensive categories for Harley-Davidson, the Grand American Touring, Trike, and CVO segments. The company's approach, under the Hardwire plan implemented by CEO Jochen Zeitz, has been to focus on profitability over unit sales growth.

Meanwhile, Harley-Davidson's electric motorcycle spinoff, LiveWire, reported more weak results. Despite introducing three new S2 models that are less expensive than the flagship LiveWire ONE, the company shipped just 612 motorcycles in 2024, a decline of 7% in 2024 compared to the prior year. It was also far short of LiveWire's guidance, reiterated in the middle of last year, that the company expected to sell 1,000 to 1,500 units in 2024. While LiveWire was expecting sales to grow with its new models, instead the trend worsened. In the fourth quarter of 2024, LiveWire shipped 236 motorcycles, a decline of 54% from the same period in 2023.

KTM and MV Agusta part ways​

Meanwhile, KTM continues working on its restructuring plan to dig itself out of the financial hole it created by overproducing motorcycles. As part of that, KTM sold its 50.1% stake in MV Agusta, which it acquired in two stages in late 2022 and early 2024. The controlling interest was sold to Art of Mobility S.A., the minority owner of MV Agusta and a company controlled by the Sardarov family of Russia. KTM parent company Pierer Mobility AG valued the sale at the "mid double-digit million range" in Euros.

Buying MV Agusta and selling it shortly thereafter for a loss while under financial duress is now practically a motorcycle industry pastime. Harley-Davidson did it in 2008 and now KTM has done the same.

Meanwhile, MV Agusta reported selling 4,000 motorcycles (a suspiciously round number) in 2024, more than double its 2023 sales. The company leadership used the year and a half under KTM control to strengthen the company's position and sounds quite relieved to be back on its own. "This strategic agreement ensures that MV Agusta remains completely uninvolved in KTM's ongoing financial restructuring process, allowing the company to continue its positive growth path," MV Agusta said in a statement.

2025 likely to be another sluggish sales year​

Separately, the Motorcycle Industry Council reported that sales of new motorcycles and scooters fell 4.5% in 2024 in the United States. While companies always want to put a positive spin on developments, these European and U.S. manufacturers serving the developed markets are not projecting a quick turnaround in unit sales. Financial guidance generally calls for this year to be flat or slightly down from last year in sales — in other words, the trend is expected to continue.
 
junglejim said:
Like I said in my previous post “riding is becoming less enjoyable”. But that is more of a process than an event. While I think about giving up riding I haven’t been able to do it just yet. Yesterday I took my riding suit in to Aerostich for R&R. They can rehabilitate the suit but the rider is old and in disrepair.
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True story....as we age, our attitudes about things change. My friends Larry and Lora are about 87 and they still fly their Cessna 180 down to central idaho and sleep under the wing. But like me, they have lost the fire to get up in the cold winter dark and go to a black powder rifle match in the freezing wind and shoot targets we cant see anymore. My winter seems to be filled with exciting things like PSA/prostate tests, cataract surgery, and neuropathy tests. At least the blood pressure meds are working. I am still excited about the rally and hopefully some other touring before the west goes up in smoke.....looking forward to a cruise to Alaska in May and a cruise through the panama canal in November. Reno air races have moved to Roswell NM and they dont know what they are doing so I am skipping that...gonna find some where else to tour to in Sept.
 
Coyote Chris said:
....... But like me, they have lost the fire to get up in the cold winter dark and go to a black powder rifle match in the freezing wind and shoot targets we cant see anymore. .......
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I can relate to that Chris. It has been a tough winter for my precision rifle shooting addiction. I got to one NRL 22 match in MN in February and finished 10th out of 25 with a hit ratio of 82%. I was pretty happy with that. However that was in contrast with my last match (an F-Class center fire match) where I got stopped last weekend. Next up I'll take my 45-70 to a PRS type match in MN in March. Don't expect to do much there except have fun.

My shoulders told me to give up my archery addiction which is good because I don't have time for all these hobbies anyway. Seems like it takes amazing little to keep me busy these days.
 
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