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Oct 20

TVS overtakes Yamaha’s Market Capitalisation

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TVS overtakes Yamaha’s Market capitalisation to become third-largest two-wheeler maker in the world.

The market capitalisation (Mcap) of Chennai-based (India) TVS Motor has surged 37% to $9.2 billion over the past six months, as per Bloomberg’s data. In contrast, Yamaha Motor saw an Mcap erosion of $1.6 billion from its August highs.

Only seventeen months ago, TVS Motor Company was less than half the size of Yamaha Motor Co. Now, it has overtaken the Japanese two-wheeler giant in terms of market valuation. Investors continue to bet on a revival in both domestic and export markets, and TVS seemed the horse of choice, symbolic of its logo.

BTW, Indian two-wheeler manufacturers make up four of the top five companies in the world.

Bajaj Auto tops the list with a Mcap of $19 billion, followed by Eicher Motors with an $11.5 billion Mcap. Hero MotoCorp ranks fifth with a market valuation close to $8 billion.

Additionally, TVS Motors has gained dominant position in EV scooters, and has managed to gain market share in every segment over the last few years. TVS makes the 310cc BMW engines and motorcycles sold in India. TVS also owns the Norton brand.

US-based Harley-Davidson ranked seventh with an Mcap of $4.3 billion, three Chinese manufacturers are featured among the top ten two-wheeler makers in the world.

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Oct 11

Harley-Davidson X 500 model specs for USA

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Qianjiang-Produced Harley-Davidson X 500 is expected to be available in USA from 2024.

US-specific owners manual has been published by Harley-Daivdson. The X 500 was announced for the Chinese market in April, and later for Australia and New Zealand, but the newly published owner’s manual assures a U.S. launch.

There are distinct changes compared to the 2023 owner’s manual, adding information specific to the American market such as a U.S. vehicle identification number (VIN). The manual’s VIN breakdown specifically details the codes for models manufactured by Qianjiang in China for export to the United States.

Warranty information and a clause marked as “Other Limitations” included six items in 2023 manual but for year 2024 manual there is an addition of a seventh item. This addition states United States customers are not allowed particular modifications that are not approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the California Air Resources Board. A definition of tampering with noise control or exhaust emissions control systems is mentioned. These were absent for the manual meant for Chinese market.

X 500 is the second model to be produced under the partnership between Harley-Davidson and Qianjiang, following the X 350. The smaller engine model was not intended for US market as per Q1 2023 report, though X350RA variant to be used by Harley-Davidson’s Riding Academy.

It is expected the people and dealerships (and media) will react fast & furiously to a Made-in-China Harley-Davidson being sold in USA.

We can expect the same liquid-cooled 500cc Parallel-Twin engine, claiming 47 hp at 8,500 rpm and 33 lb-ft. at 5,000 rpm. The claimed wet weight remains 456 pounds, and the fuel economy is unchanged, still claiming 49 mpg. Valve inspections are scheduled for every 15,500 miles.

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2024 Harley-Davidson X 500 Specifications
Engine Liquid-Cooled, Parallel-Twin Cylinder, 500cc
Displacement 500cc
Bore x Stroke 69.0 mm x 66.8 mm
Compression Ratio 11.5:1
Horsepower 46.9 hp at 8,500 rpm (claimed)
Torque 33.9 lb-ft. at 6,000 rpm (claimed)
Fuel System Electronic Air Intake Fuel Injection (ESPFI)
Exhaust 2 into 1 short order, 3 catalysts
Main Drive Chain, 74/38
Maximum Lean Angle 46.9° left, 49.5° right
Front Suspension 50mm inverted rebound adjustable
Rear Suspension Oil-air separation, rebound damping adjustable, preload adjustable shock absorber
Front Brake Dual four-piston fixed calipers
Rear Brake Single-piston floating caliper
Rear Wheel Cast Aluminum
Front Tire Maxxis Supermaxx ST 120/70-ZR17/58W
Rear Tire Maxxis Supermaxx ST 160/60-ZR17/69W
Length 84.1 inches
Seat Height 32.3 inches
Ground Clearance 6.0 inches
Rake / Trail 24.5° / 4.0 inches
Wheelbase 57.4 inches
Fuel Capacity 3.4 gallons
Oil Capacity (With Filter) 0.8 gallons
Curb Weight 456 pounds (claimed)
Fuel Economy 49 mpg (claimed)
Lighting Front Lights: All LED, low beam, high beam and position lights; Tail Lights: All LED Lights; Front Signal Lights: All LED Lights; Rear Turn Signal Lights: All LED
Instrumentation Combined electronic instrument Stepper motor indicates vehicle speed, digital indicates speed, hour, total travel, two-way (A+B), km/mile indication
Sep 30

Friggin’ Economies of Scale

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by Ujjwal Dey with images & illustrations by Wayfarer

In Harley-Davidson’s desperate search for volume sales, Will there be a smaller Harley-Davidson X210 in India?

X440 is already the smallest engine – perhaps too small of an engine – to be considered a ‘real’ Harley for those who can actually afford to buy it. A rumoured Harley X210 may share the same design elements as the current X440.

The smaller H-D is rumoured to be powered by the same 210cc single-cylinder engine found in the Hero Karizma XMR.

Have a look at this editorial story giving you the background and the ground zero of Harley-Davidson’s new speculated adventure.

Click Here to read this article, only on Bikernet.com

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May 09

A Touch of Motorcycle Engine History

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by Sam Burns

J.A.P Prestwich, otherwise known as J.A.P.

In the early years of motorcycle manufacturing, many manufacturers used bought-in engines for their motorcycles as the cost of developing engines was beyond the means of many of them. Of all the manufacturers of proprietary engines, possibly the most famous was J.A. Prestwich, otherwise known as J.A.P.

Without the J.A.P. engine, many British motorcycle manufacturers would never have got off the ground and, over the years, J.A.P. supplied engines to Brough Superior, Triumph, AJS, Enfield, HRD-Vincent and Zenith, as well as manufacturers in France and Germany.

Click Here to Read this Blast From The Past only on Bikernet.com

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May 07

Financial Weightage of Light-Weight Motorcycles

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Volume Sales, Fuel-efficiency, On-road manoeuvrability

A decade ago, almost all manufacturers released fairly uninspired, derivative lightweight motorcycles that fit the commuter model, and sold like hot cakes irrespective of lacking common features in American bikes. Not to mention they were fugly like Satan’s spawn.

They would make the mid-weight class look like a run-of-the-mill hack job, with the primary focus on cutting costs wherever possible.

Thankfully, Royal Enfield changed all of that and stepped up its game with each new model release.

Click here to read this global report on emerging motorcycle market.

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Mar 29

Invasion of the Small Capacity Engines

By General Posts

Small is Big: Motorcycles with less power, more styling, high sales volumes

Just as the world was recognising the perks of weekend motorcycle getaways and big V-Twin engines, there was also economic collapse, trade tariff wars and then the curse of the climate. Everyone complained about the weather and then somebody actually did something about it. Like all solutions, the proposal was a ban.

In this Article we dive into the world of small things making big waves in motorcycle industry

Click Here to Read this Comprehensive Overview of All Things Big About Small

Mar 04

Yamaha Motor First to Use Green Aluminum in Japanese Motorcycles

By General Posts

Will gradually adopt low-carbon aluminum in the drive toward carbon-neutral materials

Yamaha Motor announced today that it has reached an agreement with an aluminum ingot supplier for the procurement of green aluminum, and began using it as a raw material for parts in Yamaha motorcycles in February 2023. This is the first time for green aluminum to be used in Japanese motorcycles and Yamaha Motor plans to gradually expand its usage in models going forward.

“Green aluminum” is aluminum that is refined using renewable energy sources to emit around 60% less CO2 in its manufacture compared to traditionally refined aluminum. Of course, the percentage of less emission by renewable energy depends per manufacturer. Aluminum parts account for 12% to 31%. of the total vehicle weight of a motorcycle, so adopting green aluminum is one effective approach for reducing CO2 emissions from the raw material manufacturing part of a product’s life cycle (falls under Scope 3 Category 1 emissions for supply chains).

Through the development of its engineering and production technologies and expertise, Yamaha Motor has actively pushed the use of recycled aluminum, which now comprises some 80% of Yamaha Motor’s aluminum usage. This introduction of green aluminum is meant to complement this and will be employed for parts that still cannot be manufactured with recycled materials. As a first step, Yamaha Motor will utilize green aluminum for certain parts in its large-displacement and off-road competition motorcycles, and Yamaha Motor plans to expand the number of models using the material in the future as available supply volumes allow.

In line with the Yamaha Motor Group Environmental Plan 2050, the company is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality throughout all of its business activities—including its entire supply chain—by 2050. To realize this, Yamaha Motor has set a goal of switching to 100% sustainable materials by 2050, such as adopting more plant-derived resin materials, developing recyclable polypropylene, and adopting green materials and other recycled materials for its motorcycles manufactured in Japan and overseas.

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Dec 31

Buell® Announces Upcoming Job Openings for Q1 of 2023

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Buell® Announces Upcoming Job Openings for Q1 of 2023 based in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Buell Motorcycles, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based manufacturer of high-performance motorcycles, is looking to add skilled and motivated individuals that have a passion for building exciting new products, contributing to a dynamic work environment, and becoming part of the Buell team.

“We are excited to take another big step forward in the continued growth of Buell. Today that big step forward is growing the Buell team here in West Michigan,” said Steve Laham, Chief Products, Development & Strategist Buell Motorcycle Co. “The Buell team’s expansion is in a multitude of areas of growth and will allow us to continue providing high performance motorcycles in the marketplace.”

Over the next three months, Buell will be hiring full and part-time employees across multiple areas within the company including:

  • Engineering
  • Manufacturing Operations
  • Digital Marketing Specalist
  • Production Staff
  • Painting Professionals

Prior skills and experience are a plus, but not a must with the right enthusiasm, self-motivation and a willingness to contribute to a dynamic work environment, and becoming part of the Buell team.

“We’ve built out an excellent senior leadership team with deep experience across the motorsports and transportation industries that all have a passion for two-wheeled products.” said Bill Melvin, CEO of Buell Motorcycle Co. “We are looking towards the future of the company and will continue to grow our team here in Grand Rapids to keep up with demand and develop some new exciting products.”

With formal job postings expected in Q1 of 2023, interested parties can submit their resume and position of interest to careers@buellmotorcycle.com.

Buell is back and delivering performance and excitement at every turn. For future Buell updates, follow our news page on our website and our social media pages.

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Dec 30

Eicher Motors Ltd announces strategic investment in Stark Future SL

By General Posts

Parent Company of Royal Enfield, Eicher Motors Ltd, Announces Strategic Investment In Stark Future SL

The Board of Eicher Motors Ltd. (EML) has approved an equity investment of 50 million euros, and plans for collaboration with the electric motorcycle manufacturer.

Milwaukee, WI (Friday, December 29, 2022) – Eicher Motors Ltd., leading Indian multinational automobile company, and parent company of Royal Enfield, global leader in the middleweight motorcycles segment (250cc-750cc), today announced a strategic collaboration in the space of electric motorcycles with Spain-based Stark Future SL. As part of this collaboration, the Board of Directors of Eicher Motors Ltd. has today approved an investment of € 50 million for a close to 10.35% equity stake in Stark Future. With this investment, Eicher Motors Ltd., will have a seat on Stark Future’s Board, and will explore further opportunities to collaborate in the space of electric mobility.

This investment has strategic significance for both Royal Enfield and for Stark Future, as both companies are keenly invested in creating innovative and sustainable solutions in global mobility. Stark Future recently launched its first high-performance electric motocross bike, the Stark VARG, which received an exceptional response from global media, professional riders and dealers.

Speaking about Stark Future and this partnership, Eicher Motors Ltd Managing Director, Siddhartha Lal says, “We love the vision, passion and focus of the amazing team at Stark Future. Leisure motorcycles do not easily lend themselves to EV technology at this stage, due to challenges like the battery range, packaging, weight and cost. This has resulted in stunted growth of this segment till now. Stark Future has been able to understand and harness the potential of EV technology by dramatically outperforming ICE offerings, without compromising on range, weight, packaging and cost. They have created an absolutely astounding motocross motorcycle – the Stark VARG as their entry into the EV world. We believe that Stark Future has the highest potential for real breakout growth in the EV leisure space with this model, and the potential to use this strong base to extend into other contiguous segments and beyond.”

At the helm of affairs at Royal Enfield, B Govindarajan, CEO of the company, feels this is a perfectly symbiotic partnership, and says, “We are very excited to closely collaborate with Stark Future who are as focused as we are on challenging norms, pushing the boundaries and building uniquely differentiated offerings for riders. In addition to the sheer potential of Stark Future, we see immense synergies in this partnership. While they are scaling up and planning their market entry soon, we will support Stark in the industrialization process. While they are thought leaders in EV technology, particularly in lightweight components and innovative solutions, we at Royal Enfield will draw on these capabilities for developing our EV platforms and will also plan to share some EV platforms in the future.”

Also speaking about this partnership, Stark Future Founder and CEO, Anton Wass says, “We aimed to challenge and inspire the motorcycle industry with the creation of the Stark VARG and by bringing our electric technology from the drawing board to reality. To now partner with one of the very first motorcycle brands in history and be part of their journey towards sustainability is a huge inspiration for us at Stark. We have now worked closely with Sid, Govind and team for a few months, and have been deeply impressed by what they have created in the past 25 years, as well as the mindset and focus to continue to build and develop Royal Enfield into the future of sustainable motorcycling. With the Stark VARG we believe we have a launch model that will reset benchmarks, so to know that the bike’s technical basis will spread much further and filter into more machinery and products is another source of pride for us. It has been a short, intense and incredible journey for us so far but our link with Royal Enfield and what lies in store in the coming years are brilliant signs for the future.”

Stark Future is a European electric motorcycle manufacturer with specific focus in the area of performance electric motorcycles. With a vision to inspire the motorcycle industry towards sustainable mobility, Stark Future endeavors to build sustainable products that are superior to traditional technology in performance, emotion and design. Stark Future has deep understanding in the EV space and connected technology, with several patents on its newly developed Stark VARG.

Royal Enfield has made huge strides on its EV journey over the last few years. The company’s R&D programs have included a major focus on sustainable mobility technologies, and there are several ideas in advanced stages of testing. The company has been aggressively building a sharp and insightful understanding of the EV space with an intention to create uniquely differentiated electric motorcycles with strong Royal Enfield DNA, in the middleweight segment. Royal Enfield has been building several thoughts and approaches towards design and development and also towards bringing in the right talent and resources.

About Stark Future: Stark Future is a multinational company, established in 2020 with Swedish roots, located on the fringes of Barcelona. Making the most of Catalunya’s reputation as the European capital of motorcycling, Stark Future was able to construct a dedicated, passionate, and knowledgeable team from the elite of both the motorcycle and power electronics industries, in order to build the first electric motorcycle to be the performance leader within its category, Motocross.

About Royal Enfield: The oldest motorcycle company in continuous production in the world, Royal Enfield made its first motorcycle in 1901. A division of Eicher Motors Limited, Royal Enfield has created the midsize motorcycle segment in India with its unique and distinctive modern classic motorcycles. With its manufacturing base in Chennai, India, Royal Enfield has been able to grow its production rapidly against a surge in demand for its motorcycles.

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Dec 10

Royal Enfield Opens New CKD Facility in Brazil

By General Posts

Royal Enfield strengthens commitment to Americas region with the inauguration of new CKD facility, the third motorcycle assembly unit in South America and fourth across the world.

Milwaukee, WI (Friday, December 9, 2022) – Royal Enfield, the global leader in the midsize (250cc – 750cc) motorcycling segment, today began a new chapter on its journey in the Americas region, and specifically in Brazil, with the commencement of operations of its new CKD (complete knock down) assembly facility. This is a significant step forward in Royal Enfield’s plans in LatAm, and reiterates the brand’s commitment to the region, as Brazil is a strong market for Royal Enfield.

Located in Manaus, capital of Amazonas state, the new facility is the fourth Royal Enfield CKD assembly unit across the world—after Thailand, Colombia and Argentina—in addition to its state-of-the-art manufacturing and ancillary facilities located in India.

With an assembly capacity of more than 15,000 units per year, the local assembly unit in Manaus is a modern facility that will cater to growing demand in the country. The facility will engage in local assembly of the entire lineup of Royal Enfield motorcycles, including the Classic 350, the Meteor 350, the Himalayan, and the 650 twin motorcycles, Continental GT and the INT. With this setup, Royal Enfield can now ensure seamless and quicker delivery timelines for motorcycles in Brazil.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new facility, Royal Enfield CEO, B Govindarajan, said, “Royal Enfield has been working extensively to grow the middleweight motorcycling segment globally. With markets like the Americas region, Europe and the Asia-Pacific growing significantly, it has been our strategic intent to be closer to these markets and grow the business. We commenced on this journey a couple of years ago and have set up strategic assembly facilities in Thailand, and in Argentina and Colombia in LatAm. Brazil has been a very strong market for Royal Enfield, and is soon poised to be the single largest market for us outside of India. We have seen growth of more than 100% since 2019 here in Brazil. We are very happy to launch our fourth CKD facility globally here in Brazil and this is testament to our commitment to the region and the market potential, and to our growing community of riding enthusiasts in the market. We are confident that this facility will help us grow the mid-segment market here in Brazil while enabling us to efficiently cater to the growing demand.”

Brazil has been a critical market for Royal Enfield since the brand’s market foray in 2017. Having made significant strides in the country and across the entire Americas Region, Royal Enfield is now among the top five players in the midsize motorcycle segment in markets such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and North America. With a burgeoning consumer base and a significant retail network in the region, the new local assembly unit will be a critical boost for business growth in the LatAm Region.

About Royal Enfield: The oldest motorcycle company in continuous production in the world, Royal Enfield made its first motorcycle in 1901. A division of Eicher Motors Limited, Royal Enfield has created the midsize motorcycle segment in India with its unique and distinctive modern classic motorcycles.

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