National News

MILWAUKEE – Harley-Davidson has joined the Big 3 automakers in Detroit in shutting down production, a move that affects about 2,000 union workers at its three plants in the U.S. The company has 5,000 total employees. The shutdown will run from Wednesday night through March 29. Employees have been placed …

Indian’s timing in debuting a new advertising campaign might not be propitious – what with the COVID-19 pandemic getting most everyone’s attention – but the company is out today with a new TV ad urging shoppers to “Choose Wisely” when buying a new motorcycle. Not surprisingly, the 30-second spot takes …

MILWAUKEE – Executive shakeups don’t come cheap, and a compensation breakout by the “Milwaukee Business Journal” reveals that the new acting CEO of Harley-Davidson as well as the exiting CEO will get their pockets lined. The publication reports that Jochen Zeitz, who became acting CEO on Friday after Matt Levatich …

MILWAUKEE – After years of declining sales, slow development of new product and facing an urgent need for “new leadership to recharge our business,” Harley-Davidson on Friday announced the departure of Matt Levatich as president and CEO. A news release issued after the stock market closed said the board of …

It’s The Week In Review for the week ending Feb. 22, with items from the movies, Triumph and a jail in Arizona. James Bond Now Rides A Triumph A new poster for the upcoming James Bond movie “No Time To Die” is out, and 007 is now riding a Triumph …

It has taken more than 6½ years, ever since Indian was re-launched under the ownership of Polaris, but Harley-Davidson has finally taken a big swipe at the revived brand that was its head-to-head rival back in the early days of motorcycling more than 100 years ago. Social media has provided …

It’s The Week in Review for the week ending Feb. 15, with Items from Harley Davidson, Indian, Ducati, Royal Enfield and more. They’re culled from near and far; from press releases and other websites – all so you don’t have do the searching yourself: New Harley-Davidson Edition Ford F-250 It …

MILWAUKEE – Harley-Davidson isn’t a company with a reputation for taking risks, but a new TV ad campaign unveiled this week represents a dramatic departure image-wise. It seeks to attract new and younger riders. It does so by ignoring the company’s heritage. No longer is the brand offered up as …

It’s The Week in Review for the week ending Feb. 8 – news nuggets, info from press releases, and other oil drippings culled from near and far: Helmet Proposal Gets Nowhere in New Hampshire A hearing held by the House Transportation Committee on a legislative bill that would make helmet …

SPEARFISH, SD – Polaris is consolidating paint operations for its Indian motorcycle brand and closing its plant in Spearfish where motorcycle components have been painted since 2016. All paintwork for Indians will now be done at the brand’s Spirit Lake, IA factory. The 51,000-square-foot facility in Spearfish, which had been …

Harley-Davidson and Indian are each out with new limited edition models. Harley-Davidson offers the CVO Road Glide, while Indian has the Roadmaster Elite (shown above). 2020 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide The “limited-production, super-premium” CVO Road Glide is powered by a Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine, which is rated at 125 foot-pounds of …

ANN ARBOR, MI – The plug has been pulled on the respected motorcycle magazine “Motorcycle Consumer News,” which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019. Author and instructor Ken Condon, who contributed to the Ann Arbor-based monthly magazine from 2001 to 2014, scooped his former employer by passing along the news …

It’s The Week in Review for the week ending Feb. 1 – news nuggets, info from press releases, and other oil drippings cultivated from near and far: J&P Cycles Gets A New Owner Aftermarket product retailer J&P Cycles has been been acquired by Comoto Holdings, owner of RevZilla and Cycle …

MILWAUKEE – U.S. sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles declined 5.2 percent in 2019 to 125,960 units, while worldwide sales dropped 4.3 percent to 218,273 units, according to full-year results released this morning by the company. Harley-Davidson sold 6,908 fewer models in the U.S. in 2019 compared to 2018, and 9,778 fewer …

It’s time for The Week in Review for the week ending Jan. 25. The post is a mix of news nuggets, info from press releases, and other items culled from near and far. Here goes with The Week in Review: Triumph Getting Into Smaller Bikes MCN reports that Triumph and …