Actual news on the KTM purchase of Husqvarna

[Motosportz]

Too be honest, I have mixed emotions about it, at this point in time..... The Castiglioni's obsession with reviving MV Agusta was the ultimate undoing of our beloved Husqvarna. Constantly being cash strapped, by pouring buckets of money into a very high priced/low volume motorcycle, led to the sale of Ducati and then Husqvarna to BMW. This takes us to where we are now, good, bad or indifferent, depending on your point of view.

Don't get me wrong, I love MV Agusta and have since I was a motorcycle crazed kid. Surtees, Hailwood, Agostini, were all childhood heros on their MV's. If I had mega bucks... a 2000 F4 would be sitting in my living room right now!

I dont care about all that because after spending 2 days staring at a MV in the booth across from mine at a show a few years ago I find them pure sex. You are explaining all this to me (above) and all I see is boobs Sometimes I like not having the bad back story so I can just love it for the motorcycle she is.

 

[Norman Foley]

I dont care about all that because after spending 2 days staring at a MV in the booth across from mine at a shop a few years ago I find them pure sex. You are explaining all this to me (above) and all I see is boobs Sometimes I like not having the bad back story so I can just love it for the motorcycle she is.

Can't hate you for that... Their slogan is "Motorcycle Art" after all!

 

[Phil Lamb]

TVS, Shineray, etc.
Was in Rwanda this summer. A government document estimates that there are 10,000 moto-taxis in Kigali, the capital of about 1,000,000 population. 99+% of the bikes were 125 cc TVS cycles. Took a moto to the downtown dealer. Looked like you could buy one for about USD1,250. Don't know about taxes, etc. A 250 could be had for about 1,800. Local news reports indicated TVS is planning a big assembly plant in Uganda. I actually rode one, about 1/2 mile on a very bad dirt road in town. Decent bike, despite the clapped out forks and brakes. Did not notice any motorcycle art about it, but very functional.

The variety of small bikes to be pouring out of India and China will be interesting to watch. Even H-D is coming out with smaller bikes, 500/750 cc, apparently with Kansas City and Indian plants.

I think TVS manufacures about 7 million units/year; H-D, about 250,000 per year.

 

[bearorso]

The Castiglionis made " use" of HD, quite thoroughly - - and divested themselves of MV, for quite a good sum of money . I haven't checked the time lines, but I'd be surprised if that 'deal' didn't coincide with Huskies relative resurgence, just prior to BMW getting them.

The Castiglionis, then got back MV, and what a deal that was - Bravo, Italia! They truly 'reamed' HD! Their 'reposession of MV', had no effect on Husky.

Shineray perhaps getting the rights to the Italian Huskies? - now, I'd see it as quite a good thing. Look to their size and production levels, as another poster put up.

Perhaps they've got ahold of the Italian Factory? - I doubt it, though it could give them a useful 'tariff busting' address.

TVS having Italian Husky rights of some sort? Could be a good thing, and seems logical with BM's association with them.

But both TVS / Shineray having the engines / rights? - goodness only knows. BMW just getting as much money as possible from something they may have retained the rights to????????

BMW / TVS / Shineray co-operation, like what appears to be happening with KTM, Bajaj and CGM (I'm pretty sure I've got those letters wrong) ??????????

All pretty logical. When your look at two 'Major Manufacturers - as people regard BMW / KTM as - with sub 110,000 bikes made / sold in 2012, the numbers really are laughable when compared to Bajaj, Hero, Shineray etc etc etc etc. BMW and KTM wanting to get a slice of the real money making markets, before / to stop themselves, from being 'swamped'?

As a side note : I find it a worry, when, with all the BS associated with the "New Huskies", especially this 'prototype', I find HD's new 500 / 750 to be far more 'interesting' than the 'new Huskies'. Well, only the white 750 they had at EICMA, with styling reminiscent of the XR (old, Iron barrell psuedo Cafe Racer one, from decades ago). The std models, well, they are the HD style I am so very uninterested in. Wonder how they will shape up against the Jap smaller cruisers / whatever you call them? HD, could really get massive sales from the 500 /750 in India and other developing markets.

 

[Jeff aka BOLT]

Im on the fence.....300 2T or 350 4T........ or I may just need to keep my 302cc 4T for a while longer if nobody buys the thing.

I struggled with this... finally went with a 350 4t... while I was waiting for parts to come in I bought a 300 2t. Both lightly used for the price of one bike new.

Problem solved.

 

[organ donor]

Yes, I thought I could smell the Chinese noodles.

 

[Norman Foley]

After the sale of Husky to BMW, MV was broke. All the proceeds from the sale went to the GEVI Group, the Italian holding company, who bought MV back from Proton. MV needed a "White Knight" yet again and HD stepped in for reasons we'll never understand. World economy goes in the can and HD decides to concentrate on core business. Buell and MV get the boot, Eric gets a raw deal and Claudio hits the jackpot..... Old Aermacchi factory brought up to date and all the bills paid!

Only KTM gets a better deal.... Husky, all it's non-BMW related intellectual property and designs, state of the art factory and a wad of cash. All this for doing the dirty work of shutting it down, that the Germans couldn't do. Shineray thing is the just another part of SP/KTM cashing in. SP said he isn't selling the Husky factory at this point, so after the unions are all cleared out he may build bike there again. Huskys? Who knows, maybe he'll lease it to Shineray?

 

[MonoShocker]

Wow....a Shineray TE/SM630, my head is spinning , don't like the chinese connection but i do love my TE630 so I am glad to see it live on even if it's in this odd way, and someone will still be making parts so that is a plus if push comes to shove and you cant get them from Husqvarna in a few years. Which I hope will not be a problem, maybe a Husky dealer her could weigh in on what they expect Italian part availability to be like going forward?

And where the the heck are Shineray motorcycles going to be sold?

 

[Phil Lamb]

Tracking high volume manufacturers.
So who are they all? What and where are they manufactured/distributed?
Bajaj, Hero, TVS, Shineray, others? Korean or Taiwanese? Any consistent source of news coverage or basic facts? Is there any analyst in the business or financial banking world following the motorcycle industry? Or following just national sectors, like India or China?

Due to Husqvarna's polyglot heritage (now there is a big phrase for you mini-pirates), we seem to be fairly interested in trends affecting smaller sized motorbikes, and with the widespread forum participation, might be able to pull together a decent cache of information. Just thinking (briefly).

 

[silverpilen]

Wow, I would never have foreseen this move with Shineray. I thought these designs would have been binned or end up with TVS. I bet they are for sale only in the emerging markets for obvious reasons.

As the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, it begs the question as to what will happen to with the Kymco engine platform. Where did this actually end up on the Husky sales agreement? If it was gifted to SP, then how come it has now appeared in CCMs? My understanding it that the engine was a BMW design built by Kymco under licence (or direction) of BMW.

 

[Motosportz]

As the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, it begs the question as to what will happen to with the Kymco engine platform. Where did this actually end up on the Husky sales agreement? If it was gifted to SP, then how come it has now appeared in CCMs? My understanding it that the engine was a BMW design built by Kymco under licence (or direction) of BMW.

I believe BMW still owns it is and selling them to several builders like CCM. The 449/511 motor is really a pretty good lump.

 

[Norman Foley]

Wow, I would never have foreseen this move with Shineray. I thought these designs would have been binned or end up with TVS. I bet they are for sale only in the emerging markets for obvious reasons.

As the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, it begs the question as to what will happen to with the Kymco engine platform. Where did this actually end up on the Husky sales agreement? If it was gifted to SP, then how come it has now appeared in CCMs? My understanding it that the engine was a BMW design built by Kymco under licence (or direction) of BMW.

My guess is all the BMW sourced engines... 449/511, 650 and 900 stayed with BMW and were not transferred to SP.

 

[Big Timmy]

You can still buy brand new BMW / Kymco 450 engines from "Speedbrain" for about 2400.00 euros. They take about 2 weeks to deliver. Check out their Website. I just verified this a few minutes ago. Recently they were selling them for like 1900.00 euros.

 

[K5PL5]

Just like our Italian Huskys had... Cagiva and MV Agusta all over them. My Husaberg throttle cable is held in place with a Cagiva Elefant rubber strap. My stupid little way of connecting to the Mother Ship.....

I thought it was kinda cool to see the MV Augusta label on my SM510R

 

[rancher1]

After the sale of Husky to BMW, MV was broke. All the proceeds from the sale went to the GEVI Group, the Italian holding company, who bought MV back from Proton. MV needed a "White Knight" yet again and HD stepped in for reasons we'll never understand. World economy goes in the can and HD decides to concentrate on core business. Buell and MV get the boot, Eric gets a raw deal and Claudio hits the jackpot..... Old Aermacchi factory brought up to date and all the bills paid!

Only KTM gets a better deal.... Husky, all it's non-BMW related intellectual property and designs, state of the art factory and a wad of cash. All this for doing the dirty work of shutting it down, that the Germans couldn't do. Shineray thing is the just another part of SP/KTM cashing in. SP said he isn't selling the Husky factory at this point, so after the unions are all cleared out he may build bike there again. Huskys? Who knows, maybe he'll lease it to Shineray?

Norm, are you sure SP sold the rights and not BMW. Those models were not current and may not have been part of the package. SP selling those would create direct competition with their bajaj stuff.

 

[Norman Foley]

Norm, are you sure SP sold the rights and not BMW. Those models were not current and may not have been part of the package. SP selling those would create direct competition with their bajaj stuff.

WAG on my part, but if that's your reasoning, why would BMW sell it, when it would compete with what they're doing with TVS? Same logic.....

 

[rasputin]

spoke to the shineray guy again at the eicma... they will sell for 30% less than the husky prices, and they'll focus on europe only for the near future.

r

 

[Bart]

Did I miss something, were are those Shineray/husky's build, but more importantly can we expect the same Husky quality?

 

[rasputin]

according to them: same tools, same suppliers, same parts. production in italy (near milan).

r

 

[Motosportz]

according to them: same tools, same suppliers, same parts. production in italy.

r

I like it. Wish the X-light was in that mix. If this is true and they are built to high quality and in Italy many 610/630 owners are going to be very happy. Need to bring them to the US.