The latest reports concerning stage one bids received by Volkswagen by the appointed July date for Ducati did not, after all, include Harley. Yay, hurrah for our side! It is thought that by the time the reports emerged connecting Harley with seeking bid advice from Goldman Sachs, the executive suite at Juneau Avenue had already cooled on the idea, as the full gravitas of their way worse than expected second quarter results dawned on them.

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On the other hand, several bids were received by VAG advisor Evercore – motorcycle related and investor-led bids. As a second stage of bidding is set to get underway, the Italian Benetton family and India’ s giant( and KTM partner) Bajaj Auto are thought to be in the holeshot.

However, their 47.96 % ownership stake in KTM, recently announced plans to work with KTM brand Husqvarna to take the venerable off-roaders global and their Ducati ambitions haven’ t stopped Bajaj Auto CEO Rajiv Bajaj from continuing to get creative where finding ways to spending the conglomerate’ s $ 13 bn cash reserve are concerned. On August 8, they announced a non-equity tieup with British manufacturer Triumph to offer a range of midcapacity motorcycles in emerging markets.

AMD is pleased to note that former World Championship competitor Athena“ Chickie” Ransom has re-opened her Vagabond Choppers emporium at Pompano Beach, Florida, after a torrid few years.

Polaris Industries has reported second quarter 2017 sales of $ 1,364.9 million, up + 21 percent from $ 1,130.8 million for the second quarter of 2016. Adjusted sales, which excludes the impact from Victory Motorcycles net sales for the second quarter of 2017, were $ 1,358.8 million compared to $ 1,130.8 million in the prior year period. Motorcycle segment sales, including its PG & A related sales in the second quarter of 2017, was $ 198.0 million, a decrease of-13 percent compared to $ 228.4 million reported in the second quarter of 2016, which included $ 6.2 million of Victory motorcycle unit, accessory and apparel sales versus $ 54.0 million of Victory sales reported in the second quarter of 2016- driven by new product introductions and increased awareness of the brand. This increase was more than offset by significantly lower Slingshot sales. Motorcycle gross profit for the second quarter of 2017 was $ 21.1 million compared to $ 38.9 million in the second quarter of 2016. Adjusted for

the Victory wind-down costs of $ 8.9 million, motorcycle gross profit was $ 30.0 million, down from the second quarter last year due primarily to lower

Slingshot volume. North American consumer retail demand for the Polaris motorcycle

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