American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 234 January 2019 | Page 14

NEWS European Council: ‘Motorcycle Safety
BRIEFS Must Be Part of Road Safety
Procedures’
PFF (Piaggio Fast Forward), a
subsidiary of Italian Moto Guzzi,
Aprilia and Vespa owner
Piaggio, has opened a new
10,000-square foot second
assembly and production
facility in Boston. The new site
will undertake research into
robotics for urban mobility
applications. PFF already makes
the Gita, a “Follow Me”
pedestrian mobile-carrier that
follows people on the go
(indoors or out) while
transporting up to 45 lbs of
equipment, luggage or
commercial goods (2,000 cubic
inches of cargo space - think
BB8 with a trunk, rather than
c3po with a backpack). “This
will mean we can continue to
meet our objective to create an
innovative product that is an
efficient, high-tech vehicle,
while also delivering more
functions than a simple carrying
device”.
Harley says it hopes to confirm where
its “additional international”
production capacity will be sited in
the first half of 2019.
At the most recent meeting of
European ministers for
transport in Brussels it was
agreed that the EU should
reform and strengthen road
infrastructure management
rules.
The Council of the European
Union agreed its position on a
proposal from the third Mobility
package by the European
Commission to strengthen road
infrastructure management to
reduce road fatalities and
serious injuries.
The reform of the Road
Infrastructure Safety
Management Directive will
extend the scope of the current
rules to motorways and other
primary roads beyond the trans-
European transport network
(TEN-T). This will contribute
significantly to the
improvement of road
infrastructure safety across the
European Union. The directive
would also cover roads outside
urban areas that are built using
EU funding - which is something
that FEMA (The Federation of
European Motorcyclist
Associations) has been lobbying
for. “It will become mandatory
to take account of vulnerable
road users such as motorcyclists
in road safety management
procedures.”
The proposal introduces a
network-wide road safety
assessment, which is a snapshot
of the entire road network
covered by the directive used to
evaluate accident risk.
Authorities will use the findings
to carry out more targeted road
safety inspections or take direct
remedial action. It will become
mandatory to take systematic
account of pedestrians, cyclists
and other vulnerable road users
such as motorcyclists and other
Californian wheel manufacturer
Metalsport has announced that
its 2D styles are now also
available in two new widths -
21x5.5 and 23x5.5 - with wheel
and tire packages also
available.
The XG500 was the best-selling
Cruiser in Australia for Q3/2018, with
694 units sold, making it Harley’s
best-selling model YTD and the 4th
best-selling road bike/street bike
overall behind the Honda CB125E,
Kawasaki Ninja 400 and Yamaha
MT07L. The FZBRS was the second
best-selling Cruiser (552 units),
followed by the FXBB, FLFBS, FLSB
and FXFBS. The Indian Scout was 6th,
selling 358 units. The FLHXS was
Australia’s best-selling Touring bike.
Frieze H-D in O’Fallon, Illinois, has
been sold to Brad Holzhauer, owner
of St Charles Harley-Davidson and
BIG St Charles Motorsports, both of
St Charles, Missouri, and Nashville,
Illinois based Holzhauer Auto &
Motorsports Group. Opened in 1963,
Russell Frieze was an avid Harley-
Davidson enthusiast, rider and racer.
Former owner Virginia (Jenny) Frieze
built the current dealership in 2007.
Notable as an eco-friendly
dealership, it has been renamed
Green Mount Road Harley-Davidson
under the new ownership.
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FEMA General Secretary Dolf
Willigers: “From now on road
authorities will have to take
vulnerable road users, including
motorcyclists, into account with all
decisions regarding the main roads
in Europe”
users of powered two-wheelers
in road safety management
procedures. These road users
accounted for almost half of
road fatalities in the EU in 2017.
FEMA general secretary Dolf
Willigers said: “This is a
pleasant surprise. The decision
of the Council is exactly what
we have asked for. This is great
news for motorcyclists. From
now on road authorities will
have to take vulnerable road
users, including motorcyclists,
into account with all decisions
regarding the main roads in
Europe. This will lead to better
road safety for motorcyclists.”
Stockholm Motorcycle Expo
Moves to Swedish National Arena
The modest, if welcome, growth in
most of the mainstream sectors of
the PTW and wider powersports
market in Sweden has raised hopes
for the prospects of MC Massan in
January.
The annual expo alternates between
Stockholm and Gothenburg, with
January 25-27 slated for the 2019
show, but at a new venue – the
Friends Arena at Solna in the
northern Stockholm suburbs –
Sweden’s National Arena, adjacent
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - JANUARY 2019
to the giant Mall of Scandinavia.
“Friends Arena gives us new
opportunities to develop the fair for
an overall experience for the
visitors,” says Niklas Kristoffersson,
CEO of the Motorcycle Industry Trade
Association in Sweden, McRF.
“We believe the move will both give
a boost to the traditional audience,
while attracting new enthusiasts.
With its central location in northern
Stockholm and with excellent
transport to and from the whole
region, we believe that the Friends
Arena opens the show up for even
more visitors from all over Sweden’s
most populated regions. The
neighboring Mall of Scandinavia is a
tourist attraction in itself, suitable for
an excursion for the whole family.
www.mcmassan.se
www.AMDchampionship.com