Honda’s 2007 Corporate Plans

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. recently announced estimated 2006 worldwide vehicle sales figures and a range of plans for expansion of its motorcycle, car and other businesses in 2007.

Interestingly, Honda stated that it aimed to expand its motorcycle production in developing economies, but made no mention of its plans for new motorcycle models, dealership allocations, or sales incentives for bike buyers in Europe or North America.

Here are some extracts from the press release;

Global 2006 Sales;

Motorcycles: 12.7 million units (up 3% from 2005) Automobiles: 3.55 million units (up 5% from 2005) Power Products: 6.4 million units (up 15% from 2005)

2007 Yamaha R6 Available Now

Yamaha UK are pleased to announce the early first delivery of 2007 YZF-R6 machines to their dealer network. The new liveried machines are now available in limited numbers, priced £7,499, in all Authorised Yamaha Dealerships.

The new YZF-R6 will again be showcased in the ever popular Virgin R6 Cup and for 2007 in the white-hot competition of the British Supersport Championship! The Virgin Supersport team will consist of R6 Cup winners Billy McConnell (2005) and Tom Grant (2006).

BMF Warn On Licence Changes

Despite last-ditch efforts to head-off the adoption of stringent new EC driving licence regulations, the BMF is warning that without a miraculous change of fortune, motorcycling is about to face its biggest threat ever.

This follows a recent transport committee meeting at the EU Parliament in Brussels where, despite several amendments being submitted to moderate the motorcycling proposals of the 3rd EC Driving Licence Directive, only some procedural amendments submitted by the Rapporteur ( The what? - Baffled Ed )Matthieu Grosch were accepted. After voting on the amendments, the final vote for the substantive Directive was to accept it by 31 votes to 2 against and 2 abstentions.

2007 Yamaha WR450F Review and First Impression

The bikes may be in dealerships already, but Yamaha wanted to make a splash with the re-introduction of the WR450F and its all-new engine and aluminum frame, so they flew the bikes and a herd of journalists down south the jungles of Costa Rica to give the bikes a workout.
First things first, the bike is practically all-new emphasizing and incorporating the changes made to the 2006 YZ line and its new engine and frame, while tuning it to meet the demands of the off-road rider. Changes from the motocrosser are subtle but make a huge difference in how the bike performs off the track. And Yamaha took even further steps in tuning the machine, claiming to have designed it to work better for the tighter and technical trails, not so much for the faster and open terrain out west where the settings used to perform best.

Bike Test Fees to Rise

The word from the MRTA, who are unhappy about the substantial increase in bike test fees on the horizon.

MOTORCYCLE THEORY TEST FEE INCREASE:

UNWELCOME ‘STEALTH TAX’, SAYS MRTA

‘A Driving Standards Agency (DSA) proposal to increase the cost of the motorcycle theory test from £21.50 to £28.50 represents a £10 million “stealth tax” on riders,’ said Nigel Osborne, chairman of the RMI Motorcycle Rider Training Association (MRTA), part of the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF).

‘This new fee would deliver a massive 32.5 per cent increase in revenue: consequently the DSA would do itself no favours with the motorcycling community.