Harley Davidson are looking to buy Ducati
One thing Harley like to do is buy Italian.
The first Italian motorcycle company they bought was Aermacchi with a 50% stake in 1960 and a full takeover in 1974. These small motorcycles were marketed has Harley-Davidson.
The company was sold to Cagiva in 1978
They tried sports bikes when they bought Buell in 2003 who already used their engines.
My Buell XB12S
This didn't last and they stopped selling them in 2009.
Their next adventure into sports bike was the purchase of Italian legend MV Agusta in 2008 and by doing this they took back control of Cagiva.
This didn't last and they sold it to the managing director a year later.
@michelle.gent's Ducati M900 Dark.
Now Volkswagen have put Ducati up for sale and Harley want to own this. If their previous ventures into sports bikes and Italian are anything to go by it won't last long. Ducati might go down the pan just like Buell. At 1.5 billion it going to be costly to find out.
Love my bikes, even Harley but they should probably stick to what they know.
I rode a few Buell's back in 1997, they were great fun. I managed to smoke the engine on an S1 Lightning riding from Milton Keynes to Birmingham at Mach 1, great fun but my manager was pissed. Ah, sweet biking memories :D
Thanks for sharing, upvoted and followed
Been out on mine today. Rained as usual. Not found anything I like yet to replace the Buell.
I remember them being wicked wheelie machines. I worked for a company called Carnell and they were the first distributer of the Buell in Britain I think. I mostly rode the S1 with the Screaming Eagle mod kit, great fun :D
Your's looks pretty neat
I remember Carnell very well. Was it Sheffield or Doncaster?
I do enjoy my Buell and it is great fun.
I was at the Birmingham branch for about a year after I left the Air Force. It was huge fun but their customer relations were crap. I got to ride all the latest machines though. I bought a Californian Kwak Z1, which was awesome and terrifying then I bought a CBR400RRJ Import with the Rossi paint job which was even more fun.
I have some great memories on the Buell's though, I suppose I should write about some of our run out's.
Good to be in touch with a fellow biker @s0ul
Write about trying the bikes out. Much better than just posting YouTube videos or other people's reviews. The CBR was an awesome machine and very collectible.
Will do. Yes, the CBR was awesome. Unfortunately I killed mine, and almost me too :P
Quite interesting if it pans out
Not sure I want Harley to have it but I think the other interested party is a business consortium.
Nice post !!!
Thanks
Lol when I like a post, I upvote it.
I would hate to loose Ducati, it is such an icon!!