Sissy! Tell him to pound sand! Yell that you're gonna fight this all the way to the Galactic Supreme Court! Dig your heels in, call him a banana eating, tricycle riding, sideshow monkey and fart the theme to Smokey and the bandit! Gawd damn BBS is getting all cashmere buttwipe soft as you all get older. La-dee-dah, let's all hold hands and skip through a field of suflowers. Blah!
I’m just lulling him into a false sense of security while I file for the trademark in the background. Coming soon to a social media ad near you, MotoMurica gear! All shirts will be sleeveless, but only after tearing the arms off haphazardly.
I think this also helps Harley with selling customer bikes to teams who decide to participate. Based on this May-12th article, the calendar, teams, and sponsorship still aren't final. Not sure if that's because this is a half-baked idea or if the announcement was early? It does beg the question of what is MA's purpose / benefit in this? It benefits Harley (global audience, international calendar, prestige, etc.), but how does MA benefit? Teams and sponsors will want the global exposure so why stay in MA? If the premier showcase for baggers is opening for (or closing?) the GP weekend then does the hooligan category become the marque event for MA and is MA's role then to create a feeder into the global bagger series to highlight US talent on the global stage? That seems like a stretch. All in all it is both an interesting move and a strange one and I don't think Harley is making this move in tandem with MA; it feels like a breakaway from MA.
Your question presumes that MA is supportive of this new series. Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall reading that MA is involved in this in any way.
You're right. I too didn't know / see / read anything about MA's involvement so was curious if anyone else knew more. With what's been published it does seems like a breakaway move by Harley. Which I get, but also think is not awesome.
I think what you will see is a team structure similar to the Moto E series. Established teams in the paddock will run the series with spec bikes. Dynavolt, LCR, Aspar all ran in the paddock before fielding a Moto E team.
Sure throws a wrench into MotoAmerica's goal of always trying to do everything in parity with Europe. Kind of Ironic that the "path to Europe" is now Baggers vs. Talent Cup. Sometimes you just have to laugh. I do kind of wonder what the appeal is to the European audience- since these bikes are not nearly as popular over there as other tourers?
Looks like ROW sales are responsible for ~1/3 of Harley's global volume. Ignoring the decline in volume globally over the years, the ROW markets have continued to be fairly stable (% basis). Given that, there's the notion that a) it would be worth keeping the existing owners engaged and b) leverage the MotoGP footprint to raise awareness in those ROW markets as the MotoGP visits those to raise volume with folks who may not have considered a Harley before.
