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I suggested to David to make a "5 years" patch; the tour's first year was in 2020; I am certain some riders have been tour finishes for 5 years already.

And an historic one at that... Apparently there from when the highway system started to be deployed, with places where people could make a stop and relax. This is something that is actually missing today. When I compare with what we have in Europe. Highways have rest places coupled with Gas Stations, so people can actually get out of their cars and sit to eat and exchange too. I am aware that in Texas, the simmering heat does not invite to stay outside of the AC in your car, but there are a few gas stations with some benches outside of the building.

Well, now that I have a dealership that represents Piaggio a few miles away from home, I am hoping to see those bikes in the flesh. I don't know about the fancy colored ones, which maybe limited editions, but I am certain the V7 Sport will be there. I am still sulking about the digital display instead of getting two clocks though... because this is something not easy to transform.

I found this video exclusively showcasing the 2025 Moto Guzzi; I like the V100 Mandello "Wind Tunnel" model. The V7 Sport is also really enticing. I wonder if you hit the tank with those rear view mirrors, the way they are placed at the end of the handlebar. That seems silly.

@PJPR01 I received my 2024 "Tour finisher" rocker. On to 2025...

Remember that the airlines used the same kind of argumentation when they started to implement their fees: -you pay for checking your suitcase, because not everyone travels with luggage; really? I would say that most travellers take a few basic necessities with them. Furthermore, on long haul flights, the airlines reasoning does not hold water. -you pay for picking your seat; it started with the seats located at the exits, because they offered more leg room, and they were limited to those initially. Today, you pay for picking any seat. However, for this, there is a snagg they can't avoid. You have to travel seated, and the price of the ticket includes a seat. When I travel domestic, I get my seat assigned at the gate, sometimes just at boarding time. So far, always in the middle, and I don't care. -the last one I came upon was the boarding pass. There is an airline that charges if you do not come to the airport with your boarding pass, and need to print it there. I thought those machines which print the luggage tags were also printing the boarding passes, but I was wrong. I believe all those fees that seem to be the norm in the USA, coupled with the tip gallore, contribute to the general public unrulyness and bad behavior in planes. Personally, the line of thinking that some features could be turned on or off by adding money to the initial purchase is not correct. If I cannot use it, then I do not want it installed.

My bad. It is not a subscription, but a one time fee. For 1500km you have access to features such as quick shifter, cruise control, rally mode. After 1500km, if you want to continue using those features, you need to drop an additional 700 EUR/USD. It is for the KTM Adventure R. According to KTM, not everyone needs these features, so they are optional and it is up to you to activate them or not.

That is the impression he gave in that "clumsy" video he made. I think this was the message he wanted to pass along. That he was going to do everything in his power to get KTM back on rails. If I understood well, they made too many bikes with regards to customer demand. They are probably going to have to lower the price on many of the models to get them out of the door. It actually is sort of happening. I checked the KTM dealership's website. They also did something that was not well received by their customers. Having features that require subscription to work. Not all the bikes, but the popular one. You would purchase the bike, and all the features would be activated for the initial 1500km or 900 miles. Then you would need to pay a monthly subscription if you continue to use said features. I am not certain what those feature were, but there was mention of quick shifter and cruise control and some other driving assistance. I am aware the subscription business model would be general if companies could make it stick.

I found an interesting article that explains it with facts; here's the link: https://motomatters.com/analysis/2024/12/02/ktm_insolvency_and_motogp_what_we_know.html If the information below is correct, KTM owes a total of 2.9 Billion Euros. This is astronomical!

Any wall painter artist can do it with a photo. I am saying this, because a French bakery in my neighborhood had a mural done, representing Paris rooftop with a few of the Paris landmarks. He worked from photographs. He said he also does some inspirational art. During my Texas travel, I saw plenty of those murals just about everywhere.

I think the "he quit" was a diplomatic way to comment on his departure. In any case, he knew already his mandate would finish on january 2026 without any possibility of reconduction. Carlos Tavares was very successful as PSA CEO. He turned the company around, and with his strategy of cost cutting and price increases, he did pretty well. He continued to be extremely successful with Stellantis throughout 2023. The big reckonning came in 2024. Especially in the US, where the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge prices increased so much the vehicles remained unsold. But the debacle was not only limited to the US market, but everywhere else. The largest share holder of the holding, representing the Agnelli (FIAT) familly, was in open conflict with Tavares on the strategy. I think the cost cutting works when there is an obvious surplus, like with PSA. But when you completely gut your company, then you may affect the profitability. Carlos Tavares was a bit like Elon Musk in his management psychology. I watched some testimonies from the leaders that got fired. One said he got fired just because he reported disappointing sales figures.

The V7/V85 Moto Guzzi engine is the bread and butter of the company. I do not know how well the V100 models are selling, but I would say, the upper segment market is probably not as good as it used to be. Not only for Guzzi. The core of the market, all manufacturers included, seem to be in the mid engine capacity. This is not true for every manufacturer, but I think that following the 2025 EICMA, and even before that, we have seen a large amount of around the 500cc powered bikes being released. So far, Moto Guzzi has tapped this market with their V7 successfully. But I am thinking they could come up with a smaller capacity Vtwin. Obviously, this is tricky, because they don't want to encroach into their V7/V85 business. While in Paris, I saw many of those lower cubed motorcycles wizzing around. Yes, also many scooters. But for example, the people working at the café where I camped used a KTM 390 Adventure to commute from home. As he said, no need for a bigger bike. This was just good enough to get him through traffic. Obviously, the US market is not the primary target for a small bike. But the European market could do with some kind of V45TT; the 450cc is all the rage at the moment. Most likely because the Dakar motorcycles are limited to 450cc. Of course, the factor to be taken into account is Europe's decision to stop all new ICE vehicles sale by 2030. From what I understood, the motorcycles are not concerned, but the way the European parliament is working, one cannot take anything for granted. So what do you think; should Guzzi consider a smaller V engine?

Stellantis is jettisoning its CEO Carlos Tavares. In case you did not know, Stellantis owns all the following brands: -Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram Trucks, and Vauxhall. Some of these brands are not exported from Europe. Things are not going too well in the mobility departments in Europe. The EEC leaders have maybe contributed to the crisis in enforcing laws to make ICE cars obsolete, when the customers are not ready to move on. NorthVolt, the Suedish company Europe's was betting on to move away from Chinese made batteries has declared bankrupcy, and will also go through a restructuration program. It seems like the entire mobility industry, 2 wheels, 4 wheels is going through changes with unpredictable future. Meanwhile, our V11s are still going strong!

And South Korean too... What I have noticed, and I am not the only one, Chinese companies have either purchased notorious brands on the verge of extinction, or extincts, and have resurrected them. I am thinking about Moto Morini, Benelli for example. I am almost certain KTM will not accept to go under Chinese control. But during my Parisian walkways, I have noticed the CF Moto on display that did not use to be there before. There are other Chinese brands too, but not well known. (Voge) Also, look at the Dakar starting 2025... you have KTM, Honda, Sherco (French!), Fantic(Italy), Huskvarna (KTM), Yamaha, Rieju (Spain), Hero (India), Kove (China), GasGas (KTM), Hoto (???). Of course, almost everybody is racing on a KTM or a derivative of KTM. But we have also Kove, which commercialize their dual sports here in the USA. They do not have any dealerships, but you can order online: https://www.kovemotousa.com/models-2024 I think the Dakar is the reason why there are so many 450 Dual Sports/Adventure/Trail bikes in the market.

Well, you certainly remember the 70's and the arrival of the Japanese cars, later followed by the Korean ones, arrival depending on your home base. At that time, where I lived, we used to make fun of those who purchased the cheap Mazda cars. In France, Mazda used to be a battery brand. Slowly we learned to change our mind. While they looked funky for some, they also started to make some ground. I remember the first time I saw that Toyota Celica GT... The Chinese have been manufacturing motorcycles, motorcycle engines for some of the European brands for a while now. It was only a matter of time before they would start making their own. KTM is one of the brands that uses CF Moto to manufacture engines and complete bikes. As we have been witnessing, Chinese (Indian companies too) companies have purchased a lot of the brands that we grew up with. But today, they are coming strong with their own brand name. Iron Power Sport in Houston carry CF Moto. They are already sold out of every Ibex, the dual sport of CF Moto. I only like older motorcycles, and the one brand; I am wondering if the Chinese brands are going to take over the motorcycle market the way they did the EV market in Europe.

One of our main competitor exported its production line to China. I don't know if this is still the case, but at the time, if you wanted to produce in China, you had to share the technology. A few years later, in Africa, we responded to a call for tender, and we were surprised to learn that a Chinese company was also tendering for the work. Basically proposing the tools of our main competitor. They had only partially altered the names of the tools, so the customer would recognize them for what they could do. They ended up getting the contract, because as the customer pointed out, they were so cheap compared to the traditional companies, that there were not even a big debate. However, the technology they had copied was not applicable in all situations. So we had to bail them out a few times. I had a chance to speak to their lead guy. They were paid peanuts... but their salary still made them king of their land. The major drawback, is that by manufacturing outside of your frontier, you lose the know how. For a long time, maybe still now, the design teams were located in Europe while the manufacturing would take place in China. It seems that now they have gained enough experience to do their own design. The auto makers in Europe, where EVs are being pushed full speed, can't keep up with the Chinese car makers, mainly because the Chinese have secured all the rare metals that are currently required to make the batteries. So just about the complete world have to purchase batteries to the Chinese as it stands. There are new battery types being studied, that would require less of those rare metals, but until they can take over, I am guessing some car makers may go down under.

With regards to KTM, it seems they are really in deep doo doo. I read their debt is in the billions... if the sources I read are correct, they even are in difficulty to pay employees for December... I hope they manage to come through. I wonder if potential KTM interested purchasers are going to think twice. I does not really make sense to continue in MotoGP.

Thank god it is not the same for Italian motorcycles... There is only one....

hmmm.... that's a very strong statement; let me retort!

The situation seems to be serious... they are going to stop the complete production on January and February and furlough the employees. I understand they are, they have taken steps to prevent Pieirer mobility to be run by an external administrator during the recovery. They have apparently refused financial help from Red Bull for the same reason. They have also said that MotoGP would not be impacted, but I have a hard time believing that. KTM needs to start developing the next generation bike for 2027. Potentially, it is going to be a big financial effort because they need a new engine, and new chassis, and compose with the new aerodynamic rules. I don't know if this year's debacle had anything to do with the cost-cutting. As for the video, it seems to be clear they improvised it without any help from the usual advice companies. It is aimed at reassuring people they can continue purchasing KTM motorcycles. On some of the forums I follow, I read about several issues that should have been taken care under warranty, where warranty was denied. Obviously, Internet is not the most reliable source. They have been in financial trouble since 2023 now, and it seems they have a lot of debt and creditors; hence the reason why they are trying to stop the vultures to break the company.

Nowadays, tickets seem to be only sold online; it is actually cheaper since you do not need to have people paid to deliver said tickets at the entrance gate. I have personally verified this has spread like fire. I went to a concert venue, where I used to purchase the ticket at the box office. This time, there weren't any. All venues use a third party service, which also charge you a fee on top of the ticket. So tangible tickets seem to have gone. Maybe not in Italy, maybe not in Misano. Here's a tip I used before. You go to the racetrack early, at the box office of the main entrance, ask around for excess tickets. I have done that before with success. Besides scalpers, which are usually trying to sell tickets for soccer matches, there are always some people that have received free tickets, and that may have more than needed. I have done that at the Houston Rodeo when I was working. My company was a sponsor, so we always got free tickets for specific days, that we could not use. You always have the backup to be able to get your tickets online if nothing else works.

You may have heard about it, but KTM is in dire financial situation since the end of 2023; Today the CEO of the company has released a statement about the company's future; the same causation model for the same consequences. During Covid, KTM ramped up production to meet the insatiable demand. They invested a lot of money to produce more, also detrimental to quality. The extreme measures they have taken have seen a lot of cost cutting, including shuting down factories and transfering activity to countries with cheaper manpower. Are they going to survive? CF Moto, where KTM does some of its manufacturing in China is coming strong in the European market. This is one of the downside of manufacturing in China. You have to share the technology with the local company.