“An Italian court convicted and sentenced the chairman of Piaggio & C. SpA to prison in a bankruptcy case related to the failure of real estate and hotel company Italcase-Bagaglino,” stated an online news source. The source added, Piaggio's Roberto Colaninno was sentenced to four years and a month in prison. The convictions were reportedly related to Italcase-Bagaglino, which collapsed in the late 1990s. “The Italian banks were looking to gain properties as collateral and extended loans even though they knew that Italcase-Bagaglino was having financial difficulties,” explained the news source. At the time, Colaninno was serving as a board member of Italian bank Banca Agricola Mantovana. Colaninno will reportedly remain free while the convictions are being appealed.

Michael Goodwin, “the creator of supercross,” has been convicted on two murder charges in ordering the killings of former business partner, racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife, Trudy, reports the Los Angeles Times. The paper adds, the murders took place in 1988, two months after the conclusion of a bitter court battle between Thompson and Goodwin, who had worked together to promote motorsports since 1984. The 1988 court decision awarded Thompson a $514,388 judgment against Goodwin, leaving Goodwin bankrupt, explains the Times. The paper adds, “From the beginning, Goodwin was the prime suspect, but legal difficulties meant it took investigators 13 years to produce a case worth presenting to a jury.” Goodwin, having spent the last five years in custody, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole, concluded the Times.

The amount of federal money heading to motorcycle safety programs, U.S. Forest Service Trails and Recreation and other powersports-pertinent issues remained in limbo at the end of the 109th Congress that adjourned in December, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). Not that the powersports sector was being singled out: Congress funded the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, but left the remainder of government operations funded by stopgap measures, multiple news sources reported. The 110th Congress that convened in January must take up funding measures when they are re-introduced, the Council reported. Among the funding in limbo is $6 million approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committee last year for motorcycle safety incentive grants designed to prod states to address the number of single- and multiple-vehicle motorcycle wrecks, the MIC reports. The motorcycle safety legislation was sponsored by Rep. Joe Knollenberg, (R-MI), who won re-election in November, according to multiple news sources.

Guangzhou, China, city officials have decided to ban the use of powered bikes, including motorcycles and electric bicycles, within the city. According to The Mercury News, the city blames the bikes for increased pollution and other problems, such as motorcycle-related deaths and snatch-and-run gangs of thieves. As of Jan. 1, 2007, citizens with a registered motorcycle must turn in their bikes or take them out of the city. There are reportedly 260,000 registered motorcycles with another 100,000 unregistered ones on the streets.

FTM Enterprises Inc. has officially changed its corporate name to RK Excel America, Inc., effective Jan. 1, 2007. According to the company, the name change is part of a plan to further develop the wheel brand internationally, spurred on by RK Excel Co. of Japan. The new company will reportedly continue to operate from its current offices and warehouses, with Frank Miyake continuing to serve as company president. RK Excel America shareholders will be led by RK Excel Japan and joined by minority shareholders Carat srl of Italy and Mitsuboshi Boeki Ltd. of Japan, adds the company.

A piece of legislation that would have suspended through 2009 the import duty on certain machines, including wheel-assembly and wheel-trueing machines used in the assembly of motorcycle wheels died in committee last year, the Motorcycle Industry Council stated, adding the bill was introduced on behalf of Harley-Davidson. The legislation was sponsored by Paul Ryan (D-WI), who will retake his seat as part of the majority party. Neither the MIC nor Rep. Ryan's Web site offered any indication if the legislation would be re-introduced. In the new Congress, Ryan will serve as co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, which weighs in on offroad activities like hunting and fishing, his Web site reported. The popular caucus has 300 members of both parties.

The Alabaster Police Department (AL) has announced it will no longer be using motorcycles to patrol the city's streets. The Shelby County Reporter explained the move came after the city council voted to reject bids that would have replaced four 2006 Harley-Davidsons and instead, the council chose to declare the bikes as surplus. The council reportedly plans to sell the bikes at auction and, combined with the money that was set aside for new bikes in 2007, hopes to buy two new cars with the proceeds.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has filed a lawsuit against Oregon State University, its president and also against Stephen Garets, both individually and in his official capacity as director of the Team Oregon Motorcycle Safety Program of OSU, charging the parties with copyright infringement and violation of the MSF's rights under the Lanham Act, reports an MSF press release. The release adds, “The suit, filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that the defendants willfully misappropriated the MSF's motorcycle safety and training curriculum materials in connection with the development and publication of Team Oregon's Basic Rider Training (BRT) curriculum materials and prepared derivative works based on the MSF's copyrighted curricula.” The suit also alleges that the defendants have sought to distribute the misappropriated curriculum outside the state of Oregon and that the defendants falsely associated the MSF with and identified the MSF as an endorser of the Team Oregon BRT and that, in naming the BRT, they infringed on MSF's service marks in its current curriculum, the Basic RiderCourse SM (BRC), explains the press release. The suit is reportedly seeking “to permanently enjoin the defendants from using the Team Oregon BRT, or any other product that infringes upon the MSF's copyrights, as well as from marketing or offering the Team Oregon BRT to other states or entities and from making false endorsements.”

The Forest Service will hold a series of two-day workshops in February for Manistee and Huron National Parks in Michigan and for the Nebraska National Forests, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council, with the stated purpose of helping forest managers understand the needs of the offroad community, trail system development and the task of bringing the off-highway vehicle community into the forest-management process. Identical workshops have already been held for the Tonto and Apache-Sitegreaves National Forests in Arizona, Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota and for Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests in Michigan. The Council reports input on Cibola and Santa Fe National Forests in New Mexico and Ouchita and Ozark National Forests in Arkansas will be heard in March workshops and on Montana's Helena, Lolo, Bitterroot and Panhandle National Forests, plus Gunnison and Pike/San Isabel National Forests in Colorado in April. For more workshop information, visit the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council Web site at www.NOHVCC.org.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. workers in Marysville, Akron and St. Marys (AL) have returned to work after United Steelworkers members voted to accept a new contract, ending an 86-day-long strike, reports an online news source. “It took a strike, but we achieved a fair and equitable contract that protects quality health care for active and retired members. And by winning major capital investment expenditures, it secures our jobs for the future,” Steelworkers Executive Vice President Ron Hoover stated. The company reportedly agreed to put $1 billion into a fund for retiree medical benefits and the closing of a plant in Tyler, TX, will save the company $50 million a year.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation have said they have noticed a disturbing trend in the number of fatal accidents involving motorcycles. With the increased number of older riders, state officials believe some of them may have trouble judging distances, coupled with the more powerful engines in modern motorcycles, explained the Des Moines KCCI/ 8 Web site. The number of fatal motorcycle crashes totaled 56 last year, which is 10 more than in 2005 and 19 more than in 2004, said the Web site.

On Jan. 1, a new law has gone into effect, which aims to improve safety for young motorcyclists and motorists, reports the Florida paper, the Sun Herald. According to the paper, the law requires a person under 21 to display a license plate that is white with red letters and states “under 21” along the bottom edge. The intent is reportedly to allow police officers a way to determine, at a glance, whether a motorcyclist should be wearing a helmet, since Florida's helmet law prohibits anyone under 21 from riding without one. Although the law went into effect at the beginning of the New Year, motorcycle owners under 21 won't have to obtain the new tag until their current one expires on their birthdays, explained the Herald.

Marty Moates, who won the 1980 U.S. Grand Prix of Motocross at Carlsbad, CA, died in December from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to news reports. Friends told sources that Moates had been in pain from old injuries and from stomach ulcers. “Marty was a man of many talents and well liked by all in the industry,” stated a release at Supercross.com. The site continued, “Later on, Marty was involved in the clothing giant No Fear, which he helped guide to the position it holds today. In a 2001 interview, Marty said, 'I'm proud to have done what I did and got where I did in motocross. I think most of those things happened because I was honest in all my relationships.'” Survivors are said to include his wife, Heather and son, Dakota, who have requested that donations be made in Marty's memory to Loma Linda Children's Hospital.