Big bike boom looms

Motorcycle sales figures have gone up for the first time in more than a year.

With new bike prices more competitive than ever, dealers say that not only are they selling more bikes, they are also selling a wider variety of them.

The latest figures, for sales in March – the month when new registrations come out – show 11,810 bikes have been sold, almost 800 up on the same period last year. And for the year so far 18,547 have been rolled out of the door and that’s not including scooters.

Scooters have seen sales fall for the first time since 1993.

Bike market watcher and MCN columnist Tony Boscovic believes the rise in bike sales and the fall in scooter sales aren’t unrelated.

He said: ” The massive boom in scooter sales over the last few years has put bums on seats. Now these riders have progressed from scooters to big bikes. A new generation of bikers has been created, but at the expense of current scooter sales.

” But there have also been some excellent deals and bonuses around that have encouraged people to spend. ”

Yamaha offered one of the most tempting deals, on its 2001 model R1. Anyone who has been near an official Yamaha dealer recently won’t have missed the subsidised insurance offer. It meant riders could get fully comprehensive cover for as little as £325. In March alone, when this scheme started, 571 R1s were sold making it the number one seller.

” There is no question the deal has helped, ” said Yamaha UK’s Dan Harris, ” but all the manufacturers have deals. The R1 is just a good bike at a good price. ”

Kawasaki, who launched its Fastline Finance offer with interest free credit covering its entire range has seen sales of its ZX-6R soar in 2002. So far 676 bikes have been registered with 464 sold in March alone.

The whole supersport class, traditionally the strongest of sports bikes as many riders pick 600s as their first big bike, has had an excellent start to 2002. Honda’s CBR600 has sold 603 from January to the end of March, Suzuki’s GSX-R600 452 and Yamaha’s R6 491.

The middle-capacity naked bike market, again popular with new riders, is also looking good with Yamaha’s Fazer 600 selling 406 in March, up 192 bikes on the same period last year, bringing the total in 2002 to 629, up 282 on 2002.

Proof of a broadening of demand from British riders comes in the growth experienced by BMW and CCM.

BMW has sold 78 of its new F650 CS and 102 R1150Rs already in 2002. Britain’s CCM has sold nearly twice as many bikes in the first three months of 2002 as it did in the same period of 2001.

BMW sales are up 30 per cent. That increase comes on the back of a sustained and creative advertising campaign over the last two years. It has given the German firm its highest ever share of the UK market.

Chris Waldron, of MCN award-winning George White Superbikes in Swindon, said: ” We have certainly seen a much wider spread of bikes sold this year. A lot of retro and traditional bikes have been sold as well as the core sports bikes. ”

The increase follows a torrid year when the bike boom of 1998, 1999 and 2000 stalled. High Insurance and a volatile secondhand market took their toll. With a more stable market and many exciting new bikes, the revs are rising once more.

Mark Foster, Chief Executive of the UK’s Motorcycle Industry Association, said: ” We’re delighted bike sales are up at the start of what promises to be a very good season for motorcycling. These figures show that even more people are turning to two wheels. ”