Written by Digits
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Could it be that the ranks of riders are getting fuller with more would-be bikers being bitten by the motorcycle bug?What could be a positive trend swimming in a sea of bad national and worldwide news, things could be considered on the upswing for the motorcycle industry.
A quick look at popular media and one would think motorcycles never fell out of favor with the general public. Marvel's World War 2 era superhero Captain America recently spent much of his onscreen time riding to the front on a vintage looking Harley-Davidson and early publicity photos from the upcoming Batman movie shows Catwoman borrowing the Dark Knights custom ride.
More and more 'everyday' characters are seen riding motorcycles for their roles, a far cry from when the bike was used by movie makers as a way of singling out the bad boy or villain.
All the larger motorcycle manufacturers are seeing a return to profitability with some enjoying record breaking figures, whether for sheer profit or simply the number of units sold to a particular market.
But there are many more tangible ways to judge whether the obsession on two-wheels is affecting more people; counting the number of heads at a bike night, comparing attendance numbers at larger motorcycle events, new motorcycle sales as well as those of used bikes.
As far as motorcycle sales are concerned, they usually peak over the summer months when new riders decide to take to the open road for the first time. It would be hard to judge the summer’s sales in North America while still in the month of August, but thanks the Earth’s equator switching seasons, an indicator for summer sales can be found down under in Australia.
According to industry experts, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), motorcycle sales in Australia increased in the first half of 2011. In the six months to the end of June, 50,379 motorcycles were delivered to Australian customers, representing an increase of 1501 units (or 3.1%) over the same period in 2010.
Even better, the growth in motorcycle sales outpaced the wider passenger and commercial vehicle market during 2011, according to FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar.
“The overall market for motorcycles has continued to see a little growth during 2011 compared with car and light commercial sales, which are down 6.6% year-to-date,” he said.
Seven of the top-10 motorcycles remain off-road motorcycle, which is considered a testament to the ongoing popularity of motorcycling as a recreational sport and pastime in Australia.
Regardless, the on-road motorcycle segment remains the single largest by market share, with half-year sales of 18,653 representing 37% of all motorcycles sold. Japanese manufacturers continue to dominate sales. Honda was the number one brand, delivering 10,424 motorcycles to the end of June.
Yamaha was in second position to the end of June with 9349 sales, followed by Suzuki (6333), Kawasaki (4882) and Harley Davidson (2955).
The used motorcycle market appears to be heating up along with the temperatures currently roasting the United States. Late last week NADAguides, considered the most comprehensive new and used car, classic car, motorcycle, boat and recreation vehicle pricing and information resource online, announced its 2011 second quarter Traffic Trends Report.
Overall numbers are improving with the total number of unique visitors to NADAguides.com seeing a double-digit increase since the beginning of the year with the number increasing an astounding 14 percent."NADAguides.com has experienced exceptional growth since the beginning of the year as well as over last year's traffic statistics,’ said Troy Snyder, director of product development at NADAguides.
As far as motorcycles are concerned, NADAguides.com has seen an increase of 23 percent in site traffic to that two-wheeled category. According to the experts at NADA all this activity isn’t just window shopping with the site confirming a ‘hike in consumer shopping activity’.
Gathering attendance numbers from the larger motorcycle events can prove more difficult with official numbers from the hosting cities sometimes disagreeing with those from local law enforcement. Although the numbers won’t reach the dizzying heights of those seen at the peak of the motorcycle craze, the overall opinion from industry experts is positive. Not only are more people attending rallies but they seem to be parting with more cash.
Most recently, the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce estimates its event, Daytona Bike Week which takes place in March every year, pumped almost $300-400 million into the local economy in 2011.
The final indicator of the health of the motorcycle market could be considered by the number of riders turning up at the different local bike nights.
This is one we’ll leave to our faithful readers to complete their own ‘field research’.
