Another bad year for bike sales

[slparry]

Steve, you've hit the nail on the head with your last post.
as a yoof 'back in the day' it was cheaper to buy and run a bike than it was for a decent-ish car, as we all know, once you've experienced the bike thing you're generally hooked for life.

<snip>

Cheers Rob (Versys convert)

The manufacturers really need to start looking at the starter market or they're very quickly going to run out of customers and motorcycling will fade away as something some people did up until the, what, 2040's ? After that there may be a few duffers with "classic" bikes but that'll be it

Uk market, perhaps.

Globally?

Yes, sorry UK market, possibly the European market too but I don't know enough to comment

It'll just mean there won't be enough trade to warrant a dealership I guess

[bikesnbones]

some crap scooters or some horrendously overpriced R1 replicas?

That bike in the picture is that the MSX125 Honda? £2800 plus delivery and OTR costs ... so £3000 ... for something that as an adult may look fun but for a youngster would mean them derided by their mates.

Yes but it was exactly the same for us.
My first "proper" bike in 1982 was a Honda 250 which I bought brand new for £800.
In todays money, that's at least a few grand.
Being derided by your mates on a learner bike goes with the territory.
Always has, but I do not believe for a moment that it has any influence.
Kids are enjoying their scooters as much today, as our generation enjoyed their Fizzy's and bikes always have been expensive.
I do not believe for a moment that we had it better,
Not in a million years, with the possible exception of being allowed to ride a 250 on a provisional license, but there's nothing the manufacturers can do about that.

[slparry]

are you sure you paid £800?

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

I know it's 5 years before but that's a hell of a price hike in 5 years as the Japanese 250's are circa £500, with 750's coming in around £800

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

[Corvus]

The manufacturers really need to start looking at the starter market or they're very quickly going to run out of customers and motorcycling will fade away as something some people did up until the, what, 2040's ? After that there may be a few duffers with "classic" bikes but that'll be it

Uk market, perhaps.

Globally?

Yes, sorry UK market, possibly the European market too but I don't know enough to comment

It'll just mean there won't be enough trade to warrant a dealership I guess

You'll know a lot more about it than me I'm sure. I mean that respectfully, not trying to be cute or anything.

I agree with nearly everything which has been said so far.

Ok, a market sector is a market sector, but as our door closes I'm sure another will certainly open.

The daft thing is that surely single track vehicles have a lot to offer as solutions to road congestion and fuel economy. So, just as we are most likely in need of them, they go extinct (in our country)? Sounds about par for the course with our lot.

[Corvus]

are you sure you paid £800?

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

I know it's 5 years before but that's a hell of a price hike in 5 years as the Japanese 250's are circa £500, with 750's coming in around £800

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

I seem to recall paying around £400 for my 400four back in 1977? Sound about right? Memory don't half play tricks so I could be very wrong with that one!

[slparry]

are you sure you paid £800?

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

I know it's 5 years before but that's a hell of a price hike in 5 years as the Japanese 250's are circa £500, with 750's coming in around £800

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

I seem to recall paying around £400 for my 400four back in 1977? Sound about right? Memory don't half play tricks so I could be very wrong with that one!

Used or new?

They're quoted as £745 here in '76
http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

love the quoted headlight bulbs at 35/35 for most with the 380 getting a 35/25 one .... eek

[dave the german]

I paid £795 for my 250 Honda back in 1980.
Rob, I had the 650 Versys which I LOVED. Used it mainly to go to work but did a couple of longish 2 up trips and it performed faultlessly. I always hoped they would graft another half of the engine and do a 975 triple. I'm not a huge fan of inline fours but maybe I should take a test ride on the 1000

my ex had a YBR125 which I think cost about £1700 back in 2008 and i took it out once in the rain and it frightened the crap out of me.

Bikesnbones, it must be very different where you are re scooters. I know when I was 16/17 there were loads more fizzies etc on the road than there are scooters today. The test is massively off putting for kids. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is a different argument but youth unemployment must be playing some part. I find it difficult on what I think is a half decent wage so someone on an "apprenticeship" is going to find it nigh on impossible to get on the road

[bikesnbones]

are you sure you paid £800?

Yep.
And I'm not the only one

I paid £795 for my 250 Honda back in 1980.

Sounds about right Dave.

I
Bikesnbones, it must be very different where you are re scooters. I know when I was 16/17 there were loads more fizzies etc on the road than there are scooters today. The test is massively off putting for kids. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is a different argument but youth unemployment must be playing some part. I find it difficult on what I think is a half decent wage so someone on an "apprenticeship" is going to find it nigh on impossible to get on the road

Got it in one.
Easy to point the finger of blame at the makers.
Let's not underestimate the hassle, complexity and cost of just getting on the road nowadays

[slparry]

true enough, but the manufacturers have a vested interest in getting the newbie business.... or at least should have

[Corvus]

are you sure you paid £800?

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

I know it's 5 years before but that's a hell of a price hike in 5 years as the Japanese 250's are circa £500, with 750's coming in around £800

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

I seem to recall paying around £400 for my 400four back in 1977? Sound about right? Memory don't half play tricks so I could be very wrong with that one!

Used or new?

They're quoted as £745 here in '76
http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/bikes/ ... _test.html

love the quoted headlight bulbs at 35/35 for most with the 380 getting a 35/25 one .... eek

Beggin yer puddn. Should have said £800. Typo. Done in a rush.

[bikesnbones]

I think we are all that that stage in life where everything seems like it was better in the olden days, when the reality is very different.
Rose tinted specs.
There's never been a better time to be into bikes than now.
Novices have a hard time of it but it's wrong to blame that on the manufacturers.
They do brilliantly within the confines imposed on them.
So many bikes offered in the 125cc class are stylish and modern looking.
As regards the price of bikes holding back sales, I can't see that.
BMW and Harley don't seem to have any problems, and their prices are not bargain basement and let's remember that in relative terms, bikes are not that much more expensive than they were 15 years ago.
Before you get rattling away on your keyoards to shoot me down in flames, do your research and check bike prices in 1995.
In 1996, I bought a brand new D6 ZZR1100 for £8995, which was discounted from 10 grand.
That's just £1,500 less than a ZZR1400 costs now.
I suspect if someone better than me at maths was able to factor in inflation, they might even find that the ZZR in 96 was actually more expensive.

[cornishflat]

BMW, Harley and Triumph are doing well and i,d imagine that their client base has an older look to it. It does look like nostalgia sells with even Moto Guzzi albeit now funded by Piaggio making new models. Hopefully people will still turn to bikes although I fear it could well be as a later in life "hobby" for the various reasons mentioned in this thread.[/list]

[Blackal]

BMW, Harley and Triumph are doing well and i,d imagine that their client base has an older look to it. It does look like nostalgia sells with even Moto Guzzi albeit now funded by Piaggio making new models. Hopefully people will still turn to bikes although I fear it could well be as a later in life "hobby" for the various reasons mentioned in this thread.[/list]

An astute observation.

In addition, the hobby can be hard to justifiy for the young person with family commitments (financial and personal), such that they only re-emerge when family is up and gone, and finances start to look a bit better.

Is that a "mid-life crisis"? Don't see it, myself - just taking stock of what is important in your life.

Al

[Blackal]

Steve, you've hit the nail on the head with your last post.
as a yoof 'back in the day' it was cheaper to buy and run a bike than it was for a decent-ish car, as we all know, once you've experienced the bike thing you're generally hooked for life.

Blackal: If you get the opportunity have a test run on the 1000 Versys: ABS as standard, traction control as standard, comfortable riding position, 17" Wheels to which you can fit any tyres you prefer, 2-up capability, stonking engine etc etc AND you can snap-up an ex-demo OR new one for very reasonable money.

Cheers Rob (Versys convert)

Tell ya what - that's a cheap entry to the "trailie/touring" market:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAWASAKI-VERS ... 346wt_1157

Al

[bikesnbones]

BMW, Harley and Triumph are doing well and i,d imagine that their client base has an older look to it.

I don't think so.
Of course we'd need to see some definitive research before coming to the ultimate conclusion, but I'd definitely say that from what I see nosing around the dealers, that Triumph and BMW people are of the same age group as those who buy Japanese exotica.
Don't know much about the Harley rider, but whenever I see them, they seem to be about my age.
I think personally that it's a case of the European manufacturers having a better grasp of what we want.