New Bike Sales down 32% in Q1 2009

I've said it since I joined here, but the US subsidiaries of the Big Four have their collective heads located where they need a porthole in the belly button to see daylight. When one considers Triumph and sees how that small firm can market so many different motorcycles and Kawasaki can't, something is clearly wrong. Of Kaw's current lineup, only the KLX250S (and the super moto version) and the Versys are in any way interesting to me.

Does the sales drop-off take the lead ban which took all motorcycles and ATVs intended for riders age 12 and under off the market into account? I would think that it would account for a large part of the sales loss.

Sales in some of the European countries are way down as well.

Spanish motorcycle dealers are reporting a 50% drop in sales.

Overall Italian motorcycle and scooter sales were down 19% in the first quarter. Although within the numbers, sales of small scooters, mopeds etc were up.

Austrian motorcycle maker KTM is reporting sales down 26% over the whole of last financial year. They are cutting staff a similar amount.

2008, the Japanese OEM's ended up shipping near 27% less bikes than 2007. Only mopeds increased in production last year.

Back in the USA

HD is cutting 300-400 more staff after their first quarter was down 12%.

Polaris (which owns Victory Motorcycles) said their overall sales are down 20%, with motorcycle sales are down 50% (ouch).

While some of these numbers appear very bleak, not all is as bad as some of the industry pundits were forecasting.

I have to agree that most of the new offerings we get here do not appeal to me at all - in fact the Versys is the only one I would consider buying.

Before I was offered my KZ, I was looking for a new bike - I would walk into dealers and say "I would like a motorcycle that looks like a motorcycle - not a clone of a H-D and not a crotch rocket, what have you got?" All I got back were blank stares!

In the UK a couple of weeks ago we saw a LOT of nice "motorcycle" style bikes - typically set up for long distance touring, or commuting. It was amazing how many were in the 500c to 900cc range - very few were larger displacement. So why don't we see those bikes here?

P.S. - The "Ace Cafe" is a blast!

I'm keeping my 78 kz1000 ltd but I did buy a new 07 honda 919 because I think it resembles the kz without being to radical in the plastics. It runs ands handles nicely plus runs on regular gas!

Limey wrote:

Before I was offered my KZ, I was looking for a new bike - I would walk into dealers and say "I would like a motorcycle that looks like a motorcycle - not a clone of a H-D and not a crotch rocket, what have you got?" All I got back were blank stares!

That would have been hilarious to watch!

In the UK a couple of weeks ago we saw a LOT of nice "motorcycle" style bikes - typically set up for long distance touring, or commuting. It was amazing how many were in the 500c to 900cc range - very few were larger displacement. So why don't we see those bikes here?

For ths same reason we have much larger vehicles with much bigger engines--as a rule here in north America we cover long distances between point A and point B especially out here in "fly over country" where it can be quite a distance between gas stations. Touring bikes have developed to the same formula, a heavy machine that soaks up the bumps and a large torquey engine loafing along to pull us and our stuff. My 650 is a blast to ride locally, but I'm not going to set off for either coast on it. A couple hundred miles in a day on it would probably kill me. :S

P.S. - The "Ace Cafe" is a blast!

So it's still a going concern. Cool!

evrey time i get interested in a bike the big four build i hear the same deadly words [tuned for the mid-range i back right away i'm a big boy if i wanted an emasculated new motorcycle i'd buy some thing small and know what i was getting, i don't. i do want a standard bike that has big sportbike power and the only one that has come out with a bike something even remotely like that has been the suzuki b-king. and it is uglier than a man's ass so that is out of the question . when the zrx first came out based of the zx11 motor i said to my self here we go just what i want but then they cut the testicles out of it. so i guess if i want big bike power i have to buy a big bike and turn it into what i want.

How much of this is because of kids dirt bikes, being pulled off the market, because of lead in the parts?

N0NB wrote:

So it's still a going concern. Cool!

It most certainly is - we were there early Saturday morning and there were about 200 bikes in the lot - most of them a Polish Bike Club who departed on a run to Hastings. Some had actually ridden to the Ace from Poland!

www.ace-cafe-london.com/default.aspx

Would love to be there for the Brighton run!

My first bokoe is my only bike, 84 kz700. I'd love to have a Concours 14 or the new XR1200. I just cant justify the 11 grand on something I'll only be able to ride 8 months out of the year. A good friend has a new Tiger 1050 and that thing is comfortable and hauls some a$$.