2006 UK BIKE STATS - Top Sellers CBR1000RR, GSXR1000/600/750

[totalmotorcycle]

2006 UK BIKE STATS - Top Sellers CBR1000RR, GSXR1000/600/750 and Yamaha YZF1000 R1
Tuesday, January 9, 2007 - inside bikes - insidebikes.com




The figures for UK new motorcycle registrations during 2006 are in, and they show a mainly static new bike market across the British Isles.

109,527 new bikes and scooters above 50cc were registered last year, up just 1% from 2005. The sector which showed the highest rises were Custom bikes and Sports-Touring, which suggests that the bike market is getting dependent on older bikes - at least for new machine sales.

Supersport bikes dropped by 5%, ( possibly more than that if you subtract the 1700 unit sales of the CBR125 R, which the MCI list as a sportbike when it obviously is not )and more worryingly just five bikes, the CBR1000RR, the GSXR1000/600/750 and Yamaha YZF1000 R1 accounted for almost 10,000 sales - or about 40% of the total Supersports sector.

It can't be good that relatively few bikes dominate an entire sector - manufacturers and dealers get scared to offer genuinely new sportbike designs when the see very samey models mopping up most of the bulk sales.

Adventure Sports models fell by 9% last year, Trail/Enduro by 10% and Touring machines by 8%, but Roadsters and Scooters rose by 4% apiece. Small scooters and mopeds under 50cc stood at 23,550 units, down 5% year on year.

Unspecified class bikes, which may or may not include Quads, Sidecars, Trikes and Classics ( the MCI don't say ) rose by 78%, but still accounted for just 1506 units in total.

Honda's CBR1000RR was the best selling bike in the UK last year, with the GSXR600 behind it, then the GSXR750 in 3rd place. Yamaha's YBR125 was the top commuter/motorcycle training school model, whilst the BMW R1200GS was top tourer ( although the MCI class it as an Adventure Sport model ) with 1468 units sold.

Top Custom bike was the Harley FXD Dyna series, with 778 units sold in 2006, followed by the Softail FXS series on 374 units - Hogs rule baby.