Record Motorcycle sales?

[eugeart]

I've seen an extraordinary number of motorcycles on the road lately.
I talked to a friend who told me a dealer mentioned that they've never sold so many bikes so quickly. The last time was in the seventies according to this guy.

I talked to the used dealer in my neighborhood and he told me since last week he's sold all of his "around $2000" bikes. I could tell the difference in his shop too. He told me he's commited to buy and sell 50 scooters, kymco I think- in the next few months. Supposedly, $2000 is the magic number for used bikes at this time.

I looked in the paper and I saw a few sub-two thousand bikes but even some of the seventies models were commanding a high price. There didn't seem to be as much disparity in terms of what a 2000+ model and a late 1980's/early-mid nineties costs used.

Gasoline prices causing a resurgence in motorcycle interest? I wouldn't neccesarily say that running a motorcycle as main transportation can be more economical than a car due to potential high repair and frequent maintenence costs. What can be saved in gas can be spent on chains and tires sometimes.

Mass hysteria or just mania?

[PhilD9er]

I see a lot of scooters these days. Vespas, Bergmans you name it. And the ones I'm looking at are not cheap ones. I think it's traffic and parking related in LA, as well as gas prices.

Interesting phenomenon, though. More distracted drivers in 6,000 pound tuna boats AND more bikes.

[oldnslo]

Some people switching to scooters and bikes see only the fuel savings, and actually have little or no interest in riding as a hobby or lifestyle. We live in strange times.

[Scott58]

I read that the number of motorcycles on the road has tripled since 97. Whatever the reason I'm happy about that.

[oldnslo]

Sounds like a good idea, but if a large number of those new riders are untrained, uncaring twits, it isn't all that great for the sport. I've seen some real biological errors on bikes in the past few weeks.

[Scott58]

Good way to weed out the gene pool. imagine those same "biologocal errors" coming up behind you in a 5000lbs SUV talking on their cell phones. Lets put them all on 2 wheels!

[ZooTech]

Good way to weed out the gene pool. imagine those same "biologocal errors" coming up behind you in a 5000lbs SUV talking on their cell phones. Lets put them all on 2 wheels!

Why bother? The really stupid ones never seem to die...

[canuckerjay]

Scooters are really on the rise up here in Toronto. There's more out there than I've ever seen -- what used to be laughed at is now looked upon as a cool alternative to high gas prices.

[Craig7220]

The high gas prices are pushing up bike sales around here. Problem is alot of the ones buying bikes can't drive a cage with 4 wheels. It will be interesting to see how they manage to talk on the cell phones while riding a bike. And I'd bet they will try....

[flynrider]

History repeats itself. There was a huge boom in motorcycle sales back in the mid to late 70s when gas prices were shooting up. The manufacturers responded by cranking out huge numbers of bikes every year (and making hefty profits). Eventually around 1980, the bike market was saturated. The factories kept cranking out bikes at the old pace, but sales plummetted. There were just too many 1 or 2 yr. old used bikes on the market for anyone to consider buying new. That was also the heyday of the UJM, so there wasn't much difference between new and used. I remember that dealers often had 2 or 3 yr. old, brand new bikes on the floor that had gone unsold. Eventually, the factories were forced to cut way back on production, and in the process, greatly reduced the number of models produced. It was the dark ages of motorcycling. I remember walking into a Yamaha shop in the mid 80s and their entire streetbike line was limited to 5 or 6 models.

I read another post on this site that said U.S. motorcycle sales are up 300% since 1995. Enjoy the boom, folks. I'm betting there's going to be a "bust" in our future.