Bike market in freefall

[Mawsley]

Losing a third of the market isn't sustainable.

 

Press release:

NEW MOTORCYCLE MARKET CONTINUES DECLINE IN 2025, NMDA URGES GOVERNMENT TO ADDRESS UNCERTAINTY IN SECTOR

“The new motorcycle market continues to decline in 2025, with total registrations dropping by -32.3%” says Symon Cook, Head of National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), commenting on the latest MCIA figures.

In February, total registrations dropped by -32.3%, from 5,106 to 3,457 units compared to the same period last year. Total motorcycle sales declined by -32.9% from 4,794 to 3,215 units, whilst moped registrations also dropped by -12.0% to 227 units. Year-to-date figures show a decrease of -31.3% for total registrations.

The majority of motorcycle categories experienced declines during the month, ‘Modern Classic’ saw a decrease of -23.3% for the month to 385 units. ‘Adventure’ dropped by -36.1% to 533 units. ‘Competition’ was the only category to see growth, though it was minimal, by 2.0% from 300 to 306 units.

Electric motorcycles experienced a decline, with registrations dropping from 151 to 127 units, a drop of -15.9%. Year-to-date electric figures are down by -26.0% compared to the same period last year.

In terms of the different ICE capacities, the majority saw declines, except 0-50cc which saw growth of 6.4% from 172 to 183 units. The 126-500cc category fell by -30.5% as did the larger engines, with 751-1000cc dropping by -35.5%.

Symon Cook concluded: “The figures are not unexpected, given that February is typically a slower month for the market. However, they are concerning as they show a significant decline compared to the previous year, including for electric models.

“It is essential for the Government addresses the uncertainty in the sector, with motorcycles needing to be included in transport policy and greater clarity provided on issues like decarbonisation.

“Despite the February figures, NMDA members remain optimistic for 2025. With warmer spring weather and with March being a plate change, the market is expected to receive an additional boost.”

[Capt Sisko]

Given what's happened domesticity with the resulting drop in consumer confidence and what’s going on globally I'm surprised the drop in sales isn't higher. Still not a pretty picture and explains why so many dealers have ceased trading in the last 6 months or so.

[bud]

After all the pre registered  bikes in December because of the new Euro 5+. It was always going to be down.

But with new bikes getting ever more expensive. The KTM crisis. And many dealers closing it's not giving people confidence to buy a new bike perhaps?

[ChrisBiggsUK]

It would be interesting to see what the used bike market is doing.  While yes, new bike sales are down and this is a worry, if the used bike market is strong then that should give some comfort that biking isn't going anywhere just yet.

I know that for my own part, when it came to starting this journey, getting a used bike as my first one was always going to be the way I went.  It wasn't a cost thing for me, it was a case of 'ok, what is a reliable, simple, no fuss bike that I can get that will get me from a-b, be forgiving of me as a new rider, and also reasonably hold its value'.  Thus I opted for my plucky little CG.  Going to keep that for the foreseeable and then, somewhere down the line, get myself a brand new bike (already got my eye on a couple I would like) and as such look forward to being included in the statistics of new bike sales at some point.

For others though, perhaps the daunting cost of training, new bike, insurance etc is putting them off?  I should also add that I was chatting to a friend recently and asked him if he wanted to get a bike and he said that bike related crime was a big turn off for him, as was the fact that he didn't want to be viewed as just 'some dodgy delivery rider' (his words) while riding with L plates on.  Told him that he could fast-track himself and get the L plates off pretty quickly, and that it isn't just 'dodgy delivery riders' with L plates on, (I quite literally pointed to myself as a case in point as although I am slightly dodgy, I'm not a delivery rider) but he was still turned off by the crime and, in his eyes, the stigma of delivery riders.  Not sure how widespread that view is, but he certainly holds it.   

Hopefully as the riding season picks up sales will also pick up.  I've only just started this hobby and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it die out on my watch!

[Capt Sisko]

33 minutes ago, ChrisBiggsUK said:

For others though, perhaps the daunting cost of training, new bike, insurance etc is putting them off?

Plus the 'kit' isn't exactly cheap either if you want to do it properly, and of course for the much younger generation, the 'my daughter isn't getting on the back of any motorbike' attitude which is going to cramp some teeagers style.

[ChrisBiggsUK]

2 minutes ago, Capt Sisko said:

Plus the 'kit' isn't exactly cheap either if you want to do it properly, and of course for the much younger generation, the 'my daughter isn't getting on the back of any motorbike' attitude which is going to cramp some teeagers style.

That too.  Wife has already told me that no matter what happens, she will never get on the back of any motorcycle.

This is entirely fine by me!

[Tinkicker]

Apart from a cost of living thing, a major factor in my view is that those that lived the "golden age" of motorcycling, inc a lot of friends from way back in the mid 70s. when motorcycles were everyday transport as well as a weekend leisure item, have just retired. 

I was a early 80s biker, so I caught the final wag of the tail as bikes became as expensive to run as cars due to ever increasing cost of insurance and ever more complexity.  Suddenly, cars became the thing to own for a spotty 17 year old.

 

So, bikes not really popular with the youth after the early 80s.  We did have "comebacks" as those that missed out on bikes in the 70s and 80s started to have mid life crises and bought one to look cool on, most did not keep up with it.

 

So the 70s stalwarts no longer have the disposable income they had when working, add on the various benefits the government stopped, the increased cost of borrowing and the massive cost of living inflation added on, it is a death spiral for new bike sales.

Edited March 8 by Tinkicker

[Bender]

Factor in sales lost by the old boys to the Chinese and someone is suffering 

[onesea]

From the amount of bikes on the road today, I would say there is no shortage of people riding.

 

The price of gear and bikes, there there is a compromise. When shops and dealers stop trying to sell everyone the most expensive (or profitable) or you will die.

 

Then biking will become affordable,  manufactures will look to making affordable mid-range bikes and gear.

 

Bikes and gear can be affordable.
You can buy a half decent lid for £100, boots for £70, jacket £100 and trousers £60. £2k will pick you up a reasonable second hand bike. £1.5k to £3k on the road.

You might not be fashionable or FULLY vented or have the thinnest lightest super armour, you might get a little damp in heavy rain (how many really ride in that) but you will have a good amount of protection.

 

Once hooked you will buy better gear, but start easy and build up.

The biggest hurdle is the £1.5k for the licence, just because of the commitment.

[Joeman]

Controversial view - society is getting too soft and the youngsters want air conditioned cars not motorbikes. 

 

When I was a kid I'd ride my DT50 to school in just an old ski jacket and school trousers. Try that these days and the pile on about wearing all the gear will be deafening!! Do any kids even ride to school??

 

The bikes these days are getting soft too to match the soft society. don't get me started on the new breed of "sports bikes" that only have two cylinders instead of a proper inline four!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

[billysugger]

These bloody infernal e-scooters are killing bikes for today's youth.

I hate the dam things with a passion, worse than mamils

[bonio]

Quote

It is essential for the Government addresses the uncertainty in the sector, with motorcycles needing to be included in transport policy and greater clarity provided on issues like decarbonisation.

But the worry is, that it's not in least essential the Government does anything. If the motorcycle sector folded, the only people complaining would be us grumpies here and few others you might meet through facebook. Most people wouldn't even notice. 

 

[Tinkicker]

3 hours ago, onesea said:

From the amount of bikes on the road today, I would say there is no shortage of people riding.

 

The price of gear and bikes, there there is a compromise. When shops and dealers stop trying to sell everyone the most expensive (or profitable) or you will die.

 

Then biking will become affordable,  manufactures will look to making affordable mid-range bikes and gear.

 

Bikes and gear can be affordable.
You can buy a half decent lid for £100, boots for £70, jacket £100 and trousers £60. £2k will pick you up a reasonable second hand bike. £1.5k to £3k on the road.

You might not be fashionable or FULLY vented or have the thinnest lightest super armour, you might get a little damp in heavy rain (how many really ride in that) but you will have a good amount of protection.

 

Once hooked you will buy better gear, but start easy and build up.

The biggest hurdle is the £1.5k for the licence, just because of the commitment.

 

 

Love the rose tinted glasses.  However, back in the late 70s the bike units sold were in the quarter milliion.  Not the hundreds they quote now.

[bud]

Yes I agree that since the 80's. Bikes have become less and less an everyday transport. But when you look at the prices of new cars now. Biking is still a cheaper option for most.

A lot of the kids today just don't want to drive anything. Perhaps it's also linked slightly to the younger generation not being able to afford their own homes. As long as they are still living with parents. They can get a lift if needed. So don't feel like their own transport is a necessity.

I fear it's only going to get worse when in less than five years there will be no more ICE mopeds and 125cc bikes. The complexity and price of a new A1 class bike is going to go up considerably.

[Tinkicker]

I think another couple of nails in the coffin that came about in the late 80s/90s where youth is concerned is image and what you could buy on an apprentices wage.

 

In the 70s and early 80s, the average youth could afford a shiny new smallsh motorbike, take a simple road test and then ride a less shiny but still in excellent condition bigger bike, or buy a 5 year old rotting old vauxhall viva with flapping doorskins, a will it or won't it engine and more rust than paint on the sills.  Then came the era where you could buy a reliable 10 year old car with virtually no rust very cheaply and have the money left over to "modify" it.

 

Also, over the years, the rebel without a cause reputation of bikers, left over from the milk bar antics of the 50s and 60s leather and denim rockers on their Triumph Tigers and BSA Lightnings faded away.  Bikers became Motorcyclists, cut off their long hair, swapped black leather for colouful textile and became much more socially acceptable.

The rebellious teenager turned away from bikes as a lifestyle persona, and had to find other means of showing he was a bit more "flinty" in outlook, than the average youth.

Edited March 9 by Tinkicker

[onesea]

8 hours ago, Tinkicker said:

 

 

Love the rose tinted glasses.  However, back in the late 70s the bike units sold were in the quarter milliion.  Not the hundreds they quote now.

"Ending the year with a great December performance (1.57 million sales, +24.8%)"

 

Motorbikes are still made and sold in large numbers just not in the UK.

 

I am not looking through rose tinted glasses.  The era you quote I was wearing nappies.  

 

I think my post is better summed up by me focus on Value for money and less focus on the best (often of the beast).

 

My nearest bike shop cheapest lid £450 Great choice klim.  Ask about other brands is just not good enough.

 

Cheapest gear, no mention that is available and 1000's of people ride with other brands. It's just not good enough. 

 

Another local second hand bike shop said to me "come back when you can afford one of my bikes".  I could afford all his bikes but it was my first bike and I wanted a 2k bike that I could drop without to many tears.  Not a 7k pristine bike.

 

How many parents/ youth get put of by that attitude.

 

If the industry wants to survive they need to look within to hire to encourage people to the market, not price people out.

Edited March 9 by onesea

[ChrisBiggsUK]

3 minutes ago, onesea said:

 

Another local second hand bike shop said to me "come back when you can afford one of my bikes".  I could afford all his bikes but it was my first bike and I wanted a 2k bike that I could drop without to many tears.  Not a 7k pristine bike.

 

How many parents/ youth get put of by that attitude.

 

If the industry wants to survive they need to look within to hire to encourage people to the market, not price people out.

 

Absolutely!  

A crude analogy, but the only one that comes to mind right now is drug dealers.  Get them hooked on a product and they will keep coming back and spending more money.  Bike dealers should do the same.  If someone is interested, then get them hooked.  Don't scare them off or price them out, work with the budget they have, get them started and then, once they are hooked, they will keep coming back and spending ever increasing amounts of money on bike related bits, bobs, stuff and things.

Customer service 101.

[bud]

Very true Chris.

My son had a terrible experience with a Chinese bike and bad dealer.

When he was considering another bike I told him to go to Haslemere motorcycles. I have been buying bikes off of them for 30 years. Always excellent service. And local to him.

They sorted out a bike for him. And when a couple of months later, he went in for a new tyre. Gave it to him for free.

Edited March 10 by bud

[Fiddlesticks]

Cheap second hand bikes are great.

 

You pay much less on the insurance, ride them in all weathers and learn to service and fix them yourself. Practice car park drills without being paranoid about dropping them, use them to commute and put a ton of carefree miles on them.

 

Of course, they let you down from time to time, but when I just passed my test there was no way I'd be taking out credit/PCP on something and then do a thousand miles a month on it.

[onesea]

Is there a basic 3-4k New a2 bike that's  attractive to youngsters? 

 

Under 400cc for tax purposes, cruiser style, sports bike and adventure style.  Just on limit of A2 compliance.

 

I think that would go a long way to keeping youth on bikes.  All can be same engine for what it's worth.  

 

Oh and the legendary affordable progressive bike licence route.   Address that bring electric bikes scooters, moncycles and other electric toys in the mix for licencing.

 

Make them legal licenced and insured.  

[Mawsley]

17 hours ago, Joeman said:

Controversial view - society is getting too soft and the youngsters want air conditioned cars not motorbikes. 

 

When I was a kid I'd ride my DT50 to school in just an old ski jacket and school trousers. Try that these days and the pile on about wearing all the gear will be deafening!! Do any kids even ride to school??

 

We do have a handful of new kids in the village take to two wheels every new academic year as there's no bus service to the local colleges; you see them all wobbling off to lessons during winter, bare hands and trainers on old kit or all decked out in fluorescents and new 125s. Then they vanish one by one as winter really kicks in - usually just the ill equipped still riding out of necessity.

 

They can't make the transition. Insurance was hideous for my lad - even the girl is still paying through the nose for her car insurance despite 5yrs no claims and living in a super safe area. Lad has a decent job now but sky-high rent means he has nothing left for bikes after bills.

[Capt Sisko]

On 09/03/2025 at 11:51, onesea said:

Is there a basic 3-4k New a2 bike that's  attractive to youngsters? 

 

Under 400cc for tax purposes, cruiser style, sports bike and adventure style.  Just on limit of A2 compliance.

I wonder if the tooling for an RD350LC still exists? Okay, the engine will need work, but if Langen have managed to get a 250 two stroke through the emission regs, others can. The rest has long since been written off and whilst there will be other mods needed to make it 2025 / A2 compliant, ABS & fuel injection systems are off the shelf parts nowadays.

Edited March 10 by Capt Sisko

[bud]

Langen used single type approval which is different to the euro emissions regulations. That's what Norton were doing with the first commando too.

I guess the kits they were making for the Yamaha XSR was the nearest we will get to the old LC.

[DJP]

I think that the issues are twofold:

 

The young just aren't that interested in driving/riding full stop. I have two kids at uni. The eldest passed his car test last year and the youngest is about to take his. Neither have any real interest in driving or owning a car, let alone a motorcycle. Doesn't help that we live in London (well, the suburbs) and it's easier for them to jump on public transport than bother with the hassle, and expense, of having their own. They're also children of the internet and pretty much everything they need and want is available online.

 

The second problem is the manufacturers failing to face reality of the bike buying demographic: I'm in my fifties with money to spend and I want a new bike but I'm stuck riding a 15 year old Bandit 1250 because there is just nothing new that I like.

 

Over the last 30 years I've bought 6 brand new motorcycles but I look at the current offerings and just think: Meh. What I really want is a modern UJM, but there's nothing like that made: Everything now falls into niche categories: Full-on sports bikes – too uncomfortable for me and too fast for modern roads, Adventure bikes - just too massive for daily use and Retro bikes which are either ridiculously tiny, ridiculously slow or both.

 

What I'd really like is something like a lighter, more modern Bandit. I actually thought that Honda had it licked with the Hornet 1000 until I sat on one and realised that it was designed for someone either a lot shorter or a lot younger than me (and the latter probably either aren't interested or can't afford it anyway). Right up to that point I was prepared to plunk down the money.  So nice try Honda, but no cigar.

 

Where it goes from here I don't know, but I'd suggest that the manufacturers start looking at the wants of people who actually ride and buy motorcycles, rather than chasing people that don't.

[Mawsley]

56 minutes ago, DJP said:

I think that the issues are twofold:

 

The young just aren't that interested in driving/riding full stop. I have two kids at uni. The eldest passed his car test last year and the youngest is about to take his. Neither have any real interest in driving or owning a car, let alone a motorcycle. Doesn't help that we live in London (well, the suburbs) and it's easier for them to jump on public transport than bother with the hassle, and expense, of having their own. They're also children of the internet and pretty much everything they need and want is available online.

 

The second problem is the manufacturers failing to face reality of the bike buying demographic: I'm in my fifties with money to spend and I want a new bike but I'm stuck riding a 15 year old Bandit 1250 because there is just nothing new that I like.

 

Over the last 30 years I've bought 6 brand new motorcycles but I look at the current offerings and just think: Meh. What I really want is a modern UJM, but there's nothing like that made: Everything now falls into niche categories: Full-on sports bikes – too uncomfortable for me and too fast for modern roads, Adventure bikes - just too massive for daily use and Retro bikes which are either ridiculously tiny, ridiculously slow or both.

 

What I'd really like is something like a lighter, more modern Bandit. I actually thought that Honda had it licked with the Hornet 1000 until I sat on one and realised that it was designed for someone either a lot shorter or a lot younger than me (and the latter probably either aren't interested or can't afford it anyway). Right up to that point I was prepared to plunk down the money.  So nice try Honda, but no cigar.

 

Where it goes from here I don't know, but I'd suggest that the manufacturers start looking at the wants of people who actually ride and buy motorcycles, rather than chasing people that don't.

 

Lad lives in Nottingham, he has buses, trams and trains - the girl lives with us and we have a bus twice a day that gets people into town too late for school and work...then comes back before school and work have finished. Then the company bitches the route is unprofitable because no one uses their current service! She saved and saved to get her car and loves it. Well, she did until the endless potholes took out her suspension and ruined two wheels.

 

Modern bikes are so soulless. The old Guzzi V-twins felt like they were alive, the same with the older Harleys. Now they're strangled by emission regs and make the most pathetic sound. Designers also though vibrations were a bad thing when that was half the riding experience. I got rid of the Africa Twin because it was dull to ride despite being a really competent bike. I'd say that Enfield's Interceptor is one of the few - if not the only -modern bike with an old school feel.