March 2012 new registration figures are out

[Rogerborg]

Here.

Good news everyone! Sales are up 2.7% compared to 2011!

Of course, that's all due to scooters! Geared bikes sales are actually down! Also, 125cc sales are up 15%! But every other capacity is down!

Eh, the pattern continues. Things are great if you're flogging 125cc scooters or Adventure Sports (i.e. BMW), everything else is still falling. Triumph are doing pretty well, Kawasaki and Suzuki are still scraping along, and that's with Suzuki's £650 - £1000 cashback running. God help their dealers when it ends this month, because their bank managers won't.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[MarkJ]

MOTORCYCLES RIDER TEST PASSES
2008/09 :70 thousand
2009/10 :26 thousand

[Rogerborg]

I'm not sure about those figures, last time I dredged them up they weren't quite that bad, and they were starting to recover. However, either way there was a big drop when the new 2 part license came in, which correlates with entry level Big Boy Bikes suffering particularly badly compared to L bikes/scooters, litre sports and Ewan-and-Thingy bikes.

I just heard recently that BMW Motorrad Glasgow closed down last November - and that's a marque that's doing relatively well.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[oldenuff]

It is encouraging that we are getting better figures for entry-level machines. A few of these will get the bug and go on to bigger bikes. Our troubles arise from a lack of entry-level riders as they are the bike population of the future.

[Rogerborg]

Depends on how many of those 125 riders intend to get licensed up though, and how many will remain on perpetual L plates.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[oldenuff]

There will always be a majority who either never qualify or give up in their twenties. It has always been that way but the more starters the better.

[Rogerborg]

Fair point, can't argue with that.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[szymon]

Been reading BCF quite a long while, signed up to reply to the Suzuki point. I just bought a new GSX650F because I got such a good deal with the cashback and negotiated discount. The salesman told me that at the end of the month, Suzuki are extending their cashback deals - they're going down (I think my bike would be £500 instead of £650) but they'll be keeping them on for another couple of months to try and drive sales leading up towards the summer...

[Rogerborg]

Ah, interesting - I'd suspected they might. Yup, they've updated the offers - no super-cheap SV650S now.

The April sales figures should be out any day now, I'm fascinated to see if they've managed to drag themselves out of 6th or 7th place.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[breadlord]

A big part of the problem is that the new-style split tests are scaring a lot of the kids away. There was a lad I met on Box Hill yesterday who was 19 and had no plans to do anything but ride his YZF-R125 about because he "hated tests".

Put the proper wind up him when I told him about the changes coming next year...