May 2014 new registration figures

[Rogerborg]

In the usual place.

'sup, homes? Bike sales, that's wha'sup. 8.8% on May 2013, 8.2% including scooters, with the only significant fall in Adventure Sports. Nakeds and Tourers both did particularly well.

On engine sizes, everything is up, with even mopeds reversing their recent fall. 651-1000cc is the biggest riser.

The usual suspects rules the bike sales. The R1200GS (yawn), CBF, PCX and "supersports" YFZ R125, which actually outsold the CBF. The VFR 800 made a strong showing and top of the 651-1000 sales was the...

Yamaha...

MT...

-...

0...

9.

OK, that was a bit surprising, I thought the MT-07 had been out long enough to scoop it, but either way Yamaha must be happy chappies, being not that far behind Honda in overall sales and likely on higher margin machines.

Polite applause for Triumph, boos to Jerry Fritz Hun, a no-show by KTM, and Suzuki is back in their usual place propping up the bottom of the ladder in a sad 9th behind Harley and Ducati.
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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

[Richy CB1000]

Interesting reading. I was surprised by the VFR800. To be honest it didn't quite come up to the expected quality level for me after having a good prod and a poke around one last weekend.

It was ok but not in the 1200's league by a long shot.

[Hokum]

Lexmoto are pretty consistently in the top 10. They must be making a lot of money being the top Chinese reseller.

Makes you wonder why the likes of Derbi, Rieju, Hyosung and Daelim never made any in roads, but I think they are low on marketing push and high on price vs Jap bikes.
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Sane: To know when you are doing something crazy.

[Rogerborg]

Lexmoto did it right. They started out by supplying parts for all the bikes-in-boxes supplied by other importers. This gave them a pretty good idea of which bikes tend to fall apart, so they started importing the other ones.

They've also kept prices down rather than tacking on a few hundred £££ like Sinnis or AJS. That's not much on a CBF or YBR, but it's significant for a no-brand marque like, well... Lexmoto, Sinnis or AJS.

They haven't over-reached and tried flogging big bikes in the £4-£5K range like WK (the problem there being the rathole no-margin dealers), and even in the 250 range they've stuck with the simple carby air cooled Pulse Adrenaline at £2000 vs the Sinnis Apache at £2500. Yes, the Sinnis is technically superior, but is it 25% better? Just more to go wrong, I suspect, and it won't be worth a penny more as a used bike.

I think they're being run by smart guys with a realistic outlook, and will be here for the long run while other importers pop and fizzle.
____________________
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

[slowlydoesit]

[slowlydoesit]

Best month of May we've seen for a while. Wonder if momentum will be maintained thru September.

https://i.imgur.com/71wvhC2.png
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter