According to the latest stats released by the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), the number of new motorbike registrations dropped in September. This is consistent with a trend that’s been happening throughout 2017.
This time last year, a surge of registrations began, due to Brexit fears. According to Roger Willis, the financial editor of British Dealer News, this led to a number of registrations “wildly at odds with actual retail transactions.” Manufacturers sold older models at the same price as newer ones because of the expected Brexit price increase. The biggest surge occurred in December 2016, so it’s important to take that into consideration when thinking about the number of registrations for the 2017 period.
In September 2016, 14,844 new motorbikes were registered, while 11,276 were registered in September 2017. This highlights a drop of 24%. There’s also been a drop in the number of scooter registrations, with 4416 registered in September 2016 and 2947 registered in September 2017.
In terms of engine types, 51 – 125 cc motorbikes dropped the most. 5672 motorcycles were registered in September 2016, whereas 3606 were registered in September 2017. Contrastingly, motorbikes with 651 – 1000 cc engines showed an increase in registrations, jumping from 3225 to 3268. This ties in with adventure sports bikes being the most popular type for September, with 2624 registrations.
The drop in new motorbike registrations is interesting when compared to the number of motorcycles in use in the UK. From 2013, the figure has steadily increased, with 1.2 million motorbikes being recorded in 2016. The reason for the decline could be due to the number of people who’ve passed their motorcycle test. The MCIA stats revealed that from 2012 to 2016, motorbike rider test passes had dropped from 44,900 to 37,900.
The most popular model for September 2017 was the Honda CRF 1000, with 523 registrations. Honda led the way for brand registrations, as the following table shows:
| BRAND | September 2017 Registrations |
| HONDA | 2845 |
| YAMAHA | 1581 |
| BMW | 1305 |
| TRIUMPH | 1005 |
| KAWASAKI | 822 |
| LEXMOTO | 578 |
| SUZUKI | 535 |
| KTM | 453 |
| HARLEY-DAVIDSON | 450 |
| PIAGGIO | 369 |
The takeaway from the September 2017 statistics is similar to what was found in August. The number of people investing in faster motorbikes is on the rise, and Honda models are the most popular.
Source:
http://www.mcia.co.uk/Uploads/Statistics/Press-Statistics-201709-September-2017.pdf
