BMW’s new-for-2024 R 1300 GS has proved an instant hit with British bikers, with 591 examples registered on UK roads in the first quarter of the year.

Following in the tyre tracks of its R 1250 predecessor, the flagship adventure bike was the biggest selling powered two-wheeler of any capacity in March, when the new ‘24’ registration plate came out. A total of 431 examples of the £15,990 BMW were registered on 24 plates, with Yamaha’s 125cc NMAX scooter the second most popular bike with 415 registrations in the month.

As well as the new GS, and the ever popular NMAX and Honda PCX125 scooters, the first quarter has seen some strong results for Triumph’s new range of 400s. Between them, the Speed 400 and Scrambler 400X have topped the ‘Modern Classic’ category in the statistics provided by the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), with 222 Scramblers registered in March alone. These numbers do not necessarily relate to sales to actual motorcyclists, as registration data will not distinguish between bikes sold to the public and vehicles used as demonstrators or promotional bikes.

Kawasaki’s Ninja 1000SX is a surprise best seller, with 190 registrations in March. The sporty all-rounder has been in the market for a number of years now, but was the best selling machine in the ‘Road Sport’ category, recording more registrations than the likes of Suzuki’s new GSX-8R and GSX-S1000GX.

As is usually the case, Honda is the biggest selling manufacturer of the first quarter – posting 1333 registrations – 631 more than Yamaha in the number two spot. Despite the challenging economic situation, motorcycle registrations have remained relatively stable. Year-to-date sales of powered two-wheelers are down 70 units on the same period in 2023, representing a drop of 0.2% in a market of around 28,000 sales so far this year.

Electric shocker!

While the market for petrol powered motorcycles remains relatively stable, demand for electrics has yet to take off. Just 774 electric machines were registered in the first three months of 2024, of which 709 were learner legal models. Having seen a significant decline of around 50% in sales of A licence category electrics in 2023, with a recent MCN report suggesting just 58 motorcycles above 47bhp were sold in the UK last year, a total of 13 A2 category machines and 15 unrestricted machines have been registered in 2024 so far. Zero’s DSR/X being the most popular machine in March with just two examples going out on 24 plates. The two-wheeled EV market is in sharp contrast to the car world, where just under one in five new cars is battery powered.