MCIA Motorcycle Sales Figures and Suzuki

Every month the Motorcycle Industry Association, MCIA, produces a summary of motorcycle sales in the UK. It may sound like a dry read, but if you want to know what is going on in the industry and which motorcycles are selling, the MCIA summary condenses the data into an easily consumed format.

It is an absolute blessing for people like me who can’t be bothered to do it all for themselves.

Browsing through the MCIA summary for June 2021, which also gives year-to-date figures (YTD) and a comparison against last year, some trends are confirmed and highlights other things I can’t understand. The data doesn’t lie, but what the heck is going on?

Headline Motorcycle Sales Figures

The comparison figures to last year are a little twisted. Covid got in the way of everything in 2020, and motorcycle dealerships were closed for long periods. So the 31% increase in new motorcycle registrations in 2021 – 58,105 YTD compared to 44,206 YTD in 2020 – is good news but needs to be taken in context.

The other stand-out figures from the MCIA report shows that Adventure Bikes, Touring Bikes, and Scooters are the market segments with the most growth. What the differences are between some of the market segments, I’m not sure. Which classification do I put a Kawasaki Ninja in? Regardless each of these segments shows an increase in sales of 32% or more compared to 2020.

As always, though, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. For example, the unspecified segment of the market had a 300% increase in sales when the number of recorded sales went from three to twelve.

Best Selling Classification of Motorcycle

There are nine different classifications of motorcycles in the MCIA report. As you would imagine, there are classifications for Adventure, Touring, Road Sport and Naked classifications. Add to these classifications for Scooter, Custom, Competition, Modern Classic and the catch-all bucket of Unspecified.

The omnipresent BMW R GS1250 Adventure topped the June 2021 sales for Adventure bikes with 251 sold, and BMW also took the most Touring motorcycles sold that month with 110 BMW R 1250 RTs now in the hands of their proud owners.

Perhaps the most heartening news for motorcycling is that the best sellers in the Road Sport and Naked classification are both 125cc machines, the LexMoto LXR and Honda CBF 125, respectively. Although the combined sales of these motorcycles (467) doesn’t come close to the number of Yamaha NMAX 125 scooters sold (781), it is great to see that motorcycling isn’t just for GS riders aged over 50.

Best Selling Capacity

Looking at what motorcycles are being bought by engine capacity, it is no surprise that the most popular motorcycle over 1000cc remains the (yawn) BMW R 1250 GS Adventure. It is as if someone has brainwashed us all to ignore anything else and give money to the BMW salesperson.

Lower the capacity to between 651cc and 1000cc, and Yamaha’s new Tracer 9 GT dominates this bracket with 160 bikes sold. None too shabby for a motorcycle that was released that month.

In the 126cc to 650cc bracket, Royal Enfield is enjoying life. Royal Enfield sold 178 Interceptors in June.

Put that another way, that is six Interceptors sold in the UK every day that month.

Most Popular Manufacturers and Models

Despite Yamaha’s Tracer 9 GT and NMAX 125 Scooter, Royal Enfield’s Interceptor and the BMW GS, Honda (as usual) registered the most motorcycles in June 2021, with 2,661 bikes sold.

Second was Yamaha (1,901) and then BMW (1,464). The surprise in the figures, though, was Suzuki with just 445 motorcycles registered, and this I don’t understand.

Suzuki

I’m a fan of Suzuki motorcycles. Suzuki’s after-sales customer service is excellent, and their motorcycles are capable and well priced. So what is it that isn’t motivating potential buyers?

The top of the line Suzuki V-Strom XT Tour comes with three-piece metal luggage and engine bars. It produces 107 BHP and 100 Nms of torque while returning 50+ miles for a gallon of imperial petrol. There is a 6-axis IMU, traction control, ride by wire throttle, cruise control and a bucket load of other fancy things.

The V-Strom XT Tour will cost you, according to the Suzuki website, £12,899

Compare this to the BMW GS, not the Adventure, the vanilla GS. Now add the Touring Pack to get the luggage mounts, engine bars and optional cruise control. The price – and I haven’t even thought about actual luggage, the Touring Pack only supplies the mounts – is £15,645.

A £2,746 price difference, and we still have the cost of the luggage to add on. Even at today’s petrol prices, and 50 MPG, I make that enough petrol to travel 23,470 miles. That is enough petrol to ride around the world.

The choice we face is to buy a GS or take the Suzuki and use the money saved to visit all sorts of places. I should perhaps include the price of a Scottoiler in my calculations. Does the £100 they cost really make that much difference?

Now, before the comments section lights up with hate mail from GS owners, the BMW GS is an excellent motorcycle. The question I’m asking is, what is so wrong with the Suzuki V-Strom XT? Seriously, what?

I owned the older model of V-Strom, which I paid for with my own money. I rode 20,000 miles on it, and other than a recall on the wiring loom, which was free of charge, all I had to do was service the bike, put tyres on it and ride the wheels off it.

Maybe it is just me being too dense to appreciate the difference. Perhaps the dealer experience at BMW is more engaging. Maybe BMW dealers employ better salespeople. Who knows? I can’t get past saving £2,746, plus luggage.