MOTORCYCLE NEWS
Motorcycle registrations continue to increase
Monday 21st January 2008
Motorcycle, moped and scooter registrations were up 8.6% last year - the biggest increase in 7 years. Registrations of all powered two wheelers (PTW) was 144,583 in 2007 - the highest figure since 2003 and well ahead of the 133,076 registrations in 2006. Passenger car registrations last year increased by only 2.5%.
Motorcycle registrations in 2007 increased by a hefty 9.7%, while mopeds increased by 4% and scooters by 9.1% - the biggest-selling PTW of the year was the Yamaha YBR 125 with 2,272 registrations.
PTW's with engines of 51 to 125cc took the biggest share of the market, suggesting growing use of these smaller-engined machines by learners, novice and commuter riders. Three bikes of less than 125cc made it into the top ten best sellers last year.
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Another factor in the popularity of smaller-engined bikes is the growing number of people gaining a motorcycle licence ahead of new regulations that later in 2008, will make it more difficult, expensive and time-consuming to get a bike licence. A 13.4% gain in naked bike registrations also indicates increasing commuter and practical use of PTW's.
The biggest growth, of almost 32%, was in the adventure sport sector, led by the BMW R1200 GS - similar to the bikes used by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman in their Long Way Down trip through Africa. The custom and touring sectors also made gains of 6.5% and 11.2 % respectively, reflecting the use of bigger bikes for leisure and longer distance touring.
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