Road Bike Sales Figures Study

Road Bike Sales Figures  | First nine months of 2014 | By Trevor Hedge

Honda continued to lead the Australian road motorcycle market according to the latest three-quarter sales figures released this week by the FCAI. A modest, but still significant in the big picture, three per cent growth from Big Red kept them on the top of the road bike table thanks to excellent sales of their learner range including the CBR500R (1503) and CB125E (590). The entire 500cc range for Honda performed remarkably well with not only the CBR500R doing well, but also 263 sales of the naked CB500FA and 273 sales of the adventure styled CB500XA.  Honda’s CT110X was significantly updated this year which led to even bigger volume from Australia Post, a whopping 2166 sales helping to make the CT110X Australia’s biggest selling motorcycle. Take that Australia Post contract out of the equation though and Honda would be Australia’s third biggest selling road bike brand, behind Harley-Davidson and ten units shy of Kawasaki… But it’s in, and fair enough, as it is a road motorcycle, so Honda are numero uno.

Harley-Davidson also grew by a little over three per cent. While the whole range did remarkably well, the FXSB Breakout model proved the star performer and was actually the fourth biggest selling roadbike in Australia behind the CT110X, Ninja 300 and CBR500R. Harley had nine of the top ten selling cruiser models, Yamaha’s evergreen XVS650 the only non Harley in the cruiser top ten. Harley also owned the top four models in the touring category which was headed by the FLHX Street Glide. When Harley-Davidson’s learner legal Street 500 is released next year they look odds on to take the #1 roadbike sales rank no matter how many CT110X Australia Post orders.

Kawasaki experienced a significant 16.9 per cent downturn in road bike sales volume. The Ninja 300R still sold incrediby well, second only to the CT110X by a slim 20 units, but itself was 21.4 per cent down on the same period last year as a much wider range of learner legal motorcycles hit the Australian market and robbed sales from Kawasaki’s perennial stalwart. Still, the Ninja 300R almost accounted for half of the total road sales volume for Team Green.  Kawasaki’s KLR650 topped the adventure-touring category once again and remained steady with 332 sales. While the Ninja 650RL still sold in good numbers (371) it was down 28.4 per cent on 2013 figures.

Yamaha have had a very rough trot in recent years across the roadbike sector of the market but the tuning fork brand received a major shot in the arm this year with the MT-09 stomping into the nakedbike category to dominate that sector and add a very significant 675 sales to Yamaha’s 3734 tally. The aforementioned XVS650 cruiser was the second highest selling cruiser, and the fifth biggest selling road motorcycle in Australia, only six units shy of the fourth placed MT-09. Yamaha’s YZF-R15 also sold well to sneak into the overall top ten with 452 sales. Despite only being on sale for a few weeks the MT-07 is strong out of the blocks with 181 leaving Yamaha showrooms already. The end result is a 29.5 per cent lift in Yamaha road sales volume compared to the same period in 2013. Smiles for team blue no doubt, particularly with a new YZF-R1 on the way to strengthen their sportsbike sales in 2015.

Suzuki road sales have long been underpinned by an affordable range of mid-size motorcycles but virtually all their major models have performed below expectations thus far this year despite models such as the brilliant DL650 V-Strom offering unbelievable value at (currently) $9990 ride away. The reinvented DL1000 helped tremendously with 231 units retailed, 25 shy of its DL650 sibling. Overall Suzuki road sales were down 20.1 per cent. Thankfully a host of new models are on the way to help Suzuki regain that lost ground in 2015.

BMW continue to go from strength to strength and with 2152 road bike sales were only 40 units shy of knocking Suzuki out of fifth position on the charts. Motorrad’s adventure-touring range as always made up a hefty slice of the sales volume with the R 1200 GS (265), R 1200 GS Adventure (196), G 650 GS (166), G 650 GS Sertao  (133), F 700 GS (155), F 800 GS (144) all doing well.  The S 1000 RR was fifth on the sales bikes charts but the official sports segment also includes Honda’s CBR500R (which totally dominated the sports category by the way), and Hyosung’s GT650R also ‘officially’ a sports model, according to FCAI figures; in reality the S 1000 R was essentially the third biggest selling pure sportsbike, behind only Ducati’s 899 Panigale and Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade. The R 1200 RT (103) also performed well to take sixth place in the touring category.

Triumph slipped to seventh overall on the road bike charts but with 2074 sales and only a 5.3 per cent drop compared to last year still seem to be travelling along fairly well. The new Thunderbird cruiser range performing strongly while the Daytona 675, Street Triple and Bonneville range remain popular.

Ducati sales were heavily boosted by the impressive debut of the 899 Panigale which with 263 sales was the biggest selling pure sportsbike in Australia. Big brother 1199 Panigale was 26.1 per cent down on 2013 but still did well with its 161 sales still bettering any sportsbike offering from Kawasaki or Yamaha. The end sum being a 12.5 per cent improvement for Ducati compared to the first nine months of 2013.

KTM are the big success story of the road bike top ten with the 390 Duke taking the market by storm. 534 of the little naked Austrians have hit Australian streets, placing it second in the nakedbike category only to Yamaha’s MT-09, and the 390 Duke was also the eighth biggest selling roadbike across all categories. KTM dealers must be rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the arrival of the sexy little RC390 late this year. As it stands, the 390 Duke accounted for nearly half of KTM’s total road bike sales volume.

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Overall, across all brands, road bike sales for the first nine months of 2014 are three per cent up on 2013. The total figure across all brands for the first nine months of 2014 is 32,416, compared to 31,469 over the same period in 2013.

• Related Link – For an overall summary of all brands across all sectors click this link

Roadbike Sales (by brand) – January 1 to September 30, 2014 – (Change from 2013)

1. Honda 6486 (+3%)
2. Harley-Davidson 5967 (+3.3%)
3. Kawasaki 4330 (-16.9%)
4. Yamaha 3734 (+29.5%)
5. Suzuki 2192 (-20.1%)
6. BMW 2152 (+37.9%)
7. Triumph 2074 (-5.3%)
8. Ducati 1428 (+12.5%)
9. KTM 1156 (+98.3%)
10. Hyosung 788 (+10.4%)
11. CF Moto 394 (-35.1%)
12. Victory 305 (-16.2%)
13. Royal Enfield (283 (+169.5%)
14. Indian 241
15. Aprilia 241 (-6.6%)
16. Moto Guzzi 191 (+10.4%)
17. Husqvarna 102 (-41.7%)
18. Daelim 85 (-2.3%)
19. Kymco 68 (-25.3%)

Top Ten Road Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Honda CT110X 2166 (+73.1%)
2. Kawasaki Ninja 300 2146 (-21.4%)
3. Honda CBR500R 1503 (+44.2%)
4. Harley-Davidson FXSB 893 (+175.6%)
5. Yamaha MT-09 675
6. Yamaha XVS650 669 (-13.5%)
7. Honda CB125E 590 (-36.5%)
8. KTM 390 Duke 534
9. Harley-Davidson FXDB 532 (+34.7%)
10. Yamaha YZF-R15 452 (-4%)

Top Ten Cruiser Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Harley-Davidson FXSB 893 (+175.6%)
2. Yamaha XVS650 669 (-13.5%)
3. Harley-Davidson FXDB 532 (+34.7%)
4. Harley-Davidson FXDF 396 (-24.7%)
5. Harley-Davidson VRSCDX 383 (-12.6%)
6. Harley-Davidson FXDWG 352 (-23.6%)
7. Harley-Davidson FLSTF 289 (-25.1%)
8. Harley-Davidson XL883N 281 (-18.3%)
9. Harley-Davidson FXST 263 (-41.7%)
10. Harley-Davidson FXSBSE 246 (+75.7%)

Top Ten Under 250cc Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Honda CT110X 2166 (+73.1%)
2. Honda CB125E 590 (-36.5%)
3. Yamaha YZF-R15 452 (-4%)
4. Suzuki GW250 199 (+2.1%)
5. Honda CBR250R 164 (-83.1%)
6. Kawasaki KLX150L 146
7. Hyosung GT250R 125 (-6.7%)
8. Suzuki VL250 120 (-35.8%)
9. Suzuki TU250X 113 (-31.9%)
10. Yamaha XV250 102 (-15.7%)

Top Ten Adventure-Touring Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Kawasaki KLR650 332 (+0.3%)
2. Honda CB500XA 273 (+103.7%)
3. BMW R 1200 GS 265 (-2.9%)
4. Suzuki DL650A 256 (+23.7%)
5. Suzuki DL1000 231 (+492.3%)
6. BMW R 1200 GS Adventure 196 (+79.8%)
7. BMW G 650 GS 166
8. BMW F 700 GS 155 (+17.4%)
9. BMW F 800 GS 144 (-7.1%)
10. KTM 1190 Adventure R 141 (+227.9%)

Top Ten Naked Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Yamaha MT-09 675
2. KTM 390 Duke 534
3. Ducati M659 278 (+7.8%)
4. Honda CB500FA 263 (-6.7%)
5. Triumph Street Triple 258 (-24.6%)
6. KTM 1290SD 189
7. Yamaha MT-07L 181
8. Kawasaki ER-6nL 171 (-15.8%)
9. Triumph Bonne T100 160 (+13.5%)
10. CF Moto 650NK 159 (+40.7%)

Top Ten Supersport Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Honda CBR500R 1503 (+44.2%)
2. Ducati 899 Panigale 263
3. Honda CBR1000RR 227 (-33.2%)
4. Hyosung GT650R 218 (-16.5%)
5. BMW S 1000 RR 209 (+7.2%)
6. Triumph Daytona 675 194 (+9%)
7. Suzuki GSX-R1000 186 (-12.7%)
8. Ducati 1199 Panigale 161 (-26.1%)
9. Kawasaki Ninja ZX14 160 (+2.6%)
10. Honda CBR300R 147

Top Ten Touring Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Harley-Davidson FLHX 227 (+198.7%)
2. Harley-Davidson FLHTK 200 (+3900%)
3. Harley-Davidson FLSTC 161 (-17%)
4. Harley-Davidson FLHRC 153 (+1812.5%)
5. Yamaha FJR1300 140 (+52.2%)
6. BMW R 120o RT 103 (+51.5%)
7. Triumph Thunderbird LT 93
8. CF Moto 650TK 86 (+45.8%)
9. Honda CTX700 74 (+1750%)
10. Honda GL1800 68 (-26.5%)

Top Ten Sports Touring Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Kawasaki Ninja 300 2146 (-21.4%)
2. Kawasaki Ninja 650RL 371 (-28.4%)
3. Yamaha FZ6R 174 (-35.3%)
4. Honda VFR800 144 (+44%)
5. Kawasaki Ninja 1000 137 (+25.7%)
6. Suzuki GSX1300R 118 (-13.9%)
7. Suzuki GS500F 96 (-57%)
8. Triumph Sprint GT 88 (+15.8%)
9. Honda CBR650F 83
10. Triumph Tiger Sport 67 (+39.6%)

Top Ten Supermotard Motorcycles by Sales – January 1 to September 30, 2014 (Compared to 2013)

1. Suzuki DR-Z400SM 70 (-6.7%)
2. Ducati Hypermotard 48 (+140%)
3. KTM 690SMC 25 (+47.1%)
4. Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 13 (+44.4%)
5. Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 12 (-7.7%)
6. Kawasaki KLX250SL 10 (-16.7%)

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