UK motorcycle sales are up - despite poor weather

NEW motorcycle registrations are up 5.1% on last year, according to statistics by the Motor Cycle Industry Association. A remarkable 98,177 motorcycles have been registered in the year to date.

Over 11,500 new motorcycles were registered in August, an increase of 7.8% on the total from August 2006. One of the fastest growing segments is the Adventure Sport category, which has seen a rise of over a third over last year. Many attribute this growth to Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman's 'Long Way Down' series, although it has to be said, a sportsbike-mad nation are also feeling the pinch of the government's anti-speeding message and may well be looking for their kicks below triple-figure speeds.

Despite the strong growth in the Adventure Sports category, the SuperSport category is still leading the field, with 1,962 new registrations in August, followed by Scooters with 1,860 new registrations and the third most popular category is Naked bikes with 1,671 new registrations in August.

Scooters and small-engine motorcycles now make up around half of all new registrations, a trend which looks set to continue following extension of the London Congestion Charging Zone and as cities across Britain are considering similar schemes.

Total sales of new and used motorcycles, scooters and mopeds have exceeded a third of a million in the first six months of the year. A total of 336, 017 machines have been sold up to July 2007. Latest DVLA figures, published by SMMT, show the number of used two and three-wheelers changing hands during the first half of 2007 was 249,360, up 7% on the first half of 2006. This is the largest volume of used transactions in any twelve-month period this century. Over the same period, new bike registrations reached 140,000, their highest point for four years. The total number of new and used motorcycle transactions for the period from July 06- June 07 was 620,000.