AS WE WAVE goodbye to 2018 the numbers are starting to roll in to reveal which bikes were showroom favourites during the year – and you might be surprised at some of the success stories.
It’s still too early to have definitive, final new model registration figures for the year – those won’t be available for months yet – but we do know which machines were the best sellers from January until the end of September, and that covers the lion’s share of bike sales during the year.
Thanks to the vagaries of the UK registration system, it can be misleading to count the exact models named on registration documents. BMW’s all-conquering R1200GS wouldn’t even make the top 10 if we did that, because the DfT counts each version of the bike (GS, GS Rallye, GS Rallye TE, GS TE, GS TE Exclusive, Triple Black, Adventure etc) as a separate model.
Fortunately, though, the DfT also does its sums in a ‘generic model’ form, lumping families of similar machines into groups. It’s these we’re looking at to see what were British riders’ favourites during 2018.
10: Honda NSC110 Vision
Honda’s bargain-basement Vision 110 makes it onto virtually every best-seller list we compile, and as one of the lowest-cost ways of getting onto a Honda it’s no surprise to see it here again. There’s not much to say about it; the Vision does exactly what you’d expect of an entry-level Honda scooter. No excitement to be found here, but plenty of dependable day-to-day transport.
9: Piaggio Vespa
Thanks to the ‘generic model’ form of the DfT’s registration figures, all Vespas are piled into a single group here. Digging a little deeper, we can tell you that the GTS 300 Super is the country’s favourite derivative, followed by the Primavera 125.
8: Yamaha NMAX 125
Another solid, dependable scooter to make the list, the NMAX is again a regular favourite that tends to make an appearance on every top 10 best-seller list we do. However, 2018 has been a particularly strong year for the bike, with over 1400 sold between January and September.
7: Honda CB125F
That staple of training schools has been another fixture on best-sellers lists for years, so it’s no surprise to see it here once again. Chances are that you got your licence aboard one of these, or its predecessor, so you know exactly what they have to offer. Does anyone ride them again after they’ve torn their L-plates up, though?
6: Kawasaki ZR900
The ‘ZR900’ line from Kawasaki covers bikes including the Z900 and the retro styled Z900RS, but given their mechanical similarity it’s fair enough to lump them all together when it comes to pulling together a list of ‘generic’ models. It’s good news for Kawasaki to have a bike in the top 10, though, and the ZR900 range isn’t the only one to make it here.
