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"Sales keep declining for U.S. motorcycle manufacturers..."

mcgaskins

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2012
Messages
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Denver, CO
I read this article below on Revzilla this morning about the year over year declines in the motorcycle industry. Granted this article was mostly about the American manufacturers, but I think a lot can be extrapolated about the industry as a whole. It's also interesting in the sense we've been in a long term economic expansion, so the economy can't be blamed. They're crying tariffs which affects profitability (not sales if prices aren't raised commensurately), but I think consumer preferences play the biggest role by far.

Anecdotally, virtually all my riding buddies and I have hung up our boots and either don't ride at all any more or only go for a spin a couple times a year. I started riding when I was 12 and have typically had at least 1 dirt bike and often 1 street bike until I was about 34. I have zero bikes now, but I did keep all my gear in case I rent one from time to time. I've also noticed the last couple of years on my commute the frequency of seeing motorcycles has massively dropped. I often don't see a single motorcycle on my 20 mile each way commute, and I definitely keep my eye out for them. It certainly "feels" like motorcycling has dropped off the radar for the vast majority of the population, whereas when I was growing up nearly every guy I knew wanted one and many people knew how to ride.

So is the industry dying or is it a temporary trend? I'm curious and hopeful that electrification will breathe new life into motorcycles and attract a new contingent of buyers, but it is hard to say if that will be the case.

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tre...nufacturers-but-turnaround-plans-are-in-place
 

Mendocino

RS Chapter Eternal
Gone But
Not Forgotten
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Sep 27, 2005
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2,466
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North Side
I think we will all have electric scooters. Seriously, I think motorcycling is dying in the US, maybe Canada too. However, its still booming in Europe, africa, and Asia.
 

benjrblant

Trail Ready
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Sep 7, 2016
Messages
404
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Denver
I think motorcycles have always been viewed as ancillary transportation in the US. I don't think I know a single person that uses one for primary transportation. They're always second, third, or fourth vehicles and usually fairweather ones at that. This is indicated by their cost- $10k for a new 650 and prices for gear/parts are insanely expensive. Nevermind that many HD's and comparable cruisers/ADVs like the GS are well into the mid $20's with options nearing $30k.

Personally, I think drivers now are more distracted than ever. The previous decades' safety advancements brought higher speed limits on roadways and now we're distracting drivers with phones, gps, carplay, etc while expecting them to maintain these speeds. American roads are long, wide, and fast and this doesn't bode for a safe motorcycling environment. Add in the length of most American car trips and the copious amounts of parking that are readily available everywhere and there doesn't seem to be much motivation to ride a bike apart from fun.

[...]However, its still booming in Europe, africa, and Asia.
I think this is because there are lots of other factors at play here. Parking space, operating area, and shorter commute distances in more dense urban environments for one, plus motorcycles and scooters are still seen as primary (if not secondary to public transit) transportation in these areas.
 

mcgaskins

Rising Sun Member
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Sep 14, 2012
Messages
1,898
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Denver, CO
I agree Ben. I would be lying if I said distracted drivers and general danger weren't some of the main reasons I decided to move on. I can't tell you how many near misses I had over the years (of course we all have similar stories), and often it was some idiot with their head pointed down at their phone in their lap. It got to the point for me where the fun/danger ratio wasn't worth it any more for street riding, so I focused on dirt. Then I realized if I was in the dirt, I'd rather be in the truck and bring along my wife, friends, the dog, camping gear, etc. It also appears from a video @Inukshuk posted recently, even putting around on a dirt bike in the middle of the mountains can be just as dangerous as Speer Blvd (some a$$hat in a side by side nearly killed a dirt biker, and he was moderately injured after basically forced to crash).
 

Telly

Rising Sun Member
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Jan 4, 2008
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1,329
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Monument
Related to safety on two wheels - I used to be huge into road biking in my 30's and never felt unsafe. Now I'm 46 and barely ride because I'm flat scared of being on the road. I'll still ride the Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods but I rarely venture out on a public two lane road.
 

DaveInDenver

Rising Sun Ham Guru
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Jun 8, 2006
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Grand Junction
I sold my KLR because unless your commute is short and can avoid traffic you take an inordinate amount of risk from distracted drivers.

Couple that with I think an overall desire *not* to drive (e.g. a growing demand for self driving cars) means a motorcycle is a luxury on the street. And even then the image is massively chromed open pipe Harley with some well to do lawyer playing Easy Rider I think turns a new rider off about just getting a bike to poke around on.

Then you have to consider too the general anti-OHV sentiment in the management of public lands making dirt bikes a harder sell to the broad market. The smearing of side-by-sides, ATVs, dirt bikes into one indistinct blob in the minds of those who don't ride them.

FWIW, I think similar things are happening in mountain biking, 4wds, lots of places. It's always about being the biggest, baddest, fastest, most farkled whatever. #doingitforthegram, right @Stuckinthe80s? All if it polarizes and stereotypes the image. Can't just be a quiet user out enjoying the backcountry.
 
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Stuckinthe80s

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Dec 29, 2017
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Lakewood, CO
Having been in a motorcycle accident (2 of them actually - one on the road where I was hit by someone who couldn't see me and one offroad) I can't say that the thought of being in another one wasn't on my mind when I still had my bike. But for me, getting rid of my bike was more about the fact that I just didn't have time to enjoy it anymore. My girls were starting to get involved in more and more activities and I felt guilty if I spent what little free time I did have on the bike instead of spending time with them. So I was like you @MTSN and would rather have them along if I was exploring somewhere and decided to put all of my attention in my 80 instead.

I agree that drivers are definitely more distracted nowadays. Couple that with the fact that cars themselves are exponentially more safe, giving drivers this added sense of invincibility, they don't seem to be as worried about getting in an accident. I've had this conversation with a few of you around the campfire where I think people should still have to learn how to drive on an old car with drum brakes. Those cars certainly didn't stop as well as the modern technology and it conditioned the mind to not drive like such an asshole. I don't know, even back then I think there were a lot of people who didn't consider that and still drove recklessly.

The threat has always been there but I won't disagree that it's not exponentially greater now if for no other reason that there are just so many more people. Having said that, I will have another bike in the not so distant future. Maybe when my girls are older and don't care so much about spending time with me as I do miss that mental reset riding provided. Someone once said that you never see a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrist's office and I think there is a lot of truth to that.
 
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