The good side is we are growing. The great side is motorcycle sales have leveled in their decline and have started to recover. Motorcycle sales peaked in 05 & 06 with just under 1 million units sold per each of those years. Prior to that 1973 was the biggest year. Dualsport is small, growing but small. I know it is difficult for many of you to imagine that they sell more scooters in America than GSs, but in reality they sell more scooters than DUALSPORT MOTORCYCLES. Harley has several models......MODELS that, by themselves, outsell the entire range of dualsport motorcycles. Not trying to be a jerk, but want to illustrate to the armchair product development people on here the size of their market. So yes, they might have every imaginable biker bell in three different finishes, but they probably are not going to have a carbon fiber skid plate for your 88 Moto Morini Camel or create a streetable MX bike for you to ride down to the corner pub.
I here that Yamaha is finally going to make the WR450r. It's going to weigh 235 lbs fully loaded WITH racks and panniers, get 100mpg, have a 6 gal tank and a lifetime of free fill ups , a wide ratio 10 speed , 25 inches of suspension travel but a 30 in seat height all while having 14 inches of ground clearance , never need any maintenance (not even oil) and come with tires that hook up like racing slicks on the street and full nobs in the dirt. Best of all the "G" in mpg stands for good wishes which is what you fill your tank with. What for the environmentalists that hate DS bikes? Yamaha has them covered too. The only emissions from the 7db exhaust will be unicorns and daisies.
Yeah, in the grand scheme of things we are a niche, but the thing about niches is, if you don't fill that niche someone else will, and then they get the sales and you don't.
I don't necessarily consider growth in our sport to be a positive thing. The more mainstream motorcycles become, the more self-centered-oblivious-to-the-world-types there will be on two wheels. That means more accidents and more focus on us by our dip-shit lawmakers -- who will do everything in their power to dumb-down bikes like they have to cars: mandatory ABS, traction control, airbags, TPS. I don't have a problem with these technologies, I just don't think it's my Legislature's job to keep me safe -- don't they have potholes to fill? As it stands now, we pretty much fly below the radar: we get discretionary treatment on minor infractions like parking in non-designated areas, lane splitting in some states, etc. It's manageable with the current crowd of riders because we don't have huge numbers, and we tend to be a sensible, aware group. If half the population was riding bikes, that just wouldn't be possible. The cruiser crowd is doing their best to screw things up for all of us though with their loud pipes. Pretty much all states always had noise and/or inspection regulations on the books, but nobody enforced them because it wasn't a big problem. Now with proliferation of straight-pipes on bikes, (mostly cruisers) states and municipalities are cracking down on all bikes. Hope this doesn't sound too elitist: but, I was happier when there were fewer people riding.
Conversely, the more on the road, the more awareness will be generated, hopefully increasing safety. Look at much of Europe as a model. Also, more riders mean more power to change the laws to make riding safer like in CA that allow lane splitting, and maybe filtering. Jim
I was in agreement right up until that bit. While it may be cruisers in your area it seems to be the sport bikes with race exhaust that are the worst offenders here in SFL.
Yes, they had been growing by leaps and bounds, but still had the same general peak and decline that bikes have had in the last 7 or so years. Snowmobiles were very popular here with annual sales topping 300,000 units (more than 20 years ago) Less snow, and new technology of the ATVs, have ushered in a new "farm vehicle" to get around in almost any conditions. Snowmobile sales are (I think) less than 75,000 units. Not nearly as good, fun or versitile in the snow, ATVs have stolen a lot of the snowmobiles sales because they do work in some (most) snow conditions and can continue to be used throughout the year. The ATV category once very simple, has during its growth, become very fragmented. The newest segment, side by sides, are more like little jeeps or trucks & are where all the new growth has been in the ATV side of the market.....because boys will be boys and we wish to go fast this has spawned a new segmenst of side by sides that are basically dune buggies. It is interesting.
Everyone drives a car... how's that workin' out for us in terms of controlling legislation? :huh Could you imagine a car in which you could turn off the ABS? The manufacturer would be driven out of business by lawsuits from people who forgot to turn it back on. As it stands now, the perceived danger of motorcycling keeps the dim-wits out. The more mainstream it becomes, the more bikes will have to be dumbed down to suit the lowest common denominator. Same goes for off road/adventure riding and land use: a few people riding responsibly doesn't attract any attention. A hundred people -- with a few of them acting like asshats -- gets land shut down to riding. Just my 2 cents.
Yeah, around here it's pretty much just the cruisers. An excessively loud sport bike would be unusual.