Motorcycle Industry in freefall

[concours]

Exactly what I've observed in many showrooms

 

[MichaelB]

Yup....

 

[Jackman]

Harley has taken a serious tumble, but at the same time there’s an upsurge for Indian and some European manufacturers have shown up again. Japanese bikes have lost my interest there just plain ugly and have zero appeal.

 

[Thomasa]

The complexity of new bikes along with the same for new cars have kept me out of the new vehicle market for years despite the fact that i could afford a new vehicle. I'm a good enough wrench to keep what I have running well as long as parts are available. Plus I don't want to be connected to the internet, the law and God knows whom else through that shark-fin thingie on the roof. I've long wondered what happens if you cut the wire to that antenna.

 

[MichaelD]

... I don't want to be connected to the internet, the law and God knows whom else through that shark-fin thingie on the roof. I've long wondered what happens if you cut the wire to that antenna.

Err, you've just posted a comment to the Internet. And you can't delete your post unless you reconnect to the Internet ...

 

[Schwany]

Small example: Honda/Kawasaki dealer about 1.5 miles from my house removed their inventory and turned off the lights for good last week 5/13/2015. Lack of sales year after year in rainy Seattle and flooring costs were probably killing them. Customer base might be drying up too. Just a guess though.

 

[concours]

Small example: Honda/Kawasaki dealer about 1.5 miles from my house removed their inventory and turned off the lights for good last week 5/13/2015. Lack of sales year after year in rainy Seattle and flooring costs were probably killing them. Customer base might be drying up too. Just a guess though.

Everywhere, sadly.

 

[Schwany]

Small example: Honda/Kawasaki dealer about 1.5 miles from my house removed their inventory and turned off the lights for good last week 5/13/2015. Lack of sales year after year in rainy Seattle and flooring costs were probably killing them. Customer base might be drying up too. Just a guess though.

Everywhere, sadly.

Oops, happened a week ago in 2025, not 2015.

2015 they were probably making a reasonable go of it up until 2020 came along and... messed things up.

 

[concours]

Oops, happened a week ago in 2025, not 2015.

2015 they were probably making a reasonable go of it up until 2020 came along and... messed things up.

We knew what you meant.

 

[grandpaul]

I think a SIGNIFICANT big blow to the motorcycle industry (far more so than the auto industry) is Electric bicycles and Electric motorcycles.

Kids nowdays start out with them, and stick with them. They also don't seem to have the same interest level in highway riding, so no need for road hogs, either.

 

[MikeG]

One thing I've noticed is the big multiline dealers have more ATV,s and UTV,s than bikes in the showroom. If thats what it takes to keep them going more power to them.

 

[NORTSTER1974]

This didn't start yesterday. A local HD dealer which had been in business since the 50's closed it's doors in 2010. Just a small place with about a dozen bikes on display. HD MOCO wanted all dealers to have these mega dealerships. This was not feasible for Mills HD. Their property left them no room to expand. Supposedly they sold their rights to Hannum's HD who would open a dealership 10 miles down the road. Hannum's intended to open in an old car dealership. HD MOCO turned them down since the site didn't have access from both sides of the roadway. They, the MOCO created their own demise.

The MOCO banked on the market where the baby boomers were buying there product. From the mid 90's until mid 2000's. That's when all the Boomer's with loot, who wanted to be COOL bought a Harley. As it stands today, there are a lot of low milage Harleys around, ready for the next buyer. Why would you buy new when you could get something for a third of the price?

 

[nortonmargie]

Summary of statistics from Motorcycle Data: For many years the US motorcycle market was very stable. In the first quarter of 2025, sales of both Harley Davidson (-26%) and KTM (-30%) have slid. Yamaha sales are stable. Kawasaki is up a dramatic 31%, Indian is up 8% and Royal Enfield has hit a new sales record. Triumph is doing well. My takeaway: Harley is in free fall, not the rest of the industry. KTM and Honda have made some bad decisions and are suffering from them, and people who want motorcycles are buying Kawasakis, Royal Enfields and 400 cc Triumphs.

 

[Yorkie]

One thing I've noticed is the big multiline dealers have more ATV,s and UTV,s than bikes in the showroom. If thats what it takes to keep them going more power to them.

Every time my sons and I would head out to the Southern California desert to ride our dirt bikes we would encounter families on quads and side by sides. My sons say that their friends parents were ok with four wheel ATVs but not two wheeled bikes as they are inherently safer. Makes sense if you buy into the notion that we, as a society, are becoming more concerned about our safety than pursing excitement. In SoCal I found that people thought you were crazy if you rode a street bike and that attitude makes sense there compared to where I live now in France. Riders here are noticed by car drivers and the minor roads flooded with bikers. Mostly Adventure touring types but also a lot of Harley riders. The market for bikes here is strong.

 

[johnm]

In NZ the dealerships in the smaller provincial and country towns are the ones that seem to have a more stable business model.

They make their money selling and servicing the side by side quads and farm bikes used by almost every farmer. The bigger tractors and trucks are too expensive and hard on the muddy fields compared to the big quads that seem to be able to do 90 % of the work.

Go into the workshop of my local dealer and they have about 5 lifts for the bike quads and one maybe two for bikes.

The showroom has a few street bikes but mostly off road and farm bikes.

 

[MikeG]

This didn't start yesterday. A local HD dealer which had been in business since the 50's closed it's doors in 2010. Just a small place with about a dozen bikes on display. HD MOCO wanted all dealers to have these mega dealerships. This was not feasible for Mills HD. Their property left them no room to expand. Supposedly they sold their rights to Hannum's HD who would open a dealership 10 miles down the road. Hannum's intended to open in an old car dealership. HD MOCO turned them down since the site didn't have access from both sides of the roadway. They, the MOCO created their own demise.

The MOCO banked on the market where the baby boomers were buying there product. From the mid 90's until mid 2000's. That's when all the Boomer's with loot, who wanted to be COOL bought a Harley. As it stands today, there are a lot of low milage Harleys around, ready for the next buyer. Why would you buy new when you could get something for a third of the price?

I remember when Hannums was just a hole in the wall shop in Media PA with poor access from either side of route 1

 

[kommando]

four wheel ATVs but not two wheeled bikes as they are inherently safer

I have both, I do not trust the Quad 4WD as it feels like it wants to spit me off over 20mph if I turn the bars too quickly on loose gravel. Feel a lot safer on the loose dirt on my B44 Victor.

 

[concours]

I have both, I do not trust the Quad 4WD as it feels like it wants to spit me off over 20mph if I turn the bars too quickly on loose gravel. Feel a lot safer on the loose dirt on my B44 Victor.

You shoulda trained on 3 wheels, the quad feels beautiful!!

 

[1973x75]

Three wheelers. They felt counter intuitive, until you figured out that you had to lean away from the turn instead of into it. Had some good times on the little Honda 90cc when they first came out, in the 70’s as I remember.

 

[concours]

Three wheelers. They felt counter intuitive, until you figured out that you had to lean away from the turn instead of into it. Had some good times on the little Honda 90cc when they first came out, in the 70’s as I remember.

That's correct, on low power bikes you had to unload the inner tire, so the solid axle could scrub the inner.

On the bigguns, just power on, break loose & steer with the throttle