Motorcycle Sales Soar in the UK: 22% Increase in July

Fuelled by rising gas prices, sales of motorcycles in the U.K. soared by 22% in July according to figures released by the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI). Motorcycle registrations in July were 14,306, an increase of 2,578 over the same month last year, while total registrations for the first seven months of the year are up 1% at 87,551. In contrast, the car market in the UK fell almost 13% in July and is nearly 3% down from the beginning of the year. -Continued

In July, registrations of bikes of up to 50cc increased by more than 35% and engines from 51cc to 125cc increased by almost 31%. Bikes with engines from 651cc to 1,000cc increased by 40%. Scooter and moped (up to 50cc) sales increased by almost 27% and 34.5% respectively while naked motorcycles performed strongly with a 46.5% increase. The only category to show a decline in the month was trail / enduro bikes with -7.9%.

The biggest-selling make in the UK in July was Honda with 2,011 registrations followed by Yamaha (1,860) and Suzuki (1,486) while the best-selling bikes were two Yamaha 125cc models, the YZF R125 with 338 units and the YBR 125 with 277 units.