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17/11/2005: "October 2005 UK Bike Stats"

New motorcycle and scooter sales dropped by around 5% overall in October, according to latest figures from the MCIA.

The combined registrations so far are about 118,000 units, which is more or less the same as this time in 2004. Supersport sales are pretty flat, adventure type bikes are on the up, whilst sport-touring sales are down, along with scooter sales - despite severe price hikes in the cost of petrol.

It is baffling why the industry seems unable to sell the benefits of scooter ownership to disgruntled motorists paying almost a pound a litre for fuel.

With few ground-breaking sportbikes on the horizon next year, sportbiike sales as a class look set for another flat year - apart from the Triumph 675 which would seems destined to sell out early in 2006. With funky styled machines like the FZ1 Yamaha and GSR600 Suzi attracting interest at the NEC, the only prospect for growth would appear to be in the naked bikes class, as well as adventure sports like the GS BMW bikes, or niche retro bikes like the CCM flat-tracker, or Triumph Street Scrambler.

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)