Blue's Blogger Blog

UK Bike Sales in 2005

So according to the excellent "Bikes in the Fast Lane" site's reporting of an article in Moto Journal, the top 5 motorcycle sales in 2005 were:

Italy
1. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 - 10,834
2. Honda 600 Hornet - 8,217
3. Kawasaki Z750 - 5,149
4. Honda CBR 600 RR - 4,421
5. BMW R1200GS - 4,095

Germany
1. BMW R1200GS - 6,779
2. Honda CBF 600 - 4,859
3. Suzuki Bandit 650 - 3,420
4. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 - 3,286
5. Suzuki GSX-R 1000 - 2,947

France
1. Kawasaki Z750 - 7,160
2. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 - 6,474
3. Suzuki Bandit 650 - 5,475
4. Suzuki SV 650 - 3,420
5. Honda Hornet 600 - 2,687

Spain
1. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 - 5,421
2. Suzuki GSX-R 600 - 2,988
3. Honda CBR 600 RR - 2,893
4. Honda CBF 250 - 2,778
5. Suzuki Bandit 650 - 2,425

UK
1. Suzuki GSX-R 1000 - 2,534
2. Kawasaki ZX-6R - 2,213
3. Honda CBR 1000 RR - 2,083
4. BMW R1200GS - 1,980
5. Yamaha R1 - 1,936

Now, whilst four of the UK's top 5 being sportsbikes is probably a healthy thing, as far as I'm concerned, the level of sales that implies is pretty pathetic, isn't it?

Slightly perturbed by this, I went and had a look at the MCIA's web site and found December 2005's figures with the 2005 totals.

It looks as though Moto Journal had ignored total PTW sales, because Honda's learner-legal 125cc bike, the CBR 125R, was actually the year's top-seller with 2,738 unit sales.

Somewhat more disappointing for me is that Kawasaki only sold "approximately 150" ZRX1200Rs in the UK in 2005 whilst Triumph sold 757 Speed Triples.

posted by Captain Blue @ 3:03 PM