It's that time of year where motorcycle companies show off their new upcoming bikes. This year it seems the manufacturers are moving away from a market focused on sportbikes and cruisers and are moving towards a market of more versatile and affordable bikes with adventure type bikes leading the way. This makes given that sales of once popular 600cc sport-bikes have shrunk significantly, and cruisers have at best leveled off. After the market collapsed three years ago it appears moneyed baby boomer aren't as interested in expensive "toys" and the manufactures seem to be turning to a younger demographic, time will tell if these entry level bike will find buying in the US.
But with these new bikes we should refresh our outlook on traditional motorcycle segments. For example Honda recently got it's groove back and introduced a new 250cc sportbike and 250cc dual-sport. This year they followed up with a new 500cc motorcycle that comes in sportbike, adventure, and naked flavors. On top of that they also have their recent 700cc adventure and naked bike. So lets recap
250cc single CBR(sport), CRF (enduro)
500cc parallel twin CBR (sport), CB (naked), CBX (adventurer)
700cc parallel twin NCX (adventurer)
The midsize segment for Honda is getting pretty crowded. The NC700X joins the (800cc V4) Crossrunner and (700cc V2) Transalp/Deauville and (600cc I4) CBR600F.
Kawasaki's Ninja 250, which for a long time was the only sport sportbike available, will be joined not only by the Honda CBR250 but also a Ninja 300. On top of that there exists a Ninja 400, a small version of the Ninja 650.
With all these new bike surely there isn't room for all these size, or is there? Is there a need for a tiered line up with adequate space between sizes and prices? Or are all sizes welcome? In the 1970's motorcycles came in just about any displacement you wanted. Over the years fierce competition virtually standardized engine sizes. Throughout the last decade standard/naked motorcycle classes in the US looked something like this;
250 Kawasaki Ninja + some basic cruiser-style learner bikes
500 Kawasaki and Suzuki (for a time)
600-650 Class of midsize bikes lead by the Suzuki SV, as well as left over sport bikes
750 Kawasaki and Suzuki (both for a short time)
1000+ Open class bike from just about every manufacturer
Along with new interesting sub-600cc bikes, 800cc motorcycles are have been popping up everywhere. Will they on day replace the 600 class? The US market seems to be moving to a new type of line up, that may look something like this;
250 Kawasaki, Honda (Yamaha? Suzuki? KTM?)
500 Honda
600-650 Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha
650-800 Yamaha, Honda, Triumph, BMW, Ducati
1000+ Everybody
Regardless of what the new sizes might be one thing seems clear; the market is finally showing signs of changing behavior since the 2008.
