Season-end sales panic?

[LongRanger_imp]

I've been receiving a lot of promotional e-mails lately from a number of local dealers (all brands: Honda, BMW, Ducati, Triumph, HD, etc.) offering extreme blow-out prices on leftover '15, '16 and '17 models, riding gear, helmets, accessories, etc. I've never seen this level of sales promotion around here, especially with this tone of urgency. The riding season will be over in the next few weeks and things will grind to a halt until next April. Despite the strong local economy, I'm guessing sales were disappointingly slow this summer and dealers are beginning to panic.

Anyone else seeing this?

:huh:

 

[rboe]

From what little I've seen (and that has been darn little) sales for motorcycles have be flat to declining. I've even seen Africa Twins on the sales floor!!

 

[the_undecider_imp]

From what little I've seen (and that has been darn little) sales for motorcycles have be flat to declining. I've even seen Africa Twins on the sales floor!!

We have 3 Twins in stock at my dealer, ha!

New street bike sales are down. Used bike sales are WAY up. Side by side utility vehicles are on the uptick.

 

[Cormanus]

I saw this piece on Australian motorcycle sales the other day. The bit about the nature of the franchise deals was interesting.

Why are dealers facing tough times? - webBikeWorld

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Cormanus, excellent article, thanks for sharing. I'd be interested to know the difference in demographics between Oz and the USA. I'm sure I can go on-line and get edumacated.

 

[Nortoon_imp]

I can understand why motorcycle sales have not been brisk here. We had cold and rainy weather from May to the second last week in July.

On 3 of my day rides the forecast was for a 20% chance of a trace of rain, but I got soaked all 3 times. On the first of those rides I rode in car tire tracks through piles of wet hail.

I promised myself I would get two day rides a week in this year, but there were never more than two days in row without rain.

Our hot August nights had lows in the 60s F.

 

[Hondahawkrider_imp]

Sales of bikes are down hard in America....

It's part offerings and part economy..

In the past when something new and cool came out, folks would sell/trade-in and get the latest and greatest..

Not so now..

Think about it... how many of you are gonna dump your current cb11k for a brand new one..

I understood dumping a 13std for 14dlx.. But for the price, how many will swap out what they have currently for a new one.

If folks are happy, they don't feel the need to upgrade they won till they have to..

For the first time I can think of, folks are starting to be happy with what they have ..

However, it's a great freaking time to buy a new bike and dealers will bend over backwards for you

 

[Offroad]

If anyone sees a deal on a BMW K1600 GT/GTL...let me know!

 

[LongRanger_imp]

$750 off right now (through 8/31) but if you can wait until December, I bet the remaining '17's will be discounted even more ($1500-$2000). BMW holds a big year-end model clearance sale every December.

BTW, used K1600's can be bought around here for $14-$16k all day long.

 

[Cormanus]

LongRanger, I'm not sure what demographic information you want, but, off the top of my head, our population is around 23-24 million. Much smaller than the US.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Thanks Cormanus. That's considerably less than California, which is the most populated state in the U.S. and accounts for about 10% of the population and the correspondingly largest share of motorcycle sales.

I'm fascinated by buyer behaviors based on age, education, wealth, region, etc. In this country, the Baby Boomer generation (born 1946-1964) is largely affluent and educated and was responsible for MC purchases in the 60's, 70's and 80's. But this segment is aging and thought to be no longer buying motorcycles like they once did. The next big market, the Millenials (basically the children of the Boomers) is showing less affinity for anything motor-driven, including motorcycles. Bike manufacturers are going after them hard but I don't believe sales are manifesting in any significant, measurable way. Curious how these trends compare with the market in your country.

 

[Stichill]

In the US, Generation X (1965-1980) - the group between Baby Boomers and Millenials - are an enthusiastic motorcycle demographic, the only problem for manufacturers being that they are a relatively small cohort. These are the guys who rode the original super sports like the GSX-R750 from the mid-'80s on through the '90s and into the '00s. With the oldest ones passing 50, these guys are moving onto other bikes, apparently ADVs and maybe Harleys, which is bringing about the death of the 600 class.

Millenials are the way they are because Baby Boomers raised them that way; their parents used Game Boys, Playstations, and Disney DVDs as babysitters. So it's a generation that has lost a connection to going outside to find fun. And when they did venture outside, they had to wear a helmet and knee pads on their bike. They weren't allowed to run around the neighborhood unsupervised because Chester the Molester might abduct them. So on the whole, the generation is insular and risk averse...not exactly fertile ground to promote a hobby that is 27x more risky than driving a car.

One thing that seems to excite them is electric vehicle technology. Maybe electric motorcycles will entice them to join the fold.

 

[curlyjoe]

I've seen some modest discounts on leftover bikes but one really caught my eye. At route 3A motorsports in Chelmsford, MA they have a brand new 2013 Concours 14 ABS which never had gas or battery installed for $11,495. List price on that machine was $16,195. It's a gorgeous bike and they said they'd sell it to me for 11K but had no interest in either of my bikes as a trade-in.