If you’re thinking of buying a motorbike to get around, you’re not the only one. The fastest growth in any kind of vehicle registration was for motorbikes, up 22% between 2010 and 2015. As of 2015, there were 800,000 motor cycles in Australia and 28% of those were registered in NSW.
The market for road and off-road motorbikes is still buoyant, up 3.5% in the first half of 2016. According to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), there are several reasons for their continued popularity.
Why they are popular
First, there are many different kinds of motorbikes to choose from, both on- and off-road – café racers, cruisers, super-motards, motocrossers, scooters.
Second, they are affordable.
This table shows the popularity of types of motorcycles in Australia as at June 2016:
| June 2016
Market Share |
6-Month Change
in 2016 |
|
| Road motorbikes |
43.4% | +4.4% |
| Off-road motorbikes | 31.2% | +4.3% (incl. ATVs) |
| ATVs (all terrain) |
21.2% | – |
| Scooters | 4.2% | -11.0% |
Decline in scooters
The only fall in demand was for scooters and their popularity has been falling for 5 years.
While the FCAI did not give any explanation for this decline, one journalist for drive.com.au put forward three good reasons:
- Cheap imports were a letdown and turned prospective buyers away
- Petrol prices steadied
- There is not enough parking in our cities to support scooter use.
The most sought after brand of scooter is Piaggio, which also owns Vespa.
Top brands
Today, the top brand of road bike is still Harley Davidson, with 20.4% of sales in the first half of 2016. Not far behind was Honda, with 19.6% and third, Yamaha with 15.4%.
The most popular brand of off-road bike is Yamaha, with 29% of sales. Honda (second again) sold 24.9% of bikes and KTM 16.3%.
Finally, to find the cheapest price CTP green slip for a motorbike in NSW, you can use the greenslips.com.au Calculator. You will get a price from each of the six green slip providers, based on your motorbike and its engine capacity.
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