Harley dominates 2015 road bike sales

Harley-Davidson overtook Honda as the top-selling road bike company in Australia in 2015, thanks largely to strong sales of the new learner-approved Street 500, according to the latest Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries figures.

Road bike sales were strong, increasing 2.6% compared with 2014 and accounting for 41.4% of the total market. Australians rode home with a total of 45,013 road bikes in 2015.

Harley-Davidson accounted for 21.7% of those bikes with 9790 sales, including 1605 Street 500 models and 1552 Softail Breakouts.

By the end of the third quarter the Street 500 was one of the top three sellers in the country, but sales of the 50cc toy bikes for Christmas surged past it, while the 2014 top seller, Kawasaki’s Ninja 300, also surged to bypass the Street in sixth position overall, followed by the most expensive bike in the top 10, the Harley Breakout at $29,750.

Harley beat the perennial winner, Honda, which secured 17.1% of road bike sales (7691), followed by Yamaha (15.4%, 6914), Kawasaki 1(2.7%, 5731) and BMW (7.1% 3201).

Harley-Davidson Australia spokesman Adam Wright is understandably “super excited” about being the number one road bike seller across Australia.

“Much of the success is attributed to the new LAMS Street 500 which was released in February of 2015 and the ongoing popularity of the Softail Breakout which continues to be in high demand,” he says.

“May I also say we would not have achieved this level of success without the assistance and dedication of our dealer network who have done an outstanding job across 2015 in delivering dreams of personal freedom to so many great customers. “

The total motorcycle, scooter and ATV market was steady at just 0.1% growth, or just 103 more vehicles to 108,711.

The ATV sector was up 1.2% to 20,327 and off-road up just 0.8% to 37,982 while scooters continued to slide from favour with a massive 22.7% drop to just 5389.

Honda was the largest-selling brand overall, with 22.5%, followed by Yamaha (21.4%, 23,290), Kawasaki (9.8%, 10,675), Suzuki (9%, 9806) and Harley-Davidson (9%, 9790).

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Top 10 bikes

1. Yamaha TTR50: 2375, 18.8%
2. Honda CRF50F: 2343, -5.7%
3. Honda CT110X: 2114, -26.3%
4. Yamaha PW50: 1953, 24.2%
5. Kawasaki Ninja 300: 1947, -32.8%
6. Harley-Davidson XG500: 1605, 0%
7. Harley-Davidson FXSB: 1552, 17.7%
8. Yamaha MT07L: 1427, 137.4%
9. Honda CRF110F: 1381, -1.4%
10. Kawasaki KLX110: 1259, 8.8%

Top 10 road bikes

1. Honda CT110X 2114
2. Kawasaki 300 Ninja 1947
3. Harley-Davidson XG500 1605
4. Harley-Davidson FXSB 1552
5. Yamaha MT-07L 1427
6. Honda CBR500R 1215
7. Yamaha YZF-R3A 1156
8. Honda CBR300R 1044
9. Honda CB125E 981
10. Yamaha MT-09 822

Top 10 bike brands

1. Honda 24,535 / -1.3%
2. Yamaha 23,290 / +14.2%
3. Kawasaki 10,675 / -3.2%
4. Suzuki 9806 / +0.6%
5. Harley-Davidson 9790 / +14.1%
6. KTM 7104 / -1%
7. Polaris 5095 / -13.5%
8. BMW 3258 / +20.4%
9. Triumph 2900 / +1.6%
10. Ducati 2194 / +10.4%

Top 10 road bike brands

1. Harley-Davidson 9790
2. Honda 7691
3. Yamaha 6914
4. Kawasaki 5731
5. BMW 3201
6. Triumph 2900
7. Suzuki 2794
8. Ducati 2194
9. KTM 1317
10. Indian 734

Top 10 sports bikes

1. Honda CBR500R 1215
2. Yamaha YZF-R3A 1156
3. Honda CBR300R 1044
4. Yamaha YZF-R1 561
5. KTM RC390 391
6. BMW S 1000 RR 363
7. Honda CBR1000RR 341
8. Ducati 899 Panigale 326
9. Hyosung GT650R 241
10. Ducati 1299 Panigale 226

Top 10 adventure bikes

1. BMW R 1200 GS 411
2. Kawasaki KLR650 397
3. Triumph Tiger 800XC 334
4. BMW R 1200 GS Adventure 322
5. Honda CB500XA 322
6. BMW G650GS 263
7. Ducati Multistrada 1200 244
8. Suzuki DL650XA 208
9. BMW F 800 GS Adventure 179
10. BMW F 700 GS 168

Top 10 cruisers

1. Harley-Davidson XG5001605
2. Harley-Davidson FXSB 1552
3. Yamaha XVS650 7539
4. Harley-Davidson FXDB 7357
5. Harley-Davidson VRSCDX 7025
6. Kawasaki Vulcan S ABS 4830
7. Harley-Davidson XL883N 4593
8. Harley-Davidson FXDWG 4275
9. Harley-Davidson FXDF 4265
10. Indian Scout 4220

Top 10 naked bikes

1. Yamaha MT07L 1427
2. Yamaha MT09 822
3. Ducati Scrambler 800
4. Kawasaki Z300 325
5. Ducati M659 322
6. KTM 390 Duke 321
7. Triumph Street Triple 300
8. Triumph Bonne T100 253
9. Honda CB500FA 249
10. BMW S 1000 R 246

Top 10 tourers

1. Harley-Davidson FLHXS 395
2. Harley-Davidson FLHTK 239
3. BMW R 1200 RT 181
4. Harley-Davidson FLHXSE2 154
5. Yamaha FJR1300 134
6. Harley-Davidson FLTRXS 129
7. Harley-Davidson FLHRC 125
8. Honda Gold Wing 99
9. Triumph Thunderbird LT 96
10. BMW F 800 GT 60

Top 10 sports tourers

1. Kawasaki 300 Ninja 1947
2. Kawasaki 650R Ninja 449
3. Yamaha MT-09TRA 308
4. Kawasaki Versys 232
5. Kawasaki 1000 Ninja 160
6. Honda VFR800 142
7. Suzuki GSX1300R 127
8. Honda CBR650F 125
9. Yamaha FZ6R 118
10. Suzuki GSX-S1000F 85