An unexpected side effect of Covid-19
 

I recently went for a test ride on a Royal Enfield Himalayan - see https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...b500x-100952-3 for more information.

Whilst I was in the bike shop I asked how busy they were given the Covid-19 situation. I was really surprised - and very pleased - to hear that they had been busy. Busier than they hoped for. They had sold some Royal Enfield products but the ones that really moved off the show room floor were the second hand scooters for people that needed to get to work but wanted to avoid public transport (as the UK government had been advising). Whilst I was there they sold a brand new scooter too so it isn't just cheap second hand ones that are selling. the demographic appeared to be younger people as well.

Now we, as a consumer sector both in the UK and in the USA, have seen over the last few years the number of new entrants dropping but this is a massive reversal and the question is whether, like cycling, motorcycling can ride the wave. For example, cycling are reporting that new bikes are now being ordered for January delivery. Can we convert the scooter riders into motorcyclists, that is the question and if we are to do it how will we do it?

Not sure we need to. I was overtaken (on my 125) the other day by a two up scooter that was loaded up and doing some distance. They even had those blanket things that scooter riders use to cover their legs. Looked like it would be a good set up to use in cold / wet weather.

Back in March I took my old bike into a local dealership I trust for a service. I was also pleasantly surprised that they told me they were actually busy. Using social distancing, they were doing everything by appointment only. The service tech told me that they were servicing lots of bikes for spring, and there is a big increase in the demand for cheaper used bikes. Plenty of people getting a cheap bike for a second vehicle so they don't have to use mass transit, etc.

I sold that bike and bought my TW200 at the end of May. Again, the same story. The showroom is now open, but they are limiting it to 3 customers on the floor (it's a big place). They are selling quite a few scooters, cheaper bikes, riding gear, parts, service. The larger or more expensive bikes aren't selling as well, as folks don't want to make big financial commitments, but even some of those are selling.

I suppose also that people are looking for something to do in spare time that encourages social distancing, and certainly motorcycles are good for that!

Last month I took my bike to my BMW dealer in Victoria, BC and chatted with the owner. He told me that business was "solid" with service accounting for a large part of it. So it's good to see the industry holding its own.

I get to visit all of the motorcycle dealerships & gear retailers in my mid-sized city in the southwestern USA for my job, and across the board, all have near record-setting sales numbers over the past couple of months.
The motorcycle riding school I work for & manage is also having a great couple of months.

I have to say that it is good that this is not in isolated dealership in experiencing a boom. Again, the hard part is going to make the new comers stick with bikes. I wonder if organisations like the UK’s Motorcycle Industry Association have detected the numbers and what they are doing to ride the wave.

My friend is a sales manager at at Honda/Yamaha/BRP dealer and he tells me they have been selling a lot of bikes this year.

I recently got in contact with the Motor Cycle Industry Association (in the UK) about this surge in numbers of scooter riders and he replied. I have his permission to reproduce the reply here:

As you point out, the desire of commuters to find an alternative to public transport has fuelled a significant post-lockdown demand for small motorcycles and scooters. Year-to-date sales of up to 125cc machines are already ahead of this time in 2019 and rider training schools are reporting a surge in demand for CBTs and tests.

Responders to the industry-wide “Unlock your Freedom” campaign, which MCIA co-ordinated to target those looking for transport alternatives, are younger and more female than the traditional leisure motorcyclist. This is positive news for an industry perennially seeking younger riders and where currently 95% of licence holders are men, typically in their mid-fifties.

These new riders, motivated by Covid-related requirements, are part of a trend that has seen Powered Two Wheeler (PTW) use split into two, roughly equal, camps; leisure use and commuter or delivery use.

Among MCIA’s goals is the wider usage of PTWs in general, as well as the Government’s recognition of the potential of PTWs as part of the future transport mix and the creation of an environment that supports them.

Whether these new riders remain as commuters only, or move onto bigger bikes is not an MCIA strategy, but it is probable that some of them, having experienced a PTW will be hungry for more. Our job is to secure a world where motorcycles and scooters can show their true worth.

Anyway, have America’s and other countries equivalent got strategIes and are the manufacturers getting behind them?

Just "thinking" out loud - I suppose the other thing that could be done is for individuals to support younger / newer riders. Possibly through clubs, possibly in conjunction with dealerships. How this would be done I don't know - anyone got any suggestions or pointers to things that are already being done?

At the end of the day I would like to see younger riders coming through - if nothing else it means that there are more bikes in regular use so supporting the whole industry. I don't want to steer them into any particular sector / niche of the market, they will find their own niche over time, but to generally increase the use of motorbikes - it makes us all more visible.

I for one would like to see younger riders pick up on motorcycles (again) and use them in whatever way they see fit - if it's just a 50cc scooter to get to college or a young mum with her toddler in a basket up front or whatever. If you've ever visited Amsterdam you'll see plenty of two wheelers being used like that - just powered by legs rather than engines. Here though they're seen as dangerous and dirty, something I'm not sure is going to change in the medium term (even if temporarily this year public transport is seen as even more dangerous and dirty).

You probably don't need crystal balls to foresee the end of petrol engined two wheelers over the next few decades. Whether electric motorcycle technology has the potential to replace the existing enthusiast bikes (such as most of us ride) remains to be seen but it certainly could slot into the market as an upgrade from electric bicycles. After all there's no fundamental difference between a battery 'motor' cycle and a battery pedal cycle. If the manufacturers and all the various trade bodies want to see 'biking' thriving in the future they need to provide a seamless upgrade path between electric pedal bikes and something we'd recognise as a motorcycle. So no trying to reinvent a Fireblade with a battery and a motor, produce a C50 that'll get you twice as far at twice the speed of a 'pedal' bike. Yes, government rules - driving licences, numberplates and all the other paraphernalia - will provide a few bumps in the road but the public need to see them as essentially the same thing.

I've often thought that's where Honda and the other Japanese manufacturers should be putting their efforts. I think an electric equivalent to the Honda Cub might sell decently well... but Honda isn't interested in hearing what I think.

Interestingly, I've just been reading on the front page of another forum (who know there would ever be more than one dedicated to adventure motorcycling eh? ;o) - that the 'Big Four' Japanese manufacturers are talking about shared battery technology for developing a range of electric powered motorcycles and scooters in future:

https://advrider.com/japanese-moto-m...ke-technology/

...and fwiw. this has been my assertion all along - that the key to widespread EV acceptability amongst the general public is going to be minimising the inconvenience of the recharging procedure... Therefore, if you could have essentially a vending machine in every petrol station with a bank of ready-charged universal size batteries - particularly a size suited for motorcycle/scooter sized vehicles - you could then swap them in less time than it takes to fill a tank with fuel.

It would also mean you never have to own the actual battery part of the vehicle yourself (currently a significant part of the current cost of EVs) - reducing the overall cost of the vehicle, and the onus is then on the 'fuel' supplier to maintain & replace them, and you just pay the 'gallon' price every time you want to swap your current one for a fresh one.

Ideally the Japanese manufacturers would also partner with a forward-thinking global fuel supplier (perhaps Shell for example - who already have a large and well-established network of real estate to distribute their fossil-fuel based products) to ensure the battery network was supported and adopted quickly.

The times they are a changin'

Jenny x

Persnally, that makes good sense to me - want a longer range? Fit two / three sets of batteries. Make them chargeable at home and everything is great.

I've always been a little uneasy about the battery swap idea. Would I really be happy to hand over the nice, shiny, new (but flat) battery that came with my (pick your own aspirational vehicle) for the scratched, dented and covered in cow dung one that the local farmer dropped off yesterday? And then find it only had a range of 100 miles rather than the 300 I was expecting because it's close to the end of its life. And even worse, then find the next recharge station won't take it without a 'surcharge' as it falls below their 'quality standards'.

I know they do it with bottles of propane / acetylene etc but with those it's fairly easy to tell if it's leaking or filled with the wrong stuff or whatever. I can see even the most regulated version of the battery exchange idea being fraught with "Del Boy' levels of sharp practice. At least with petrol what you're getting is - for the most part anyway - what you're expecting, and even if it isn't the cost of a tankful of fuel is a very small part of the value of the vehicle. You can afford to dump it and buy a new batch in extremis. Not so with batteries.

Just my view of human nature I suppose :rofl:

I mean... https://www.autoblog.com/2020/08/03/...tent-drawings/ And they showed concepts years ago.