The other day we wrote about bringing small motorcycles to market in the U.S. and the usual argument against the idea is that there simply IS no market for small motorcycles. Even Honda, when looking at the U.S. market at least, seems to say that. So it was interesting when last night I was relaxing with a little SpeedTV and a program/advertisement for Honda aired and discussed how the Honda Motor Company started and eventually came to the U.S.
The portion discussing Honda’s move to our shores quoted the wisdom of the day saying small motorcycles would work anywhere but here since all of the big British bikes and Harley Davidson had the U.S. market locked up and there was no demand for anything else. Ignoring conventional wisdom, Honda introduced the Cub to our shores. Amazingly enough, it sold. Honda’s lineup grew along with their engines, introducing the much larger 305cc engine which was extremely successful.
Fast forward 40 years. The conventional wisdom says there is no market in the U.S. for small motorcycles. Hmm …
todd says
right there with you. I’d love to see more little bikes around, not just to see more new riders but to get one myself. Little bikes (full scale, small capacity) are much more fun than the average bike and are much more economical. Yes, once one of the many, very large chinese or Indian motorcycle manufacturers decides to introduce a modern hi-spec 125-250 or even 400 sport bike for a few grand in the US we’ll see the tides shift. If Aprilia or Derbi made their little sport bike with a 250 or 450 four stroke (or direct injected 2-stroke) everyone would want one. Right now there is a huge gap in the under 600cc market for a sport or standard bike and any manufacturer could have that entire market for itself!
-todd
Motorcycle Blogs says
When gas prices were up a few months back my pages about Rebels were a hot commodity. At 60mpg small bikes definately still have a market.
Prester John says
A friend went to the local Yamaha dealer last spring to inquire about their Vino 125cc scooter. “Sold out ’till fall” she was told. She returned in September. The dealership had pre-sold the only two they were scheduled to get in, but put her name on the waiting list for when they could get some more.
She was number 36 on the list.
Tom
mark says
If someone brought out a 350-500cc single-cylinder standard (or better yet, cafe racer — but not a supermotard — think of something like an old Honda CB350 except with a single) with a 6-speed street-oriented transmission and decent suspension and an OTD price of under $4000 or so, I’d buy one in a heartbeat as an around-town bike. It could even be kickstart-only, for all I care.
–mark
mel mackinnon says
Nonsense. I have ridden for 40yrs and worked in a large Honda dealership when every kid in the country wanted a cb350. The so called enthusiist mags are responsable for making new riders feel that if they arent sitting on 100hp they are nerds. I see few of todays sport bike riders that are remotely up to the task of riding these things and I wont let my 3 kids on one. The most fun most of us old guys ever had was on 250-650cc bikes that never made 50hp on their best day. Remember how much fun x6 Hustlers or xl350s were?We sold a pile of bikes in the 60s & 70s, and while we all dreamed of the fast stuff only a dolt would start out on a rocket. Maybe the Koreans will teach the japanese a lesson. I think part of the HD thing is that they are pretty mild and not intimidating.
Bill Hampton says
I’ve ridden and written about motorcycles since the 50’s. I too lament the lack of small bikes. It sickens me to see all the hype big, expensive bikes get today. Back in the 50’s a dealer friend of mine told me the most fun he had on a motorcycle was when he was a test rider for Harley-Davidson and evaluating a German DKW 125 that later become the prototype for Harley’s Hummer line. I remember he was always espousing small bikes as being more fun than the big ones. After owning and riding all kinds of big and small bikes, I came to the same conclusion many years ago. This bigger-is-better mentality turns my stomach.
Bill says
I’ve been riding most of my life and I have always stayed in the 250 to 750 range. Now at 50 I am looking for something standard in the 250 range but they are so hard to find. Years ago I bought a VTR 250 for the wife and she loved it. She moved up to a Nija 600 but we sold that of a few years back. When one of those comes up for sale you have to move fast because they really sell fast. No market? Watch the 20 year old VTR 250’s sell for $3000! I hear some newer models are available from Inda. Any body have a name or website?
Before you ask, I would much rather scoot around on something nimble and fun than fat, bloated, ill handleing, fwap fwap fwap.
gabe says
Ummm… 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 250, anyone? $3000. Buying one this year, paying cash for a brand new bike.
And let’s not forget the Honda 250 Rebel. Kawasaki 125 Eliminator, Suzuki GZ250, Yamaha 250 Virago… (see http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/peewees/ )
Michael says
Over the past 26 years I’ve been privileged to ride everything from a scooter to an 1800cc cruiser and blessed to be able to walk away when things went bad, although three motorbikes did not (R.I.P.). For the first seventeen of those years, commuting and road tripping, I owned an auto for a total of nine months. To this day a motorbike is my main means of transportation, although, I’ve now committed myself to keeping a cage in the driveway as well. I like to think of myself as a mature rider working my way toward grizzled old-timer.
I was riding a 600cc standard before I bought an EX250 and I had my doubts about “trading downâ€. With over a quarter million miles in the saddle I wasn’t sold on the idea of riding a 250cc for any length or time or distance. The “littlest Ninjaâ€, however, has turned out to be one of the most enjoyable rides I’ve owned. A little more torque would be nice but its agility makes up for it a bit and the 14,000 rpm redline is a joy. I’m not a speed freak but pushing the motor to its limits and listening to the engine scream as the motorbike and I break 105 mph on a deserted highway is a guilty, albeit extremely rare, blast. Perhaps one of the main reasons I love this bike is that I can, on that rare occasion when feeling the need for speed and a deserted highway cross Jungian paths, push the engine to it’s redline. I can do so without going so fast that, should something go horribly wrong, my corpse is spread out over several miles of desert highway. At 105 mph I figure I’ll only be spread out a few hundred yards. I’ve commuted from Dana Point to Zuma Beach in rush hour traffic, camped throughout the Transverse Ranges and Southern Sierras and road tripped the PCH from San Diego to Santa Barbara on my EX250 with ease.
It seems that most riders today have allowed themselves to be influenced by the puerile hype of contemporary motorcycle marketing. However, regardless of how much of a purist one considers oneself to be the visceral attraction to styling is real. In The US no effort is being made to attract riders to smaller bikes. The small displacement bikes available in the states are uninspiring. The EX250 is, IMO, an exception but only because I appreciate the retro 80’s vibe it gives off. When manufacturers begin marketing attractively styled small displacement bikes they will create a market for them.
Even taking the current price of gas into consideration motorcycles are not purchased for purely practical reasons. A motorcycle’s styling has to inspire a rider in some way. Most kids who are buying bikes beyond their skill level or needs are basing the purchase on the same thing we did when we were young. For most of us who started riding in our adolescence there was an element of “cool” we wanted to capture for ourselves and nothing was cooler than being the first kid in you high school to have a motorcycle. “Chicks dig it.â€
If we continue to ride and mature as a motorcyclist the ride becomes our focus. We begin to realize that nothing is cooler than the grizzled, grey-haired, two-wheeled seer riding some weathered, nondescript bike who has survived hundreds of thousands of miles in the saddle. The first time you meet one of these survivors and listen to the stories can’t help but want to be a member of that exclusive club of lifelong motorcyclists.
As you can probably tell I’m a big fan of the essay that has floated around the net for years, “The Motorcyclistâ€, and riding the EX250 captures the spirit behind the sentiments expressed by the writer most perfectly. My 600cc standard took me on my first cross country trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles, and my second, and my third; it will always hold a special place in my personal riding history. It died beneath the wheels of a dump truck making a left turn directly in front of me; however, I am still alive and looking forward to the next cross country trip. Cross country on my quarter liter fun machine. Look for me riding the highway with my saddlebags, tent, sleeping bag, and silly grin.
Jack Houman says
Almost 48 years old and more than 35 of them represent motorcycle riding years. First learned my techniques in the dirt on a 70cc Benelli street scooter. Later I progressed thru the ritual of used motorcycles to the realm of Norton 750 and 850s. I even survived a year with a 1985 Ninja 900. Selling it was a heartbreaking act of maturity.
Now I resurrect the old CB/CL350s. Bring them back to life after 10, 20, and even 30 years of neglect. I even race the 350s with WERA in the 350 “Stocker class” with stock carbs and motors. I have a blast at 75 mph on the same tracks that past, present and future kids break records on.
One common theme to this thread that I have experienced is that when I get one ready for the road, they don’t stay listed “for sale” very long at all. They turn to sold!
As the most popular street motorcycle ever sold in the world, I find it hard to believe that there wouldn’t always be a market for small motorcycles.
bill hampton says
Since my last comments a couple of years or so ago, I still lament the lack of small bikes available. With gas prices going out of sight, where in hell are these “sippers”? A local dealer told me he can still sell big bikes more easily than small ones. This tells me today’s riders are as muc h at fault as the manufacturers and marketing gurus. When will these people wake up? With today’s technology, a 70plus miles-per-hour 125cc bike that delivers 80 mpg is feasible. And the cycle mags only contribute to the big/fast bike madness. They’re all guilty !