[Richard230]

Check out Paul D'Orleans' article on page 19 of the December 2017 issue of Cycle World. He has some interesting comments to make about Indian motorcycle manufacturers and Royal Enfield figures prominently in his discussion. 

[Kevin Mahoney]

Can you tell us more?

[Richard230]

Can you tell us more?

In the full-page article, titled "There Goes My Hero", the author talks about various countries around the world using many more motorcycles for transportation than the U.S.  He mentions that India is the largest motorcycle manufacturing country in the world, selling 17.59 million motorcycles in 2016.  He then says that India is starting to manufacture larger models, with Royal Enfield, leading the pack when it comes to 350cc and 500cc models. He talks about the history of RE and the Bullet and then says that RE manufactured 700,000 bikes in 2016, more than BMW, KTM, Triumph and Ducati, combined. He then talks about Bajaj, Mahindra and Hero, which sells 7 million motorcycles each year, most of which are under 250cc. He winds up with Indian companies buying old English brands, like BSA, and implies that India will start to expand into the world market and will soon be a major influence on motorcycle sales throughout the rest of the world.

[Kevin Mahoney]

I suspect the writer is correct. Mahindra is bringing back the Jawa and Norton is hooking up with Kinetic. I didn't know that India had overtaken China as far as raw numbers go. China is a "mature" market and sales have dropped - interesting. Vietnam and some other SE Asia markets are also approaching mature (only replacement bikes are sold since those that can afford to purchase already have). At some point this will happen in India but not anytime soon.

The US market is totally in the tank and is dropping like an anvil in a bathtub.

[Richard230]

I agree.  On thing I notice is that on weekends, I pass by a middle school parking lot that has been used for years to train new riders.  I think the new program is run by "Total Control" and not the old organization that trains new riders in most other states. I used to see 10 to 15 new riders being trained almost every weekend.  Now I see 2 to 5 riders being trained every other weekend.  If you ask me, old riders are dying off faster than new riders can take their place.

I paid for my oldest granddaughter to take the motorcycle training course near her home last year.  She passed the course, just barely, but then decided that she didn't want to ride a motorcycle, or even drive a car, for that matter. Her sister has driven a little, off the grid, and doesn't seem very interested in driving, either - much less riding a motorcycle or scooter. This is in spite of her parents being riders for 30 years and owning 7 motorcycles, the last time I bothered counting.   

[NikolskijAvto]

For the last 20 years Saudi Arabia has been playing the role of a whipping boy. Their peak was World Cup 1994, when they left the group. As far as I know Saudi players dont even have the status of professionals.