U.S. motorcycle sales were down 14.7% over the first quarter compared to the same period last year, reports the Motorcycle Industry Council.

The industry group, which collected data from 20 reporting manufacturers, says American consumers bought 93,375 motorcycles and scooters in the first three months of 2013, down from the 109,425 vehicles purchased in the same period of 2012.

Sales were up very slightly for off-road motorcycles, but dual sports, streetbikes and scooters all saw a double-digit percentage decrease. It is notable that there was an increase in off-road models, as that particular segment had been shrinking in recent years. Continue Reading »

The Motorcycle Industry Council reported a 2.6% increase in motorcycle sales in the U.S. market for 2012. According to the industry group’s figures, American consumers purchased 452,386 motorcycles in 2012 compared to 440,899 motorcycles in 2011. The news was a bit of a surprise, considering the MIC had previously forecast a slight decline for 2012.

The 2012 sales results marks the second consecutive year of growth for the U.S. market and a larger increase than the 0.3% year-over-year increase reported in 2011. Growth is always good but the industry remains well behind the peak period in the middle of the last decade that saw four consecutive years with sales topping the 1 million mark. Continue Reading »

Motorcycle sales stayed flat in 2011 with a 0.3% increase while off-highway vehicle sales continue to plummet, according to figures released by the Motorcycle Industry Council.

ATV sales saw a 13.5% drop in 2011 to 222,032 units compared to the 256,750 units sold in 2010. Off-highway motorcycles saw a similar 13.5% decrease, with manufacturers reporting sales of 70,057 units compared to 80,962 units sold in 2010.

Dual-sports and scooters however continue to rise, at a rate of 14.2% and 11.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, street bike sales saw a moderate 1.8% increase.

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The U.S. motorcycle industry saw a 4.6% decrease in year-on-year sales over the first six months of 2011, thanks mostly to a 17.3% drop in ATV sales. Motorcycle and scooter sales however saw a 1.7% bump in the first half .

Unfortunately, most of that gain in two-wheeled vehicle sales was due to a strong first quarter that saw a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. Second quarter motorcycle and scooter sales totaled 156,215 units, down 1.6% compared to 158,686 units sold in the second quarter 2010.

Compiled by the Motorcycle Industry Council, the figures represent sales over the six months ended June 30, 2011, from 19 reporting manufacturers: Aprilia, Arctic Cat, BMW, Buell, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Husaberg, Kawasaki, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, Polaris, Suzuki, Triumph, Vespa, Victory and Yamaha.

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The Motorcycle Hall of Fame has announced it will induct Parts Unlimited founder Fred Fox as part of its 2011 class.

“It’s not exaggerating to say that if you ride, it’s extremely likely that one or more parts on your bike, or at least one piece of your riding gear, was supplied through your dealer by Parts Unlimited or Drag Specialties,” says Jeffrey V. Heininger, chair of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, which raises money for the Hall of Fame. “Fred Fox’s reach in the motorcycle world is vast, and he’s definitely earned a place among the greats in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.”

Fox founded Parts Unlimited in 1967 as a distributor of motorcycle parts and accessories. In the ensuing 44 years, the company grew to become a giant n the powersports aftermarket industry, offering products for motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATVs and personal watercraft, and brands such as Thor Motocross, Moose Off-Road, Icon and Z1R.

“This is obviously a very nice honor, and it’s much appreciated, but at the same time, there’s a lot of people I could give credit to for making this work,” Fox said. “It’s not a one-man band. We were, at one time, up to 1,600 employees.”

Fox (pictured above on the left, receiving an award from MIC chair Larry Little) also helped foster amateur and professional racing, sponsoring several racing series, and served for 14 years on the Motorcycle Industry Council on its board of directors and its various trade committees.

“I was obviously a little surprised,” Fox says about being named to the Hall of Fame. “A lot of the people in the Hall of Fame are pretty good racers, and I was a mediocre racer. I saw that they were faster than me, and I was a mechanical engineer, so I worked on the tuning side of it, and the rest of it grew out of that. I have a lot of mottos, but one is ‘Get out of bed and try to run the business better than the day before.’ We’re very proud of that.”

Fox joins Cycle magazine editor Phil Schilling in the Hall of Fame’s 2011 induction class. They and the rest of the yet-to-be-named 2011 inductees will be inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame on Nov. 18 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas as part of the AMA Legends & Champions Weekend.

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Schilling Headed to Motorcycle Hall of Fame

Full press release after the jump.

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The world is getting more and more paranoid about safety for children.  Sure, this can be a good thing in some aspects but in others it’s just ridiculous.

In America, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act became a law which allowed congress to ban products that could be harmful due to traces of lead found in them.  Sounds like a good idea on paper but it seems that this could be doing more harm than good.

Youth motorcycles and ATVs may contain a small amount of lead in some parts of these vehicles such as the alloy used to connect AZ batteries terminals.  Because of this, the CPSIA can ban all of these recreational vehicles from children. The Motorcycle Industry Council claims that this amount of lead and the way it might ever interact with a child (ie: not swallowing it) would never cause any harm.

Banning toys with lead in them was to make sure that if a child happens to put a toy car (for example) in their mouth, they wouldn’t get lead poisoning from such an innocent act (we’ve all put toy cars in our mouths at some point as kids!).

Motorsport can be and is a family sport.  I remember going to a motocross show as a kid with my friends and family, marveling at the high-flying dirt bikes.  Most, if not all of the professionals out there on bikes probably got their inspiration under the same scenario.  They saw those amazing feats and exciting races and had to get on a bike.

And they did, and at a very young age.

With the ban of these recreational vehicles catered to kids, where will the new batch of racers come from?  Can the sport even survive without giving young enthusiasts a chance to try it out?  Will youth riders start riding adult sized vehicles and be in even more danger?

My real question is: Does the tiny amount of lead found in the alloy in some small bits of metal (that will never get ingested) even matter when kids are now using cell phones, staying indoors to play video games, sitting at computers all day, eating junk food and doing tons of other things that can do more harm than good?  Would denying them the fun, excitement, experience and even the education of riding be better when the alternative might be picking up a video game controller instead?

Could the industry avoid this whole ordeal by improving and developing parts to not include that lead?

What do you think about the ban of youth motorcycles and ATVs?

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is out to stop the ban and by golly they are giving it their best shot!

See the rest of the post for a few videos about the ban.  Head over to MIC to sign a petition and read up on their cause.  Follow them on twitter to stay up to date (we have!)

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