Motorcycle makers revved for rebound

Bikes are back.

After being hit a lot harder by the recession than carmakers, the motorcycle industry, more susceptible to the whims of discretionary spending, is on its way back.

“Unit sales are growing for the first time in several years,” said Danny Phillips, executive vice president of Advanstar, the parent company of Progressive International, which put on last weekend's motorcycle show at the Long Beach Convention Center. “In a two- or three-year recession, the lack of new product depresses sales; when you have new product, more people go into dealerships and you have more sales.”

Americans purchased more than 1 million motorcycles the year before the recession, but sales plummeted to half that when the mortgage meltdown hit in 2008.

“The year 2008 was a big hit for everybody in the industry, and 2009 as well,” said Stefano Sbettega, marketing manager for Ducati North America. “The market has changed, the behavior of consumers in the way they approach motorcycle purchases has changed.”

Sergio Carvajal, product manager for BMW Motorrad USA, said: “We lost a lot of business in the U.S. on the car side that has (since) picked up; we lost a lot as well on the motorcycle side. It's flat now, we haven't been losing any more. (But) it's a mixed bag. It has been harder for certain manufacturers.”

However, cautious optimism is now rearing its helmeted head.

“It has come back somewhat,” Honda's John Seidel said.

The main driver of the recovery is new product. When sales stall, manufacturers are less likely to invest in new product. Now that many companies are making money, new products are coming out, which brings customers into dealerships and out the door on two wheels.

Advanstar's Phillips also cited the availability of credit as a tough problem for moving motorcycles out of showrooms during the recession, but new product is the key.

“We didn't cut any investment in product innovation and new product production,” said Ducati's Sbettega, whose North American arm has experienced more than two years of double-digit growth. “So right now we have probably the largest motorcycle range we ever had. And that's paid off.”

New product was all over the floor in Long Beach, with new or recently introduced motorcycles from most manufacturers on display—everything from superbikes and sport bikes to scooters, cruisers and those three-wheeled Can Am things (two wheels in front and one in back). There is almost as much product diversity on two wheels as there is on four.

Honda, a company that owes its existence to the lowly scooter, and which built itself into a giant on progressively better and more innovative motorcycles, learned from the recession.

“We are introducing six new motorcycles,” Honda's Seidel said at the Long Beach show. “We've got everything from our Gold Wing F6B to my favorite, the CB1100 which has a very timeless, classic Honda-look transverse four.”

The biggest Honda recession recovery products are three middle-of-the-road bikes.

“What we call the value-for-money—three new 500s,” Seidel said of the new CB series additions. “[They] come in three new derivatives for new customers.”

All three are powered by Honda's 500cc twin-cylinder engine: a full-fairing CBR500R, a naked CB500F, and a taller, adventure-styled CB500X. The least expensive is the CB500F, starting at $5,499.

Suzuki came out with a recession-fighter in a new entry-level GW250, an uninspiring name, perhaps, but it carries looks like the massive B-King. There's also a new Suzuki tourer model, the C90T; a “completely revised” Burgman 650 Scooter; a Hayabusa limited edition; and a limited-edition model celebrating the 1 millionth GSX-R. (Yes, there have been more than 1 million GSX-Rs sold.)

“The market is doing better than it has in many years,” said Florian Burguet, KTM's marketing vice president, whose company has returned to motorcycle shows now after a recessionary absence. “We're up 16 percent retail for the first 11 months of the year. Austria (where KTM is headquartered) did a great job investing in R&D.”

For 2012 and beyond, the 690 Duke returns to the United States from Europe and a 2-year hiatus from our shores--the larger 990 Super Duke disappears from U.S. showrooms. The naked bike, 690cc single-cylinder engine, starts at $8,999. The Duke is KTM's second street-only bike, behind the RC8 superbike. KTM has aggressive expansion plans in the next two years, including more street bikes for America. The company is trying to get consumers over the idea that KTM is a dirt-only specialist: some dealers stock both street and dirt KTMs, alongside Japanese sportbikes, for a nice contrast. KTM also showed a 450SFX factory edition motocross bike and a Baja Edition 990 Adventure. Look for the KTM RC8 superbike at Daytona next year.

Triumph recognized expansion of the full cruiser category with its Trophy SE, the first time the company has made such a bike. It's loaded with everything from satellite radio and an electrically adjustable windscreen to shaft drive and cruise control. It's available next month starting at $18,999. The 105-hp Street Triple R, a revised version of the iconic Triple that made Triumph famous, was parked next to the Trophy SE, a marked contrast in both performance and price. It goes on sale here in January starting at $9,999.

Harley Davidson is in the midst of its 110th anniversary celebration, with numerous special-edition models. Plan on being somewhere near company headquarters in Milwaukee around Labor Day next year for a big bash.

Yamaha showed its recently introduced FZ8 with new suspension and FJR 1300 Super Sport Touring bikes.

Zero, meanwhile, could be the future of motorcycling—its bikes are powered by batteries alone. Compared to its first bikes the new ones are “far less crappy,” in the words of one Zero rider. An all-new Z-Force brushless electric motor has double the horsepower and even more torque in the S Streetfighter. Zero says the bike is comparable to a 600cc sport bike. Range is 137 miles.

There's a new Zero, too--the MX motocross bike, with 54 hp. Zero's dirt bike line encompasses the DS (Dual Sport), the FX (a stealthy, blacked-out MX), and the XU (now with street tires). Zero bikes are iPhone/Android/Bluetooth compatible. You can even tune the motor from your phone: torque curve, regenerative braking, acceleration, and top speed in Eco mode are all Bluetooth-tunable. The phone acts as a dashboard with a gauge app.

Ducati had the good sense to scatter booth babes throughout its display, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Monster. More than 250,000 Monsters are now loose around the world. The 20th Anniversary edition gets a gold frame and retro Ducati lettering on the tank.

To demonstrate that model development that Ducati's Sbettega was talking about, there was also a new Hyperstrada on the stand. Ducati wants you to think of the Hyperstrada as an unholy combination of Hypermortard and Multistrada, for the hooligan who's banned from the Beverly Center's parking garages. It shares the same 821cc engine as the Hypermotard, as well as traction control with ABS and service intervals of more than 9,000 miles. Ducati promises that it's more than just a Hypermotard with a windshield and saddlebags.

New ownership and a new factory mean big changes at Indian, perhaps the most dramatic in its 111-year history. The Chief, the last of the Kings Mountain, N.C., design, is ending production. You know what that means: collector's editions! Based on the Chief Vintage Limited, just 25 of the Chief Vintage Final Edition will be built—each individually numbered and available only in a fetching red/black color scheme with gold pinstriping and full leather dress. The Final Edition bikes will cost $37,599. And they've all been sold. Sorry.

That said, expect an entirely new motorcycle from Indian in the second half of next year, as brand steward Polaris readies a new bike to be built alongside Victory Motorcycles in Spirit Lake, Iowa. When it comes to chrome-laden American nostalgia, Midwestern pride trumps Southern pride, it seems.

Speaking of ancient brands, Royal Enfield was on hand in Long Beach. Its new Cafe Racer sports a frame by Harris Engineering, which also makes some Ducatis, as well as Paioli shocks and front and rear disc brakes. The single cylinder engine offers 535cc and puts out 36 hp. It'll be available in July or August for $7,295. It's as close to the classic interpretation of the caf

By Mark Vaughn and Blake Z. Rong