Cruisers Vs. Sportbikes: Who's On First?
Cruisers vs. sportbikes: Who's on first?
ROUNDUP
CAMRON E. BUSSARD
THERE WAS A TIME, NOT SO VERY LONG AGO, WHEN CRUISers ruled the sales charts among all the Japanese motorcycles sold in this country. Even as recently as 1985, cruisers outsold the next most popular category of motorcycles—sportbikes—by almost two to one. So while the sport models were stealing most of the headlines, the cruiserbikes were running off with the biggest share of the money spent by consumers on new machines.
But no more. In the last couple of years, sportbikes have been moving up the sales charts as quickly as they have been motoring along the backroads and around the racetracks of America. At this point, cruisers and sportbikes are running about neck-and-neck in the race for sales supremacy. And if the trend continues, sportbikes will be this country’s top-selling type of motorcycle as early as next year.
Remember, however, that even though sportbikes and cruisers together account for more than 80 percent of all new-bike sales, the motorcycle market as a whole has been shrinking over the last several years. So when we say that sport motorcycles have been steadily increasing their market share, we mean that they are earning an ever-larger piece of an ever-smaller pie. The sportbike gain comes from the fact that, even though fewer sport models will roll off the showroom floors in 1987 than in 1986, the reduction in the number of cruisers that’ll be sold this year looks to be even greater.
We’d like to back up these observations with hard numbers, but it’s extremely difficult to do so with any degree of accuracy; the motorcycle manufacturers, unlike their counterparts in most other industries, refuse to
make public their yearly sales figures. We instead have to rely upon relatively vague statistics that are based on vehicle-registration data compiled by other sources, most of whom do not allow their information to be published. So while we usually have a pretty good idea of how the market is shaping up, we can’t pinpoint specifics about the sales gains or losses of any particular models.
That lack of information also prevents us from getting an exact fix on regional sales trends that might account for many of the changes in the market. So we decided to do a little fact-finding on our own by contacting quite a few dealers in key locations around the country and asking specific questions about the types of motorcycles that sell best in their areas. We learned a few things we didn’t already know, but still confirmed that the shift from cruisers to sportbikes is indeed a fact.
What the cruisers have going for them is a broad-based popularity all over the country—that is, they sell consistently just about everywhere. But this year, unlike the past few selling seasons, no one cruiser model is generating the kinds of outstanding sales numbers needed to offset the intense popularity of a few sportbikes— namely, the 600 Hurricanes and the 600 and 750 Ninjas. Overall, the 700/750 V-Twins seemed to be the most consistent movers, even though we found one dealer who said that all cruisers were selling “piss poor” in his neck of the woods.
Sportbike sales, on the other hand, run either hot or cold. Some dealers, such as one we contacted in northern Indiana, can’t find ways to get sport models off the floor. He begs for more Radians from Yamaha while most of his sportbikes gather dust. But geography may have be the key to his dilemma, since the tabletop-flat terrain of the midwest is better suited to cruising than to cornercarving. Still, he thinks that rejecting his allotment of Hurricane 600s from Honda may have been a mistake— quite an understatement considering that the middleweight Hurricane will probably be the best-selling full-
sized motorcycle of 1987.
On the other hand, there are lots of dealers who sell more Ninja 600s than any other single bike. A dealer we contacted in Arkansas claims that only the insurance rates for Ninjas prevent him from selling more of them. And as you might expect, California is a hotbed for sportbikes; many dealers in the home of the wine cooler can’t get enough of them. A retailer in Modesto, California, who sells nothing but sportbikes was riding a graymarket CBR250 from Japan when we talked to him, and claimed he could sell a boatload of the inline-Four 250s at around $3200 apiece if Honda would brina them into the U.S.
Of course, the 1988 models are due out shortly, and
there may be a new cruiser just around the corner that will catch the public’s fancy and stem the tide of the sportbike upsurge. But in our opinion, that’s probably not going to happen. And unless something else, something unexpected intervenes, the land of the free and the home of the cruiser is about to adopt the sportbike as its favorite mode of two-wheel travel.
Death of a Sportster
A/arley-Davidson has unveiled its 1988 model lineup, and the l 100 Sportster isn’t in it. But fear not, because in its place is a I200cc Sportster. And the new machine is more than just the biggest Sportster ever; Harley claims that the 1200 also is improved in several significant ways.
For one, it features a 40mm CV carburetor that replaces the 34mm diaphragm-type unit on last year’s l 100. In addition, the engines in all non-California Sportsters have new camshafts that provide greater valve lift and more duration. Harley claims that altogether, these changes give the 1200 a 9.3 percent increase in horsepower and a 12.6 percent increase in torque over the l 100.
Harley also claims that the 1200 Sportster vibrates considerably less than the l 100. But interestingly, the reason for this newfound smoothness apparently is as much accidental as it is intentional. The engineers found that the change in balance factor resulting from using the I200’s heavier piston assemblies in conjunction with the l 100’s crankshaft had a favorable effect on engine smoothness at cruising rpm. Considering that the level of vibration on the l 100 was thought to be excessive even by long-time Sportster lovers, this could be more-welcome news than the increase in displacement.
Maico makes a comeback
A fter a helter-skelter round of bankruptcies and abortive rescue operations, the future of the oldestablished West German Maico concern is finally assured. The remaining assets of the Maisch family company, founded in 1926 and famous in recent years primarily for its highly effective range of off-road motorcycles, has been purchased by another German family company, Merkle Maschinenbau, one of the country’s largest machine-tool manufacturers.
Controlled by the father-and-son team of Lorenz Merkle and Lorenz Jr., Maico’s new owners have the financial clout to pay off the bike company’s existing debts and restart production, with a target of 500 machines for the first year.
Both Merkles are active motorcyclists who have pledged to concentrate on maintaining the quality of the German company’s operation, and to introduce new models in the near future. A return to World Championship MX racing is also under consideration. Production will begin again in the fall of this year, and a streetbike project is planned, possibly using the prototype, liquid-cooled, four-valve, 500cc four-stroke single-cylinder engine that Maico was developing prior to its bankruptcy.
