A Million For the Millennium?

A MILLION FOR THE MILLENNIUM?

WE HAVE SEEN THE FUture of motorcycling, and quite frankly, it looks pretty darn good. According to analyst Don Brown, 1997 was the sixth straight year of general prosperity for the industry, and 1998 appears even more promising. "We're in the best period we've seen, and I believe that it will get better," he says.

Thus far, credit has been at tributed to cruisers, and with good reason. Explains Brown, "When you look at the period of plummeting sales from about 1986-90, every manufacturer except Harley-Davidson experi enced a general decline."

But, points out John Hoover, Kawasaki `s director of motorcy cle product management, the long, low machines aren't neces sarily the whole shebang. "Right now there are two major grow ing markets~' he asserts, "the offroad and big street categories." Indeed, according to industry research sources, between March of 1997 and `98, off road sales increased by 26 per cent while cruiser sales increased by 17 percent. Fur thermore, overall motorcycle sales were up by 20 percent for that period. All told, motorcy cle, ATV and scooter sales numbered 725,000 for 1997. "Today's kids are already getting sideways on KX8Os," says Hoover. As a result, he predicts the next generation of rider will be the most sophisti cated yet. "He's going to be very skilled, and he's going to want performance because he will be able to handle it." Bottom line? Both Hoover and Brown agree that the market will continue to thrive. Forecasts Brown, "It would not be out of the realm of possibilities for the industry to reach sales of 1 mil lion units by 2002 or 2003." Now there's a respectable way to ring in the new millennium.

Wendy F.Black