Are moto sales booming?

str8line
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Sandy, UT US
Edited Date/Time 7/9/2020 10:34am
I know Rocky Mountain have been telling customers to plan for up to two weeks for delivery of parts and accessories. It seems like used bike market prices are up. I've heard bicycle sales are brisk to the point of shortages. My mountain bike trails have been packed with bikers, joggers, hikers. And it seems like I'm seeing more moto's on my usual motorcycle singletrack trails and at trailheads.

Beyond my anecdotal evidence(RM might just have problems with shipping), does anyone have any info on how the industry is doing, anecdotal or hard numbers? Are tracks more crowded? Is inventory low at your local shop?
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crockett
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CA
6/30/2020 11:13pm
My dealer is right out of bikes. Only 450’s left on the floor .. 2 strokes long wait list.. 350’s are all gone. Same story at the dealer carrying the orange bikes down the road. I hate selling stuff and I was able to sell my bike and wife’s in a short amount of time. Full asking price..
I’d say it’s a sellers market right now
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Renner153
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Mulberry, FL US
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7/1/2020 3:30am
I work for a major graphics and seat manufacture and I can say we are busier than ever.
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The Shop

mmain62
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Knoxville, IL US
7/1/2020 4:10am
When I bought mine a couple weeks ago the Sales girl at Larsons Cycle in Cambridge Minn. said she had sold 4 other bike at the same time she was working on my paperwork. I'd say the sport is starting to boom again. There has been about double the people in my class at the races so far this year also.
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zookrider62!
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Plano, TX US
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7/1/2020 5:08am
I am in the market for a new bike and it is VERY difficult to find one. Some of the dealers I’ve talked to have said they have been selling a years worth of equipment each month of covid. I believe jet skis are even harder to come by then MX bikes.

Also, they are slammed on the service side. One dealer told me they were 2 weeks behind, another dealer is 6 weeks behind, and won’t take in any new inventory.

Take a look at Alpinestars website and look how many gear sets they are out of, I’d imagine they aren’t the only ones with limited supplies left.
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FuseMX21
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NL
7/1/2020 5:20am
Alot of bikes are getting sold on the european market too! both new bikes & used bikes are selling with ease.

I can also see the sport is booming here because the sign ups for the tracks are full after less then a day. insane. (because of covid we have to sign up beforehand because of limited amount of drivers allowed)

i'm really glad i bought my bike in the winter before covid (i'm a beginner since winter)
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kb228
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Mansfield, OH US
7/1/2020 5:21am
Powersports in general is booming. My dad is a service manager at a dealership and hes swamped in prepping new units. So much so i had to go help in my spare time to get them out the door.
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JB 19
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Marion, OH US
7/1/2020 5:21am
I own a used car dealership and have been selling diesel pickups like crazy. Tons of people are buying toy haulers and need a truck. In some cases I've been selling trucks that I didn't even have for sale yet.

Everything outdoor related is booming.
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Gus
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Halifax, NC US
7/1/2020 5:53am
I had to search outside local area and the salesman said people were coming in, they didn’t have what they wanted and customers where just buying whatever they had. My local shop sold 16 jetskis in one day. Between three stores they sold 85 jetskis in a week. I’m trying to just wait til next spring and see what’s for sale
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UGOTBIT
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Upstate, NY US
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7/1/2020 7:14am
Kinda what I'm wondering.

Why is it booming now? The typical excuse is it's expensive and need money to get into the sport. Not much has changed there, and I would think most are worse off due to COVID.

Is it just people have time to actually go outside and enjoy activities?
7/1/2020 7:20am
UGOTBIT wrote:
Kinda what I'm wondering. Why is it booming now? The typical excuse is it's expensive and need money to get into the sport. Not much has...
Kinda what I'm wondering.

Why is it booming now? The typical excuse is it's expensive and need money to get into the sport. Not much has changed there, and I would think most are worse off due to COVID.

Is it just people have time to actually go outside and enjoy activities?
It could be a demographic shift as well. Those who would usually spend 10-20k on a family vacation for the summer are forced to stay home, so they have a lot of disposable income to spend. Couple that with most kids sports teams not running meaning more time and money saved, and people will look to whatever is available to keep the family and kids occupied. Moto/cycling/watersports are basically the only option right now.
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7/1/2020 7:30am Edited Date/Time 7/1/2020 7:31am
Local dealer got cleaned out on Memorial Day. Has one 450fx on the floor. side by sides, pitbikes, pw50s, 60s, 80s. Everything. Gone.

So much so that June had pretty good incentives like $1500 customer cash etc. all that got slashed for July. Yamaha knows they don’t gotta incentivize anyone to buy rifgt bow.
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CarlinoJoeVideo
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Portland/Los Angeles, CA US
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7/1/2020 7:44am
I heard MotoSport in Hillsboro OR sold more bikes the last 3 months than they ever have in a year combined.

I also noticed way more new riders at tracks.
5
Holigan
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Dallas, TX US
7/1/2020 7:47am Edited Date/Time 7/1/2020 7:47am
It could be a demographic shift as well. Those who would usually spend 10-20k on a family vacation for the summer are forced to stay home...
It could be a demographic shift as well. Those who would usually spend 10-20k on a family vacation for the summer are forced to stay home, so they have a lot of disposable income to spend. Couple that with most kids sports teams not running meaning more time and money saved, and people will look to whatever is available to keep the family and kids occupied. Moto/cycling/watersports are basically the only option right now.
I believe this is the leading reason. I have had five trips canceled, so nothing to do but ride bikes, shoot guns and go to the lake. I went to my KTM Husky dealer this past Saturday and he said Covid is the best thing ever for powersports sales. He had sold three bikes before 11 am.
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EngIceDave
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Merritt Island, FL US
7/1/2020 8:14am
We've been hammered. Very busy.

Those we have spoken to are also very busy.

Here is our theory...

There's no baseball
There's no football
There's no basketball
Can't go to the club
Can't go to bars


What are you going to do?

Hunt
Fish
Boating
Bicycle
Motorcycle

This whole mess has been good in one way, it's getting people outside more..

What else is there to do?
Sit and watch Jerry Springer?
15
7/1/2020 8:29am
I paint helmets and we're rammed with orders. I'm guessing it's because guys who had budgets in place for auto racing (my biggest customer base) have money burning a hole in their pockets.

I race XC mtb and right now in the UK you can't get any kind of bicycle anywhere under £5k and even those are thin on the ground now. Dealers are literally scratching around for any stock they can find, and old tat is getting nearly-new money on ebay.

Hope it lasts, but it does have a bit of a last-days-of-Rome feeling about it all...
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Rickyisms
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FL US
7/1/2020 8:41am
Husky, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki dealer here. We only have the following for MX bikes- 2020 RM-Z250, 2020 WR450, 2020 DRZ125, 2020 DRZ50, 2020 TC250, 2020 TX300i, 2018 FX450 w/130 hours, and a 2020 KX65. We're out of jetskis, most helmets, and small bottles of Castor oil are on backorder from the distributor.
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EngIceDave
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Merritt Island, FL US
7/1/2020 8:44am
Rickyisms wrote:
Husky, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki dealer here. We only have the following for MX bikes- 2020 RM-Z250, 2020 WR450, 2020 DRZ125, 2020 DRZ50, 2020 TC250, 2020...
Husky, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki dealer here. We only have the following for MX bikes- 2020 RM-Z250, 2020 WR450, 2020 DRZ125, 2020 DRZ50, 2020 TC250, 2020 TX300i, 2018 FX450 w/130 hours, and a 2020 KX65. We're out of jetskis, most helmets, and small bottles of Castor oil are on backorder from the distributor.
Which dealer?

I went into Champions in Cocoa other day, they have a few bikes, didn't see any SxS or ski's...did see 2020's CRF250, CRF450 and KXF250

Was surprised at that

But, with LL's being different, probably messed with their pre-orders and anticipated sale of those
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gt80rider
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Boulder, CO US
7/1/2020 8:54am
Some people got their asses handed to them via Covid, others got major bank! In fact, a lot of people (including myself) made a lot of money since Covid hit....

This is the big spend, before the big fall........
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EngIceDave
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Merritt Island, FL US
7/1/2020 9:07am
My brother is a lifer in the hospitality/restaurant industry (major corp, at street level) and they're so screwed. Losing their asses.

Only bright spot for his staff has been that people are tipping at a greater percentage, so his servers are doing well with half the tables.

Hotels are being crushed
Car rentals are being crushed

Pretty much anything in the tourism business (I live in the Orlando/Space Coast area) is being crushed....the tshirt/souvenir shops, just so many....
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Drail24
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Cobb, GA US
7/1/2020 9:39am
Anything recreational related is currently maxed out..motorcycles (street and dirt), sxs, jet skis, bicycles, guns, the entire boating industry, you name it. It's been a crazy spurt for sure. I fully expected everything to dry up when the pandemic hit, due to people being cautious about spending money... however, it has been anything but that for the power sports industries. I suppose for the reasons EngineIce Dave stated.

As far as Rocky Mountain's delivery delays, things we used to get in 2 days from the warehouses is taking up to 7 days now. As a result of the Covid, all the warehouses are operating on reduced and limited staffing. What used to be handled by 7-10 people is now being done by 2 people on rotating shifts. We are still being told to allow up to 48hrs for the orders to get processed through the warehouse.
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skeef
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AZ US
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7/1/2020 9:40am
Same story with the dealer I work at. Luckily our owner is extremely customer oriented. He has been able to keep bikes on the floor. He was preparing for this in march, took a risk at stockpiling and it's paying off. I think this surge will revitalize the street bike market. Which took arguably the biggest hit in the last ten years in the powersports Industry...At least in the southwest region.
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bvm111
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Las Vegas, NV US
7/1/2020 9:46am
I have had the last two orders from RM come at normal 2 day delivery to vegas and my last order that I placed yesterday morning shipped last evening and should be here today!

I would say they are back to “normal” for the moment!
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EngIceDave
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Merritt Island, FL US
7/1/2020 10:02am
When it comes to shipping and mail order stuff, everyone got notices from UPS, USPS, FedEX, DHL, etc... saying that due to the cooties, staffing will be short, less planes are flying (they put package shipments on commercial flights) and just overall, everything transportation-wise has had to slow down.
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AZRider
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Rock Spring, GA US
7/1/2020 1:45pm
I think a big part of it is what industries where people are losing jobs. The construction industry and blue collar jobs have always been stronger in the sport, those industries are doing very well in some places. If you are in an industry that was considered "essential", you may be doing better than before this started.

Second point, how many people have put their mortgages or other bills in forbearance and are out spending that money on things like bicycles, motorcycles, etc. I would hope that isn't the case, but I wouldn't doubt it.
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ktmdan
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Houston, TX US
7/1/2020 2:31pm
mmain62 wrote:
When I bought mine a couple weeks ago the Sales girl at Larsons Cycle in Cambridge Minn. said she had sold 4 other bike at the...
When I bought mine a couple weeks ago the Sales girl at Larsons Cycle in Cambridge Minn. said she had sold 4 other bike at the same time she was working on my paperwork. I'd say the sport is starting to boom again. There has been about double the people in my class at the races so far this year also.
I’m going to buy a bike from Larsons this week Smile
Y’all better not go drain their inventory before I do!
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Patar57
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Keezletown, VA US
7/1/2020 2:40pm
I know myself and most others in the airline industry aren’t spending much money right now!
DB505
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Rowlett, TX US
7/1/2020 4:21pm
Drail24 wrote:
Anything recreational related is currently maxed out..motorcycles (street and dirt), sxs, jet skis, bicycles, guns, the entire boating industry, you name it. It's been a crazy...
Anything recreational related is currently maxed out..motorcycles (street and dirt), sxs, jet skis, bicycles, guns, the entire boating industry, you name it. It's been a crazy spurt for sure. I fully expected everything to dry up when the pandemic hit, due to people being cautious about spending money... however, it has been anything but that for the power sports industries. I suppose for the reasons EngineIce Dave stated.

As far as Rocky Mountain's delivery delays, things we used to get in 2 days from the warehouses is taking up to 7 days now. As a result of the Covid, all the warehouses are operating on reduced and limited staffing. What used to be handled by 7-10 people is now being done by 2 people on rotating shifts. We are still being told to allow up to 48hrs for the orders to get processed through the warehouse.
I got my last order in three days, was expecting 5 to7 days

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