Dirt bike sales continue to decline :-( How can we help reverse this trend?

[sandblaster]

I was doing some research online and came across some interesting statistics.



Here in part is their assessment:
In other news, the Motorcycle Industry Council reported U.S. motorcycle sales for the first half of 2012 have improved.
193,287 street bikes have been sold in the first half of 2012 (January to June), up from 187,571 in the same period last year (+3.0%).
17,266 dual-sport bikes have been sold in the first six months of 2012, up from 15,876 during the same period in 2011 (+8.8%).
Off-road motorcycle sales continue their decline from the last few years, with 36,300 sold in the first six months of 2012, down from 37,117 during the same period in 2011 (-2.2%).

You can find the whole article here:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-news/statistics/motorcycle-sales-statistics.htm

The obvious reason for sluggish sales is the economy.
Yet, with the small improvement in street, dual sport, and scooters sales, why is dirt bike sales continuing to decline?
Obviously this trend does not bode well for our sport.
I have a few thoughts about why this is happening and how we could help change this trend, but was curious as to your opinions.
Please give a reason for your opinion.
There is no right or wrong answer.
THANKS!
SB.

[Motorrad]

part of the reason is the EPA BLM sierra club asshats  that are shutting down the deserts etc.


here in California... lots of guys wont buy a bike unless it has a plate anymore.....    Due to the fact so much of our riding areas have been shut down to Plate only stuff....   

[sandblaster]

I think your right.
That is definitely the case here in Oregon.
We are loosing our riding area's and restrictions/rules are getting tighter and are not evenly distributed.
For instance you can run whatever exhaust you want on the street but take a trip out to the middle of nowhere and you have to be under 97-99db depending on where you ride.
Motorrad and I think there are even more reasons.....
What are your opinions?
Don't be shy.

[Motorrad]

if I gave my real oppinions... Id be ban from the site... (no politics)....   


Another I can say has HURT the dirt bike industry..


RED stickers   (for us california folk).   makign it so you can only ride new bikes PART of the year..

I know It has kept me from buying new bikes....

[sandblaster]

Whoa!
Time to leave that state.....
What else?

[Ims Roll]

gas... more and more people are getting into motorcycles for the fact of saving money on gas, unfortunately this is causing more and more accidents and deaths caused by people who have never been on a street bike buying a r1 cbr1000 ect and blowing the back tire off rolling through a intersection.
Can't ride a dirtbike on the street, without modification which of course no one wants to drop money on there new dirt toy for a baja kit w/ lighting coil for the 2 smoke guys and duel sport tires, or 17's with streets, again more money.
Only makes sense that all street legal machine have gone up, any statistics increases on motorcycle deaths an accidents since this increase?

[81cr450]

I wanna take the easy answer here, 2-stroke's being run out of the industry. Riding is a part time hobby & the ease & cost of maintaining a 2-stroke is considerably better. My take to support this would be,  You blow up your 4 stroke take it to the dealer for rebuild & the cost is going to be near half of what a new bike would. Most of the ones I've seen blown take a crank assembly, piston, valves, & case, roughly $1200-1500, labor is usually near the cost of parts. You just cant burn guys with disposable bikes & expect them to keep returning for more.
I feel the AF trend supports this as well, mantainence on a 500 is so much better I mean you can get a whole brand X500 for $1000 pretty easy.

[Foxx4Beaver]

I wanna take the easy answer here, 2-stroke's being run out of the industry. Riding is a part time hobby & the ease & cost of maintaining a 2-stroke is considerably better. My take to support this would be,  You blow up your 4 stroke take it to the dealer for rebuild & the cost is going to be near half of what a new bike would. Most of the ones I've seen blown take a crank assembly, piston, valves, & case, roughly $1200-1500, labor is usually near the cost of parts. You just cant burn guys with disposable bikes & expect them to keep returning for more.
I feel the AF trend supports this as well, mantainence on a 500 is so much better I mean you can get a whole brand X500 for $1000 pretty easy.

This is THE main reason I will NEVER own a 4T..EVER,not even when it comes to sleds.
I just can't see spending that kind of money,unless your job IS beating the snot outa 4T's and rebuilding them every couple months.

Very good point 81cr.

[jBernard]

another vote for the 4T killing things off, and Honda of course. They make the ama play by their rules and caters to what they want (4t only). of course, thats all they sell.
i remember getting my first true mx bike in 95, a RM125. i rode the crap out of that thing every weekend and put a 75$ top end in it once every 5mo or so. all my friends did the same. we had a lot of fun, and were competitive for not much $$$. if something did happen to go bad and you grenaded a bottom end, then it was usually fixable in a weekend and a few hundred $.
now ive got several friends with 4T that are sitting in the garage because they are saving cash to fix the d**n things. last time i was at mammoth mountain there were kids in novice class rolling up there with a stock 250/mod 250/stock 450/mod 450. FOUR bikes! the mod bikes probably had 15k each in them. its crazy. and these kids would have gotten rolled up when i was riding by a guy on a busted 95 yz250 2T wearing worn out AXO gear. sad actually. went from a fun sport to a money pit.

[81cr450]

My train of thought wasnt really 2 stroke VS 4 stroke. The new 4 strokes are great machines ,for the first 2 years, after that its time for serious maintainece / rebuild. & the manufactuer's  are right there trying to get them as close to disposable as possible , so you'll go out & buy next years model. It's as much about sales.
Think about your toasters, coffee makers, washing machines , all manufacturers run the same scheme. My Grandparent's had an old fridgidair round top fridge on their back porch when I was a kid, this thing was like 40+ years old. When is the last time you saw a fridge go much beyond 10 years. Just disposable a society , its not like we dont have the technology to make stuff last...

I am 2-stroke all the way though. I would like to see sales stats on used 2 strokes. It seems that going back to an older 2 stroke bike after an expensive 4t desplosion isnt uncommon.

Also most riding is done recreationally . Think enduro type multi terrain conditions  & look @ what one of the most dominating riders ever is winning with. I'm sure he could ride whatever he wanted 4t or 2T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4qzh6YBW1Q&feature=related

Manufacturer support for the machine we like is the best tool to keep them making the type's of dirtbike worth riding. I'd love to get a new KTM300 or a Gas Gas ec300

It doesnt help the red sticker problem, completely. BUT if a manufacturer can sell enough 2t's they'll get $ behind better legislation & technology. Direct injection is the nearest thing to saving the 2t there's likely to be

[Ims Roll]

just to add to that, used to be you'd buy 2 or 3 lawn mowers in your life time lol, but now you have to buy a lawn mower every year lol..

[serafin]

Everyone makes a lot of strong points as to the decline in sales.  To me it?s a multi-faceted problem.  I believe the biggest reason has more to do with economics and peoples disposable income.  The recession hit a lot of people hard.  Lots of jobs were lost and people?s salaries were frozen/reduced.  Two income families went to one income.  I think its fair to say that the majority of sales were for recreation/leisure and that?s generally the first thing that get cut in ones budget. With the cost of new bikes over 8 grand, plus the expense of getting to your favorite track/riding spot.  If your a motocross rider, what?s the entry fee to your track just to ride?  $20, $30 or more.  Add in the maintenance cost just to keep up a current 4 stroke.  For some there are the added environmental costs namely California and its red sticker restrictions and the limited areas to ride anymore.  What was once cheap recreation is not so cheap anymore.   Just to keep some discussion going, my question to everyone is:  What does it cost you to ride your bike for an outing?  Fuel costs to your favorite place, entry fees, fuel costs for your bike, maintenance costs for the bike? Food and beverages.

Serafin 

[81cr450]

I'm really lucky I can ride from the house to more than 1500 miles of trail. I dont licence & dont get harrased, but really who can pull over a 500 anyway.

Maintenance $ I dont keep track but I'd guess $250 a year. Filter ,tires, seals. repiston every 2yr's ,rod every 2nd build

Mixed fuel for a 4 hour outing, would be a $20 spot

So if I wanna ride tomorrow $20,
 d**n I forgot to buy gas tonight

[sandblaster]

If I do a day ride fairly close to home it's about 75 bucks on the cheap.
When I do a 2 day weekend ride with motels and meals it's about 300 bucks on the cheap.
If I bring the wife and kids it's time to refi the house...

[Motorrad]

well.. lets figure this comming week (thanksgiving.)


I will be nice and generous.... and say motorhome gets 10mpg (we know it doesnt)

298 miles round trip to dunes...   Roughly $4.10 a gal for mid grade (Healthy built 454 wont run regular)..  so

$122.8 in fuel to get there and back.

Will bring roughly 25gal of Premium (about $4.20 a gal)   so thats $105

10Gal of race fuel (100LL) to mix in.   at about $6.75 a gal    $67

Dunes Permit (yes have to pay to park)    $35 for weekend...

Motul 800.   $20 a quart... 2 quarts.    $40..

so thats at
$370    Not counting food, oil, tires, beer, Registrations, etc etc etc..     for one week..............