A stunt rider performs at the 2014 Motorcycle Show-Toronto
In this bitter cold and the mounting snow drifts, it's hard to imagine that spring is almost upon us. For some, the black ice just can't melt fast enough. These people dream of the open road, the roar of an engine with the twist of a wrist and the thrill of leaning into a curve.
These people are motorcyclists. And many of them will be at the Toronto motorcycle show, which runs today through Sunday at the Direct Energy Centre.
But it's not just Sons of Anarchy coming out to play on their big Harley-Davidsons; more and more, people are turning to small, 300-cubic centimetre-sized motorcycles as a way to learn the sport and get around in a fun, fashionable and cheap way.
Bob Ramsey, president of the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council (MMIC), has noticed the decade-long trend towards smaller motorcycles.
"I think that's a change in demographics in who is buying motorcycles or scooters," Ramsey says. "The first wave of this started with a multitude of scooters, 150cc up to 400cc scooters, and that had a very broad appeal. And the second wave has been a growth of the 125cc to 300cc motorcycles.
"And it's reflective of a change in who's buying motorcycles and also the motorcycle industry as a whole trying to encourage participation, especially amongst the urban livers and who want it for commuting, getting around congestion, as well as avoiding the cost of owning a car."
An increase in participation is important for the sport, but it's integral for the survival of motorcycle manufacturers. For too long, bikes have been getting bigger. Baby boomers, with more disposable income, were fuelling sales of big cruisers and touring bikes. But as they age and sales decline, OEMs needed to find a way to encourage younger riders into the fold. Even Harley-Davidson, the favourite brand for older bikers, now offers a 500cc bike, its smallest bike in a long time. Other manufacturers are going even smaller, and the 300cc level is the target, with three of the four major Japanese brands now offering a 300cc bike (Suzuki has a 250cc model).
"If you look at the cost of insurance, the cost of a big bike, there was definitely a gap there," says Kimberly Moore, public relations supervisor at Honda Motorcycles in Canada, a company that was at the front of the low-cc curve with the introduction of the CBR125R here in 2007. It also introduced a 250cc, which have both been replaced with an entry-level CBR300R. "A lot of people abandoned biking early on because of the costs. It was becoming that only older people or people more established would be able to afford a motorcycle, but that's changing."
Moore says it's not just new riders who are buying smaller bikes, but also experienced riders who see them as cheap, fun and easy to use. "Even now, older people who are getting back into biking are turning to smaller bikes, it seems to be a trend. And I think insurance is driving that.
"City commuting is growing, just because people don't want to own cars, you can park for free on a bike, you can get around traffic easier," Moore says. "It just makes sense now."
Information collected by the MMIC indicates that out of 42,271 new street-legal bikes sold in 2013 (the last year of available statistics), 15.33 per cent were 250cc or under, while 9.5 per cent were 250-600cc, a segment that has been steadily rising in the last five years.
Myron Kuepfer, general manager of Riders Plus Insurance, has also seen a rising trend toward 300cc-level bikes.
"For years, bikes had been going bigger and bigger to the point of ridiculous. I think part of it was [OEMs] recognized that, especially in an increasingly urban environment, these bigger bikes are just too heavy for your average-sized person," Kuepfer says.
"You just had a lot more people who like a smaller bike that's easier to store, less money to buy, less money to insure, and just all-around it's back to the basics. It just makes a lot of sense."
By starting at the threshold of the motorcycle learning curve, manufacturers are not just opening up a new and previously untapped market, but they're also building brand loyalty. Chances are if a rider starts with a particular model, they'll keep buying the same brand as their experience and income increases.
"Sometimes you move up, sometimes you move across, but they want to capture you in their brand," say Kuepfer. "If they're not getting you when you're a beginner, they're not getting you."
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