This week the Motor Industry Association released its annual full-year sales figures, with the year's Kiwi motorcycle sales going down as the best in the past decade.
In total, and against the challenges of the global pandemic, a total of 8950 motorcycles and mopeds hit the road in 2020, up 600 bikes on 2019.
While scooter/moped sales dropped slightly, down 67 to 1842 units, big bikes (those requiring a class 6 licence) were up 667 with big sales numbers from several popular models.
For 2020 it was the adventure bikes taking the top two positions in the sales charts, with the Yamaha Tenere 700 rounding out its debut year with 203 units hitting the road, while the legendary Suzuki DR650SE closed out its last full year on sale with 191 examples sold.
Following the adventure bikes, the other top-selling bikes tended to fall into the Learner Approved category, with the Kawasaki Ninja 400 (153), Yamaha YZF-R3 (150) and Harley-Davidson Street 500 (145) rounding out the top five best selling bikes of 2020.
Despite supply issues, 2020 has proved that there is an appetite for motorcycles in New Zealand as buyers appear to be spending their overseas holiday money on adventures closer to home.
However, 2021 will be a completely different kettle of fish thanks to the final stage of the ABS Law change coming into play from November 1st, which will see analogue bikes without ABS such as the DR650SE no longer available for sale.
With many manufacturers still featuring many non-ABS models in their New Zealand lineups, we expect to see drastic changes in the Kiwi motorcycling landscape this year.
2020's Top Ten Best Selling Motorcycles In New Zealand
Yamaha Tenere 700 - 203
Suzuki DR650SE - 191
Kawasaki Ninja 400 - 153
Yamaha YZF-R3 - 150
Harley-Davidson Street 500 - 145
Suzuki GSX150 Gixxer - 135
Suzuki GSX250 - 120
KTM Duke 200 - 109
Royal Enfield Interceptor and Yamaha MT-03 - 107
Honda Shadow 150 - 95
2020's Top Five Best Selling Mopeds In New Zealand
TNT Roma - 322
Suzuki UZ50 - 242
Forza Ciclone - 187
Forza Capri - 111
Moped Yiben YB50QT - 84
*All figures are based on sales data published by the New Zealand Motor Industry Association, January 11 2020.