https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2026/january/2025-end-of-year-registration-figures/ Worrying times, that’s a huge drop off!
I was looking at changing mine last year, but the second hand market is so poor unless you have something with virtually no miles, and new bikes don't get any cheaper, so the amount to change was ridiculous. I think I will be a 2022 V4PP owner for some time.
Folk will be just a bit more canny about buying in my opinion, but i do agree most will hold back at minute until Trump lands on our shores & kicks out that nutter in number 10.
People who need a small bike to travel just a few miles cheaply nowadays buy a battery scooter or bicycle. Technically illegal, but so convenient and cheap that they sell by the thousands. We see them everywhere. These buyers would have got a moped or petrol powered scooter before, but no longer. Hence the figures given above.
They aren't technically illegal I'm fairly sure they are other than the roadside local authority rental ones. Rarely see them where Iive however in the cities I visit for work they're commonplace.
Bonkers law, legal to ride if rented but not legal to ride if bought. Absolutely nonsensical legal scheme, universally ignored.
There was so much spare cash floating around after COVID thanks to Johnson finding that free money tree that there was bound to be a fall at some point.
Lots ridden by teens and twenties who don't have a licence anyway. Also not caught by scameras, only by actual human police - so rarely.
Sur-Ron electric bikes, no self respecting phone thief cum low ranking drug dealer gangster road man would be seen on anything else. Super scooters are so yesterday. https://sur-ron.co.uk
It's only a drop against 2024 numbers. At the end of 2024 many many bikes were pre registered by dealers and manufacturers as the new Euro 5 emissions were about to come in. As ever, the headline doesn't tell the full story. There may be an actual drop but in real terms it's a lot less than 20% as many of the bikes registered at the end of 2024 weren't actually bought and used at some point in 2025. The numbers a skewed and everybody in the business knows they are and why.
We’ve seen a huge drop in IAM RS Advanced Rider Course sign ups in our region during 2025, probably as little as a third of the usual numbers. Andy
No surprise at a shrinking market when it requires over £1000 to pass your test to travel in the cold and wet for half the year and I dread to think how much bike insurance is for anyone under 30 with little or no experience. The IAM figures are bound to be down Andy, the price is way too high for what you get. I have even heard Observers say it is too expensive. I know the quality of tuition varies depending on the area, but having seen what my Partner experienced when she signed up for it a year or so ago if you are not Male, over 60 and riding a GS or similar, the condescending old farts club don't take you seriously. I was going to do it as well for a bit of fun, but we both went with the alternative provider and enjoyed it very much. I have been riding 40 years so it was about learning to pass the test rather than skills improvement, my Partner only passed her direct access test 3 years ago and the training has transformed her riding.
Yes, the standard of observers at IAM RS affiliated clubs that deliver the ARC, do vary, although they shouldn’t. We all have to pass the same IMI accredited syllabus. Biggest difference today is the lack of serving police riders able to be national observer assessors. It makes me feel really sad to read about your partner’s experience and it doesn’t make you a bad person for going with the opposition. We share the same source rider training manual to base the mentoring on. Any quality, post test training is of huge benefit to a rider. One of my best (ex) associates is a retired RAF officer who happens to be a woman Andy
