Paralleling UK decline for the same reasons, severe winter weather and a late spring dragged down American motorcycle and ATV sales in the first quarter of 2013, according to latest US Motorcycle Industry Council data.
Total US powered two-wheeler sales fell by 14.7 per cent to 93,375 units. Road bikes dropped by 16.2 per cent to 64,706 units. Purely off-road machines were flat, with a marginal 0.4 per cent increase to 17,548 units while the road-registered adventure/trail sector shrank by 14.9 per cent to 6350 units. Scooters took the worst hit, down by 34.6 per cent to just 4771 units. The ATV market declined by 10.4 percent to 44,875 units.
In contrast, a mild winter and early spring in the same period last year generated a seven per cent growth in US bike and ATV sales.