The last few years have seen many interesting motorcycle introductions, including some phenomenal performers. Honda’s new Gold Wing comes to mind, as does Suzuki’s GSX-R1000. The next couple of years, however, should be even more interesting, with bikes that not only perform better but step forward in new categories.
Sportbikes get most of the press attention, in large part because they are updated so frequently. A two year old sportbike needs a major redesign, and a four year old sportbike needs complete replacement. This is now the industry standard. Other categories, from cruisers to tourers to dual sports, don’t get updated nearly as often.
We will see some interesting new sportbikes this September from several major manufacturers, but we will also see some interesting bikes in other categories as well. This motorcycle boom of the last few years has created volume in former niche categories that justify significant investment by manufacturers in new machinery. In other words, the niche categories are now big enough to justify significant investment. This should be really interesting.
