Does size really matter?

Does size really matter?

     A few posts ago I alluded to the fact that motorcycles with more than 100 BHP  may be close to going the way of the Dinosaurs, Dodo Bird, and chastity belt.  Well that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon yet, but the trend towards smaller more versatile motorcycle platforms does seem to be gaining a little momentum.   While the motorcycle giants are still locked in a battle for the title of “Horsepower King” (Kawasaki seems to be winning by the way with the Kawasaki Ninja H2 Turbo boasting a mere 300 BHP) they all seem to be hedging their bets by producing lighter, smaller displacement machines for the commuter and casual  enthusiast.

     Probably the most surprising effort has come from Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. who built their reputation and owner following on race bred machines that roar around race tracks throughout the

world.  But this time Ducati dipped into their past to bring back a name and a look when it introduced the new Ducati Scrambler 803 Classic, and you would have to look hard
and wide to find another motorcycle introduction that has met with this much success.  Following up the phenomenal sales of the 803 the Italian motorcycle maker is introducing a smaller version of the same style with a 399 cc
L-Twin power plant called the Scrambler Sixty2.  To give you an idea of the impact these models have had, company profits are up 22% for the first half 2015 and they have sold 50,000 units (a company record for a single year) as of November 11, 2015.  Now to be sure the fact that the price of the 803 which starts at just $8495 is certainly a big part of the sales surge, you have to remember, they are called Scramblers, which infers partial off road use.

      Ducati’s new found success in the mid-size motorcycle market has sent minor shock-waves through the industry but only time will tell just what effect it has on designs, but I think one can see a trend beginning to deve
lop.  Motorcycle manufacturers were already producing ever growing numbers of multipurpose motorcycles with BHP ratings under the controversial one hundred mark.  Suzuki for instance has just announced a new and improved SV650 sporting a new aluminum frame and enhanced fuel injection.  The SV650 is a stylish bike with descent power that is designed to attract a wide demographic rider base.  BMW Motorrad who has built a reputation for large horizontally opposed road cruisers, now offers no less that nine models of 800 ccs’ or less, including the new G310R that will be powered by a 313cc single cylinder motor and will probably go around the world on one tank of gas.

     Honda has announced newly updated models of the NC750X and the ve
nerable CB500 now designated as the CB500X.  Honda also now makes five so called scooter designs including the all new “Metropolitan” the good looking grandchild of the slightly successful Honda Super Cub which has sold to date somewhere around a mere 80,000,000 units and still counting.  Even the rejuvenated Indian Motorcycle Company has just announced a new Indian Scout that boasts a downsized 999cc motor that puts out 74 horsepower.
     So what’s driving this trend to downsize motorcycle engine size?  Well like many other trends there are a lot of forces that are influencing the manufacturers.  First of all we need to look at the technology equation.  Fifty years ago it took 1000 ccs to produce 75 BHP, today manufacturers achieve the same horsepower out of a relatively tame motor configuration of around 650 cc’s not to mention the 600 Sportbike Class that makes insane amounts of power for its engine displacement size.  Secondly consumers are getting more and more insistent about wanting vehicles that will server more than one function mirroring the rise of the Sport Utility Vehicle class of automobiles.  Next is the fact that the emerging economies of Asia don’t have the room or the road systems for one liter sportbikes or even cruisers for that matter, and manufacturers are just salivating over the astronomical number of potential buyers found in these regions.

     So is the liter plus motorcycle a dying breed, well not unless the governments of the world decide to demonize them in the minds of the public for political purposes, or as I remember from the muscle car days of my youth, insurance companies make them just too darn expensive to own.  I feel if there is a change in the ratio of large displacement machines verses the lighter smaller displacement models it will probably come from the tastes and demands of the buying public.  But then what do I know, if you had told me twenty years ago that riders would go wild for 1200 cc dual purpose Enduro style motorcycles sporting 150 plus horsepower power-plants, that they actually rode on the dirt, I would have called for the boys in the white coats to come and take you away.