Germany’s motorcycle market has been a crapshoot in 2022. Some months it’s up, some months it’s down, but it isn’t exactly gaining ground. In the first nine months of 2022, the country only slightly lags behind its 2021 totals by 0.3 percent. As colder weather approaches, motorcycle sales also cooled down, shrinking by 5.9 percent. During that period, German riders purchased 929 fewer units than in September, 2021.
Despite the recent downtrend, the nation’s top-selling models included both stalwarts and surprises. So, what do they say about the state of the German motorcycle market? Are customers buying with their hearts or heads? Will adventure-tourers, naked bikes, or cruisers reign supreme? We can extrapolate a few answers from Germany's 20 best-selling models in September, 2022. Let’s take a look.
To no one’s surprise, the BMW R 1250 GS topped the heap yet again. The Bavarian brand sold 434 units of its all-around adventurer during September. That number far outpaced the second-place model, the uber-underdog of the list—Suzuki’s SV650. The long-in-the-tooth naked stunned naysayers with 228 units moved. The model may lack high-performance thrills and high-tech frills, but its reliability and practicality underscore some German riders’ priorities.
Kawasaki’s Z900 tied the SV’s 228 units sold, proving that roadsters remain in high demand. Yamaha’s perennial MT-07 and MT-09 make the list again, selling 171 and 144 units, respectively. In addition to the SV650’s unlikely ascent, the Harley-Davidson Street Bob 114 slots into sixth place with 134 units to its credit.
Adventure claims the seventh and eighth spots with the Honda Africa Twin (133 units) and Yamaha Tenere 700 (122 units), respectively, while two naked bikes, Triumph’s Trident 660 (117 units) and KTM’s 1290 Super Duke (111 units), round out the top ten.
Team Orange keeps that streak alive with the 690 SMC R (110 units), 390 Duke (107 units), and 1290 Super Adventure (99 units) occupying 11th, 12th, and 13th positions. Sister brands Husqvarna and GAS GAS also lend a hand, with the 701 Supermoto snatching 16th (92 units) and the SM 700 claiming 18th (90 units)
Retros return with the Royal Enfield Classic 350 (97 units) in 14th and Harley-Davidson's Low Rider ST (93 units) in 15th. Naked bikes highlight their staying power with the BMW F 900 R (91 units) ranking in 17th place while the Kawasaki Z650 takes the penultimate spot with 86 units. BMW fittingly bookends the list with 79 new F 750 GS registrations.
As the list suggests, German riders primarily flock to the adventure and naked categories. However, dark horse supermoto and cruiser models help to diversify the list. Yes, Germany’s numbers lulled in September, 2022, but with EICMA 2022 just around the corner, we don’t expect them to remain there for long.
