THE CHANGE IS IN THE MAIL
Australia Post is going back to bicycles. Did you know that? Most of us would probably remember the days when the postie delivered the mail on his trusty peddley; but then it went motorised, in the process making Honda the best-selling motorcycle in the country. Aussie Post bought thousands of the little step-throughs that became known simply as Postie Bikes. But now, in 2019, they’ve been going back to the venerable push-bike. Not the pedal type though, but an electric-powered type. Not exclusively, so there will be some Hondas still being bought, but not many: most either have been, or will be, replaced by the pedal variety.
What this means is that the top selling motorbike in Australia is no longer the little Honda Postie bike. So now that the little scoot has dropped off the top spot on the market, (it’s currently 10th, and falling), what do you think was the best selling bike for 2018? Well, coincidentally or not, it was still a Honda: the Honda CB 125. You didn't know that Honda still made this model? Well, I must admit, neither did I. But they do, and they’ve been around, in one form or another, since they were first introduced way back in 1969. I just hadn't noticed them recently. Funny that.  (Although, I must say I had a strange liking for those early models, and even considered buying one, as a fun run around, at one stage).
So what is this most-purchased bike all about? Well, it has a single-cylinder engine, with carburetor, producing 7.6kW. The gearbox is 5 speed. That’s pretty much as it was back in 1969. Although it gained electric ignition way back when, and the new one has a disc front brake, where the original was drum at both ends. And of course the styling has changed. 
It’s not hard to see why they’re so popular though, just take a look at the price tag: recommended retail is just $2,299. Now, there have been bikes around at that sort of price for ages, but mostly they've been brands like Ning Nang Nong, with bodywork made from the plastic of takeaway containers, and pistons made from recycled Jam tins. And the only thing the people who put them together knew about motorbikes was that there was supposed to be a wheel at each end: everything else just kind of fitted in between as best they could. But this is different; this has a Honda badge on the tank!
Having a Honda badge brings a level of respect that Ning Nang Nong (that’s a Spike Milligan song, by the way) never could.
After all, Honda is the epitome of Japanese quality and reliability. Well it used to be, but things have changed. You see, you always paid a bit extra to get that quality, but – especially with this model – Honda is going for a cheap price. To get the retail price that low it has to be put together in a country where not too much money is spent on workers’ wages. Like several other Hondas, this one is made in Thailand. No, it’s not exactly Ning Nang Nong Land (wherever that is these days!), but it’s not Japan either. So the Honda badge no longer guarantees top quality.
It’s the same with anything – brands mean next to nothing today. Even top brand names are often just badges screwed onto products made by some company in cheap-labour-land that churns out millions of the product for whoever wants to put their badge on them. But it’s not all bad: many companies (like Honda, as I understand it) have their own factories set up in these far-off countries; so there is a level of quality, and quality control, that the Ning Nang Nong brigade totally miss. That said, there has to be a compromise in the quality of components to get the price that low; as well as the cheap labour aspect. Welcome to 21st century globalisation!
  So, if the bike that out-sold everything else has now plummeted down the sales charts, how is that affecting the market over-all? Glad you asked. The motorcycle scene in 2019 is in a bit of a slump, as you probably know. All vehicle sales are down on previous years, but where cars have dropped by 3%, the sales of motorcycles are down by 8.7%. Some of that has to be attributed to Australia Post no longer buying the thousands of bikes per year that it used to; so in real terms, it’s not quite as bad as you might think, just looking at the figures. (Which is what a lot of industry observers are doing!). To further emphasise the point that the decline in Postie Bike sales is creating a fair percentage of that surge downwards, sales of road-bikes were down by a massive 9.6%. No figures are available for comparative sales of bicycles (which, presumably, would be way up!). 
But Aussie Post has delivered even worse news for Honda. In previous years Honda was ahead in the sales-race by a healthy margin over its nearest rival, Yamaha. But with its sales reduced by dwindling supplies to the mail-deliverers, Yamaha is catching up. The latest figures I saw put the tuning-fork brand less than 2% behind. And even more worrying for Honda is the fact that Yamaha’s sales of road-bikes have actually increased by 2.5%. Continued decline in Postie sales will see the overall sales for Honda continue to fall, and almost certainly allow Yamaha to pull in front. I guess we always knew that the Postie Bike sales put an unrealistic skew on the actual market.
If the future looks a bit gloomy for Honda (just because it will topple off the top perch), spare a thought for Harley Davidson: sales of the iconic American brand are down by a whopping 21.2%. That sort of downturn is happening in its country of origin too, and the company is spending big dollars trying to expand its customer base. After all, that’s what saved them last time, having outlaw gangs select them as their steed-of-choice – even if that wasn’t exactly a strategy by Harley, it just happened that way. This time, apparently, they are using strategy, and the target is women and Latin Americans.
Getting back to individual bikes, if the top seller is a retro-looking tiddler, with its mechanical roots going back to 1969, what came 2nd? Something quite different: the Kawasaki Ninja 400. This is a strange one, because it started out as a 250. Remember the old GPX250? That was a popular and very effective 250cc learner bike, back when learners were restricted to 250cc. When I test-rode one back in 2004 I said, “riding this Kawasaki was a revelation of just how good a 250 can be!” When that capacity restriction was lifted (partly because learners were killing themselves on high-powered race-replica 250s), and subsequently based on a power-to-weight ratio with engine capacity capped at 660cc, engines grew. The 250 became a 300. But then, with competitors catching up (when Motorcycle Trader did a comparison between the Kwaka, Yamaha R3 and Honda CB300R, the Ninja came in last), Kawasaki upped the capacity to 400cc. According to overseas road-tests, the winner’s trophy has now returned to team-green. And it outsells any competitor you can name by a considerable margin.
Coming home in 3rd place was the very popular Yamaha MT-07.
That includes all the learner-legal variations of the bike, such as the XSR700 and MT-07 Tracer. (The Higher Output model has been considered a separate model for the purposes of this sales race).
There is such a lot to like about these bikes! From naked hoon bike, to retro cool, to sports-touring, the model has it all – just take your pick to suit your riding style. (I’ll take the Tracer, thank you!).
And it’s not just the learner market that likes them; they’ve been the choice for many downsizing experienced riders too. Looking at the two that have out-sold it, I honestly can’t see why they aren’t in first place! Well, yes, there is that ridiculously low price of the Honda. You could buy three of those for the price of one of these. But in terms of the actual bikes there is no comparison.
The next two places are taken by Harley Davidson; which is a surprise considering how much their sales have dropped. The Street 500 – which comes in 4th place, and is the most un-Harley-like bike to ever wear the Harley badge – is another product of cheap labour. No, it’s not made in Milwaukee, it’s made in India. That’s why they can bring it in at such a cheap (in Harley terms!) price. So, badge-engineering on a Ning Nang Nong? Well, yes, to some extent, but like the Honda, it’s better than that; better than a lot of automotive products that are made in that land of spices and telemarketers. And I reckon it’s a clever move by Harley. In making it more like a “normal” bike, in terms of riding characteristics and layout of controls etc, they’ve made it an easy ride for the beginner; especially for those who may have just stepped off an old clunker learner bike. I don’t know how it is viewed by owners of the larger more traditional Harley riders: do they see it as a viable alternative to their heavy-weight American iron when thinking of down-sizing? I reckon they should anyway.
In 5th place we have the Harley Breakout.
Motorcycle Trader says this bike, “perfectly depicts what a Harley Davidson represents for so many of us Down Under.”
In some ways the bike is the total opposite of the Street 500. Where the 500 is an easy-to-ride bike that asks little of its rider to fit into the Harley family, the Breakout is all about image. I haven’t ridden one, but it’s an obvious and fairly well-documented example of form-over-function. It’s a Harley: it sounds good; it looks tough. It might not like going around corners, but it goes well in a straight line. And it certainly doesn’t owe its spot in the top 10 to a cheap price! This bad boy will set you back well over 30 grand.
Honda fills the 6th spot with the CMX (Rebel)500. This is a learner-legal bobber style bike. I don’t know where this one is built; I’ll guess Thailand though, or some other country where wages are cheaper than Japan. Bobbers are supposed to be bikes that have had bits chopped off, and modifications done, to suit the whims of the owner. Even done by the owner. Well, this is one of those bikes, but where the factory has done all the work and done it that way from the design stage upwards. 
In 7th place is the Yamaha MT-09. What a success this bike has been for Yamaha! It began as a naked, good-fun bike. A “hoon bike” even, given its power and flickable handling. But it is versatile enough to be ridden more sedately too. A couple of friends have (or have had) these, and (hard seat not withstanding) loved them. And neither of them are hoons!
Like the MT-07, it too comes in retro XSR, and touring Tracer, styles. But they are all intended to be ridden in an enthusiastic manner: in tests (see the links) I’ve pointed to the serrated-top foot-pegs as evidence that they are intended for, or at least providing for, serious riding.
Coming in at 8th place was the Honda Grom. ……………?
I got nothing. I’ve got no idea why any grown person would want to buy a modern-day over-sized Z50!
And yet in only its second year in production it soared to the top of the naked-bike sales charts; and 4th best selling bike over-all. ………… No, I’ve got no idea why! And I haven’t seen many on the road, so it’s hard to believe they’re selling that many of them! (But then I don’t see many CB125s on the road either!).
Okay, to be fair to the little thing, they’re actually 125cc and have 12” wheels; so they are bigger than a Z50. Oh, and I read that they’re good in traffic; fun even. Right….?! But they still look like a modernised, over-sized Z50.
Back to reality and some sense of rationality with the 9th place getter, the Yamaha R3. It looks like an R1, but it’s learner legal. And it’s built by Yamaha. That’s a combination that is sure to garner some sales. The fact that it goes well (especially for a 300cc bike), and handles like a sports-bike should handle, is further reason for MotoGP-wannabes to buy this entry-level sports-bike. With a price-tag of $4,999 for the traditional Yamaha blue (some colours are a bit dearer), it’s also great value!
And, finally, coming in at 10th place is the bike that last time I looked was at the other end of the top 10; the venerable Postie Bike. The Honda NBC110. Wave goodbye, because it won’t be on the top-10 list next time. 

So there it is: the 10 top-selling bikes for the whole of 2018. Australia Post’s decision to go back to bicycles has stirred up the market more than might at first be expected. But there are – as always – a lot of other things to ponder when looking through the list of the top-selling bikes.
I don’t usually do articles like this on sales figures, because the facts go out of date so quickly. But every now and then it’s good to have a look at what is selling and make comment on them. And the bikes will be around for a while, so the comments will still apply, even if they aren’t on the sales charts any more.

Written May 2019.

NOTE: Basic information and list taken from Motorcycle Trader magazine, March 2019. Comments and opinions are mine.