Big Fun In Little Packages

It seems to be the norm to define motorcycles in terms of size and dimensions.  How big is your motor?  How wide is your tire?  How big is your fuel tank?  For some reason, it always seems to follow that the bigger anything is, the better it is. However, there was a time when small capacity bikes were sought after not only by beginners, but also by those who wanted a fun little machine to bop around town or just because they enjoyed all that came with riding around on a small bike.  Over the years, bikes got bigger and bigger and somewhere along this progression the small capacity bikes somehow got phased out from the mainstream.  Perhaps it's due to the evolution of the biker image or maybe it's simply increased machismo and ego that keeps us believing that we have to lug around a nine-hundred pound tourer or a two hundred mile per hour missile to truly enjoy riding, but recent trends seem to show that there's room for the revival of the small motorcycle.

For those who keep up with various motorcycle publications, it's no surprise that small bikes are starting to flood the market.  The popularity of motorcycles seems to have skyrocketed in Asia where smaller fuel efficient motorcycles are the norm due to the high cost of fuel, types of roads as well as high tariffs on imports.  India alone is purportedly a one million bike sales a year market.  It seems that manufacturers across the board in Asia and Europe have realized the trend and have set up camp around the globe to bring supply to these bikes that these markets demand.

Whatever happened to this image of motorcycling?

What surprised many is the demand that the US market showed for smaller capacity bikes.  Many assumed because of the grand infrastructure of the US and our general motorcycling culture that the demand for little bikes was a niche at most and at best only a temporary stepping stone for those who are initially intimidated by full size motorcycles.  A large part of that demand could be attributed to the yearly increase in new riders as many of them had little choice when it came to "beginner" motorcycles juts a few years ago.  After all, not everyone needs a 500 horsepower sports car or a 20 foot long luxury land yacht.  The real surprise is the percentage of experienced riders who opt to get on a small bike and those who remain on them after thousands of miles.  If people really considered the small bike to only be the first step before a bigger bike, online marketplaces should be flooded by late model small bikes and showrooms should be littered with trade ins, however, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Kawasaki Ninja 300 vs. Honda CBR 300

Perhaps it's due to the old adage, "It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than ride a fast bike slow" and why not go for a small bike?  They're great fun and simple enough that most people can figure out how to work on them with a few wrenches and screw drivers and low cost means more money for aftermarket modifications.  After all, a large percentage of the people who are riding the larger bikes rarely actually utilize their full abilities (even in straight lines) and in turn end up paying larger insurance premiums as well as much more for maintenance on a machine they rarely utilize more than a percentage of.  Perhaps it's simply because modesty has found itself as a new trend in motorcycling or maybe it really just boils down to economics.  Times are tough and some people seem to be seeking out small capacity bikes that can get close to or sometimes over 100 miles to the gallon simply as a refuge from today's gas prices so naturally it wouldn't make sense to negate those savings by dealing with a bigger and faster bike.  Whatever the reasons might be, I believe it to be a step in the right direction.

The more user friendly and non-intimidating we make motorcycles, the more the general public might come into the fold and take part in this passion so many of us have already come to discover.  I'll always be a proponent of trying to bring motorcycles into the mainstream.  Having more people on bikes brings more awareness which in turn brings about safety for riders.  Not only is there the general safety in public factor, but perhaps it could lead to changes in legislation that would largely benefit the motorcycling community, but hasn't gained traction because we are still regarded as a very small minority.  I hope that this trend of small bikes is a sign of bigger and greater things to come in the world of motorcycles.