Anyone who has tried to buy a motorcycle in 2020 or 20201 in Australia — especially since around June — will probably have realised two things about the Australian motorcycle market in 2020/2021: 1. Supply is super low (though recovering), and 2. Prices are super high.

So what happened? I wanted to figure it out — here’s what I learned from talking to people and hunting down data.

Are you obsessed with motorcycles?

Well, I am. That’s why I created this site — as an outlet. I love learning and sharing what others might find useful. If you like what you read here, and you’re a fraction as obsessed as I am, you might like to know when I’ve published more. (Check the latest for an idea of what you’ll see.)

Anecdotal research into Australia’s motorcycle market in 2020

I first noticed anomalies in Australia’s motorcycle market in June 2020, when I tried to buy a Honda FireBlade CBR954RR, which I previously wrote about as being my favourite in the whole FireBlade series.

The bike listed was very good, a “mint” example with 35,000 km on it, a full service history, tools, etc. It was listed by a dealer on the Gold Coast at $6,295.

The booming Australian motorcycle market in 2020 means I missed out on this yellow Honda CBR954RR FireBlade
Yellow Honda CBR954RR FireBlade

I called them and offered $5K — which is the price I had seen similar bikes go at privately. They said they’d take $6K, which I considered, and then bam… someone else picked it up, just like that.

Commiserating with the manager of the Honda dealership in the Gold Coast (in June 2020) I said and asked “I watch motorcycles a lot. Is it just me, or is supply really low right now?”

“It’s not just you!” he replied. “We’ve done double the sales in the last month than we normally would.”

The trend of outsized sales continued over the next few months in 2020 — motorcycle sales were continually through the roof, no matter whom I spoke with.

In July, in a Caboolture dealership while replacing my much-loved (but very single-purpose) Ducati 1098S, I had a chat with one of the sales reps about stock flying off the shelves.

Suzuki M109R in a full dealership in caboolture
Suzuki M109R in a dealership when it was still full

“Seems like everyone is cashing out their super and buying a motorbike,” one of the sales reps mused. “Not what I’d suggest doing but…” he trailed off.

The sales rep was talking about the Australian initiative to provide early access to “superannuation”, the Australian pension scheme (similar to the United States’ 401K), for emergency funds.

Even though the purpose of early access to super is for emergency use, people are using it to invest in domestic travel and luxury items — like motorcycles.

In October, checking out a BMW in Brisbane, one of the sales reps said that his boss “has done about triple his normal monthly sales for the last six months”. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the branch owner or the overall owner of the motorcycle group. But both would have probably said something similar.

And in November, I overheard another sales rep saying “We were discounting six months ago. We’re not discounting any more!”

At this point, the showroom floor was almost empty. Many of the most desired bikes on the floor — like Africa Twins and Ninja 400s — were sold.

The effect of supply and demand on motorcycle availability in 2020 and 2021

So what hasbeen the net effect on Australian motorcycle prices and the market in 2020?

Firstly, supply of new inventory has been very, very low.

In 2020, you could still go into a motorcycle dealership and buy a new bike. But for many more desired models — like a BMW R nineT, a Yamaha Ténéré 700, or an Africa Twin (I guess Australia likes its mid-powered bikes!) — you would have to wait a few months.

The reason for this was a combination of high demand and manufacturing and shipping delays. Factories and ports were running on less staff.

In 2021, supply recovered, but there’s still a long waiting period to buy most new models.

Secondly, used motorcycle prices have been high — for generally low quality stock.

I’ve noticed used motorcycles being priced around $1-3K above what they were priced six months ago, for motorcycles in the $5K-20K range. (I don’t normally shop above that range, so can’t comment.)

Private sellers are being opportunistic, and dealers are not discounting.

I’ve seen dealers listing motorcycles with 100,000+ km more and more regularly — I guess they know that if there were ever a time they could sell them, it’s now!

It’s not all bad news, though. Unless you’re caught in a position where you don’t have a bike, you can still take advantage of Australia’s motorcycle market in 2021.

How to take advantage of the Australian motorcycle market in 2021

Here are three ways in which I suggest motorcyclists can take advantage of the motorcycle market in 2021 in Australia.

1. If you’re thinking of selling your motorcycle — it’s getting harder already

It was a great time to sell your bike in 2020.

It was even possible to make a profit — I know, because I did a few times (just a meagre one, to cover my own costs, and not at all a living salary).

The year 2020 was a great time to either sell a used bike or to trade one in.

Now that the year is over, you’re competing against increased dealer supply and many new bikes. I still perceive that people are pricing private market bikes well above the market price — but I don’t think they’re selling (mine didn’t).

2. If you buy a motorcycle now, you can’t really negotiate much

Secondly, if you’ve been shopping for a motorcycle… now is not a great time to buy one, either used or new — unless you have a friend who is willing to sell it to you at normal market rates.

Prices are so high — used prices are high, and new inventory is so low — that you’re unlikely to get a good deal.

I’d suggest that if you’re desperate to buy, now is the time it makes sense to buy new. You won’t get any discounts, but because there’s an RRP on new motorcycles, there’s no way dealers can mark things up to take advantage of low supply. It’s just the same new price you would always have paid. (The caveat is that they won’t be desperate to sell so they won’t mark down any other costs, like delivery.)

3. Buy a motorcycle in 1-2 years.

The third thing to mention is that the motorcycle market has definite ebbs and flows, unlike the stock and housing markets that tend to rise continuously.

People buying motorcycles now will definitely get tired of them in 1-2 years when normal life resumes, they have no time to ride, and want to put their money into other things. It might be more like 2 years (or maybe 5).

So I’m not saying “wait until then to buy a motorcycle”. Rather, be on the lookout for good deals from low-mileage, big-ticket bikes, as well as popular first-time learner bikes like the Ninja 400.

The Future Outlook of the Australian Motorcycle Market

A few months ago, in April or May 2020, I’d have suggested buying stock in Motorcycle Holdings (MTO on the ASX), the company under which the TeamMoto brand operates.

Look at the two price spikes in May and October.

Teammoto stock price in 2020, with two spikes
Stock price for Motorcycle Holdings, parent company of Teammoto

If you bought stock earlier in the year, you would have at least doubled it… and quadrupled it, if you bought it at the trough and sold at the peak (but timing the market accurately is not statistically likely).

In October, MTO mentioned profit guidance of around $20M EBITDA in June 2021 — but that since the company has had outsized sales and has been held up by various government assistance programs, that one shouldn’t take this year’s sales as indicative of future performance.

It’s hard to tell the future (and so I won’t try). But even though the motorcycle market is undergoing a steady decline, it’s nice to see that it still spiking occasionally.

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2 Comments

  1. Thanks for this. I was looking in July 2020 for a bike in Brisbane. I’m from Souh Africa, buying my first vehicle in Oz, and was kinda exasperated by the prices on second hand bikes, like what are these people thinking? Sometimes people were asking more than the price of a new bike…bizarre.

    And yeah, dealers were not discounting at all. I ended up buying a new bike as it represented the best value for my money, but had to compromise on displacement to fit my budget. A year later I still check in on the market place, and nothing has changed. Is it the current market, with an unusually high demand, or is it not perhaps just another aspect to Oz culture, where the used bike market is over inflated cos people are dumb and think they can sell an old bike a dollar less than the price of a new one – cos I’m not convinced that is not the case?

  2. Thanks for your write up. I couldn’t sell a vtx1800 for 3k in 2019 now few years later I want a cruiser again and I just can’t pull the trigger at these price’s. Regret giving the vtx away now lol. Your write up has persuaded me to hurry up and wait luckily I have a cbr1100XX and ktm690 enduro to keep my from going crazy. Really want a cruiser… I won’t be selling as the regret losing a loved one is to much to deal lol. If you come across a big bore cruiser at reasonable prices please give me shout I’m desperately keen and not very good at waiting. Your a legend. Cheers

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