Hard times in motorbike world

Competition is fierce for motorcycle retailers across the Western Bay as the recession bites.

Retailers who spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times claimed there were too many motorcycle stores for the size of the region. They blamed the poor economy for lacklustre interest in the two-wheeled machines.

Most retailers reported a challenging first quarter, which was backed up by latest MTA figures of a 14 per cent decrease in new motorcycles (30) registered in Tauranga compared with the same time last year (35).

Bayride general manager Lindsay Beck said there were too many motorcycle shops in Tauranga for the size of the town and a handful of shops were barely making ends meet.

"Some have been struggling quite a bit, two or three are doing quite well and the ones in the middle are just hanging in there," he said.

He believed increased registration costs were one reason sales were down.

Adrenaline Motorcycles changed locations in November last year from one end of Totara St to the other. Owner Simon Horne said the industry had been tough for the past three years but had picked up in the past month or two. He said the business didn't make a profit on bike sales, but on services, parts and accessories. "Bike shops continue to struggle to compete against the internet and shops are significantly more expensive than ... Trade Me so we have to differentiate ourselves with the services we provide," he said.

A spokesperson from Moto City on Hewletts Rd said sales wouldn't start to pick up until people had disposable income again.

Andrew Stanley, owner of Durham St shop Smiths Motorcycle Mad, said the industry wasn't booming and it had a lot to do with public confidence and spending. He said last year was particularly bad, however the market was slowly starting to recover. He expected a "boost in demand" for motorbikes in the near future as petrol prices continued to increase.

Despite the fall in motorcycle registrations, latest MTA statistics for cars were more positive. MTA's April statistics for Tauranga showed new passenger car registrations of 223 were up 27 per cent on April, 2011 (175). Nationally, 7048 new vehicles were sold last month compared with 5610 in April 2011, an increase of 26 per cent. Car sales at Farmer Autovillage reached record levels this year, said general manager Warren Carter.

"March was a record for new vehicle sales across the nine [franchise] brands we have and that's flowed through into April. It appears people are positive about what's happening [in the economy]," he said.