Low price rises!

Well, mostly. BMW and Suzuki keep average rises under £100. Harleys go up by over £1000

Despite all the talk of raw material and transport cost increases, BMW and Suzuki have managed to keep the average price rise across their ranges listed in Bike below £100. Several BMWS and one Suzuki actually decreased in price.

Though commendable, the Suzuki pricing is less surprising because most of the range needs all the help it can get to sell, but BMW’S strategy is more interesting. With a range packed with popular bikes, you’d think BM could have hiked prices across the board like Ducati (average price increase: £407). Instead, the F900XR drops by £290, the F850GS by £165 and the R Ninet by £160. Even Britain’s biggest-selling motorcycle over 125cc, the R1250GS, only goes up by £245 – that’s just a 1.7 percent increase. BMW hinted to Bike that some prices may go up later, but the official comment was: ‘Although certain supplier and logistical challenges have led to increased product and distribution costs over the past year, we have kept price increases to a minimum wherever practicable.’ Most other companies are clearly working hard to keep increases down too. Triumph, Yamaha and Kawasaki all have average increases around £230, while Enfield do better at £216 and Honda surpass that at £145. At the other end of the scale are Harley and Indian. Harley’s average increase is a staggering £1064 – which mirrors price increases in America – while Indian’s is £660. And the fruitiest increase of all? Energica. Their two electric bikes go up by an average of £4728. Shocking.

‘Companies are working hard to keep increases down’