Sportsbike sales on top | Revived Honda CBR600RR supersport leads middleweight sales boom

Honda’s revived-for-2024 CBR600RR has become Britain’s best-selling middleweight, topping the sector sales charts in June according to figures from the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA).

“What a brilliant bit of news this is! From the moment it first came on display at Motorcycle Live last year and the customer reaction it had, we knew it was going to be a great addition to our already strong supersport line-up,” Head of Motorcycles at Honda UK, Neil Fletcher told MCN.

“To see the subsequent sales success since its arrival in dealers has been great. To also combine this with the racing success in the British Supersport class and at the Isle of Man TT means we couldn’t be more pleased,” he continued.

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The CBR600RR was dropped in Europe back in 2017 but returned for 2024 priced at £10,499. Powered by a 599cc liquid-cooled 16v inline four producing a claimed 119bhp, it joins a returning Kawasaki ZX-6R in a rejuvenated supersport class.

Despite the good news for Honda, overall sales are a little disappointing, with total June registrations of 12,734 representing a 5.8% decline on 2023 numbers. Year to date figures are also behind by 0.7%.

“The registration figures come alongside news of a change in government to Labour,” MCIA CEO, Tony Campbell said. “Over the course of the election campaign dozens of candidates from all political parties signed MCIA’s Powered Light Vehicle Pledge in support of our industry and we are now calling on the new Government to get behind the industry manifesto.”

Some categories remain in growth, with 501-750cc bikes up by 3.3%. Sales of 126-500cc machines are up by 23.6% – with a big proportion of the latter’s popularity down to new models such as Triumph’s Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 X. Another popular category is ‘Modern Classics’ of all capacities, with sales for June over 23% up on last year.