The last few years have seen a transformation in Chinese bikes that is faster and deeper than the shift to Japanese bikes in the '80s and '90s. The same racist anti-Asian nonsense is thrown around – poor quality, copying European designs and so on. All this was levelled at the Japanese and now is thrown at the Chinese product. To be fair there is certainly some abuse of intellectual copyright and outright theft of design. Not just Asia, when Triumph relaunched after its bankruptcy the bike press were quick to note the motorcycle was pretty much a copy of the Kawasaki. It is a quick way to bring a decent bike to market.
Chongqing is the main hub of motorcycle manufacture in China. Today’s LinkedIn lists over 1,000 jobs for “motorcycle engineer” in that region. There are several big manufacturers that are now making deep inroads into both the US and UK market. This year (2026) something like 13% of new bike sales in the UK will be Chinese.
One of the most important companies so far has been CF Moto due to its relationship with KTM. CF Moto breaks the stereotype about copies – the company has some 1,800 patents with 4 R&D centres globally. As well as China they manufacture in Thailand and Mexico.
China makes roughly 22 million bikes a year, slightly less than India. In both these countries the big volume is small commuter bikes. In recent years the attention has shifted to bigger bikes for the leisure market. Such machines are more profitable and the buyers less price sensitive. Overall Chinese brands dominate the top rankings in global sales, although Honda are still ranked number one by most analysts. H-D are 37th and poor old Triumph slipped to 41.
A recent pricing report shows that both the US and Europe markets are dominated by the big capacity leisure bikes. For the USA the average new bike spend was $12,500 and for Europe $12,200. By contrast the Asian market buyer spent just $2,300 on a new bike. No surprise that the Chinese companies are looking at the US and Europe as key export markets.
Based on volume the Indian motorcycle market is huge in terms of unit sales. In that country the transition to electric bikes is growing strongly. The key sector is small commuter bikes. The Indian government is pushing hard to reduce air pollution and so trying to reduce the amount of pollution from all transport including motorcycles. The government introduced a scheme (PM E Drive) in 2024 to encourage take up of all forms of electric transport. This subsidises the cost of a new vehicle.
In many other markets the use of electric is also growing with again the small commuter type bikes being the target. Fuel costs and air pollution are the big factors.
So far there has been little real development of bigger more powerful bikes for the leisure market. In fact the US brands like Zero are leading the way for that segment of the market. This is mostly as the developed countries have high income customers willing to be early adopters and pay a high premium for electric motorcycles.
The big change that has taken place is in dirt bikes, in particular the small machines that are low cost, high fun and have slipped through the regulations net. Bikes like the Sur-Ron. This Chinese bike brand is selling some 20,000 units a year globally although in most countries most of the range is not really legal for road or public trails.
Like or hate these bikes they are an entry into motorcycle ownership for a lot of young people.
There are some important messages to learn from this analysis of the US and European motorcycle market and the history of the world-class brands to come out of those regions.
Firstly, we must accept that the brands of the last 50 years are facing either an ever diminishing share or they will be bought by other manufacturers in India or China. The brand will be applied to new bikes that do not share or reflect the mechanical features of the old brand. The new BSA Goldstar for example – this Indian motorcycle celebrates the British classic but is very much a modern Indian bike.
Second it is important to recognise that the trend to manufacturing in China and India is real and not about to be reversed by either government intervention or global economics. The high quality bikes coming from those countries are gaining acceptance faster and easier than the same shift that took place in the '80s and '90s with the shift to Japanese bikes.
Thirdly the global energy situation will favour electricity from renewable sources over fossil fuel and the shift to renewable electricity is the biggest energy shake up in several generations of people. Whether the changes impact the motive power of motorcycles in the near future is debatable, but countries with renewable electricity based economies will be the manufacturers of the future. Likewise, the move to electricity for passenger cars and commercial vehicles is a trend that is both unstoppable and profound. China will have 30 or more percent electric heavy goods vehicles in operation by 2030, no country can afford to burn diesel any more.
Forth the motorcycle market in the US and Europe is dominated by big engine leisure bikes that are highly profitable for the manufacturers. At the other end of the market the small bikes and light dual sport market there is almost certainly a big shift away both from legacy brands to new cheaper bikes and to electric bikes as well. In the electric market there are some very encouraging offers from companies in both the US and Europe if they can keep their early mover advantage.
Fifth there will be a continued decline in the bikes that appeal to the lifestyle statement buyers. I think the current boom in big “adventure” bikes may well also go the same way over the next few years. The middleweight Chinese bikes are a much better buy if you actually want to ride rather than pose.
The world is changing fast, and renewable energy is growing in importance whilst undercutting fossil fuel in price. The oil era is over. It has to be if we are to avoid more climate change. The change may well take 30 years or so, maybe more in places like Russia, but it will happen. Some liquid hydrocarbon fuels will probably still be needed, but there are new developments in that area as well. The Spanish oil company Repsol is pushing its petrol replacement and has begun manufacturing in Cartagena. The new fuel will work with existing engine technology so your old 1950 AJS can run for many more years to come, no matter what.
The world’s major economy has been the US for many years. Much of this has been on the back of oil and gas revenues. The US has a prosperous population and so it also has the world’s most important consumer market. China has about one fifth of the world’s population but until recently it has been a much weaker and less developed economy. This is changing fast.
Citigroup estimate China will overtake the US in the 2030s. Some other analysts think even sooner. Whenever the actual date it seems impossible that it will not happen.
Are we on the edge of a new era, one of affordable Chinese-made bikes? Is it possible that the next generation of motorcyclists will once again see bikes not just as a toy, a leisure item, but as a means of transport that is fast and affordable? Cars are the victim of their own success, a multi-lane highway just creates more traffic rather than eases the flow. Our cities are built around cars, not people. The motorcycle combines the best of individual transport with the advantage of size and cost, and offers a real alternative to public transport.
Henry Ford understood that making affordable vehicles was how to tap into the mass market. China manufactures affordable bikes aimed at the mass market. Will people in the US and Europe buy into that idea? In Italy scooters are still common, seen as an icon of that nation and its identity. However, Italy loves its cars as well, the country has 700 cars per 1,000 people – the highest number in Europe.
More important will the governments in the US and Europe do to Chinese bikes what they are already doing to Chinese cars?
The next few years will be significant for the motorcycle buyer in the US and Europe. But no matter what we buy, the fight will be China and India slugging it out for world dominance.