Hello and welcome to the May 2014 edition of Beggs on the Specialty Markets. I’m Ricky Beggs, Editorial Director at Black Book. It is great being able to bring you the culmination of a month’s worth of market results based on the study and analysis of the industry specific editors for what we term the specialty markets. The motorcycles and powersports markets are in fine hands with Scott Yarbrough, as he keeps up with the interest, demand, and market trends that are currently in the peak season of their use.

 

The steadily improving economy and the time of the year definitely are helping all of these specialty markets. Thanks for joining us as we take a closer look at the Motorcycles and Powersports market:

 

May finds activity in the Powersports market revving up this month. Prices are up across the board, and for the first time this year, by fairly large amounts for most of the segments we cover.

 

With winter finally giving way to spring and warmer weather, the powersports auctions we cover have seen a greater volume of units passing through the lanes, rising prices and a significant reduction in no-sales and “if” bids.

 

Dealers have been stocking up on inventory for the return of retail customers to their showrooms. This has led to the change in market conditions we are reporting this month.

 

First up are the cruisers, which are up 3 percent. Unlike last month where the domestic V-Twins led the way, both they, and the metric units, are up by similar amounts this time around.

 

Next up we have the scooter segment which is up 3.2 percent. The off road bikes are up 2.9 percent and street bikes and utility vehicles are each up 2.5 percent.    

 

Oddly, the ATVs are only up 0.6 percent versus last month. While these units traditionally see the biggest bump in values as fall arrives, they usually trend a little higher in value than this during the spring.

 

In similar fashion to the split between ATVs and utility vehicles, personal watercraft and jet boats are also showing mixed results. The personal watercraft segment is up 3.4 percent on average while the jet boats are only up 0.4 percent. We are not sure why these usually linked segments are so different this month, but last year we saw jet boats outperform the watercraft, so this may be a market correction. 

This covers the motorcycles and powersports market units and the overall positive spring activity. Have a great day and we hope to see you at one or more of the specialty market auctions this month.