Many motorcycle and powersports dealers are right in the middle of their busiest season of the year. The auctions are still getting solid consignment and dealer attendance with a solid interest from buyers where exporting will be the next venue for many of the sold units.
The wholesale prices of motorcycles and scooters typically soften up a little in late summer as more and more customers have already completed their purchases for these often seasonal-use bikes, but it might be happening a few weeks earlier this year.
I’ve observed late model metric units dropping 1 to 2 percent this month, with large V-Twins down a little over 3 percent. In the current economy, it is no big surprise that discretionary spending for big ticket items is off a little.
As summer wears on, I’m also noticing a bit of a decline in the watercraft and jet boat market. This is also not a shock, as most dealers have already made their summer water sports purchases and are not adding any additional inventory for this segment of the business.
Snowmobiles are really non-existent on the wholesale market right now, as is typically the case in the summer months. I expect to start seeing them reemerge into the auctions at the beginning of the fall, which is also when we generally look for an uptick in ATV and utility prices as hunters and outdoorsmen get ready for cooler weather activities.
