I for one (and I am certain others out there) have wondered just how many of my fellow **** Sapiens have been purchasing the FJR and just how that compares with the rest of the S-T market space.
Keeping in mind that this segment is tiny when compared to sport bikes, V-Twins, scooters and other, much higher volume two wheeled motorised machines it is amazing just how much press and how much attention our gang seems to command.
Well, now we have an answer.
The MCNEWS survey states that 'in the last 12 months' 10,800 FJRs were sold in the U.S. and that this number was 1.1% higher than the previous 12 months and that this was good enough to make Yamaha number two in the segment (with a 26.2% share of the market) behind BMW. Always keep in mind that the BMW number is for ALL of their touring machines combined - so it is entirely possible that in the U.S. the FJR could well be the largest-selling MODEL of touring bike.
Anyone care to wite to the M.I.C. for a more detailed breakdown?
That number is, however surprising to me - everyone's best guesses seemed to be in the 3,000 range and, at least according to one report, D&H (who reportedly sold 110 units last year) believed that they were the top seller of the FJR - and we KNOW that many dealers never sell any of the model. And D&H's complaints that the preorder system spells the end of their reign flies in the face of the sales numbers - though that 1.1% increase in unit sales seems to not have been enough to prevent some erosion of the overall market share, which we saw as being 28% in the previous year.
So just where ARE all these machines? Certainly the FJR is a pretty rare site on the streets. With something like 30,000-50,000 units (of all years in total if I extrapolate) on the streets of America, they should be more visible.
