Significant growth in motorbike sales in July have been welcomed by Stephen Latham, head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.

“It is extremely positive to see that the motorcycle market has continued to grow, with dealers reporting a 14% increase in sales in July, and a year-to-date growth of 13.1%”, said Latham.

All bike sectors showed significant growth in July, apart from the 50cc bikes which saw a 15.5% decline, and Latham said this was due to new riders opting for more robust 125cc machines.

“It is also interesting to note the popularity of these machines across many model sectors,” said Latham. “The highest registrations were recorded in the 125cc Honda supersport, scooter and naked machines, followed by Yamaha in the custom sector. Demand for the 125cc value brand Lexmoto came in third place with 776 bikes registered.

“July also saw high demand for larger machines in the 651-1000cc category, with a reported increase of 28.3% compared to July 2014, and a year-to-date increase of 26.3%.

“Motorcycle dealers remain optimistic about the months ahead, however there are still reservations over stock availability. The NMDA is hopeful that the upward trend of motorcycle sales continues to grow.”