2021 proved to be another successful year for motorcycle sales, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did manufacturers like Ducati set record-high sales figures, but country’s such as Japan shipped the most motorcycle units in the past 23 years. Now, the United Kingdom and Australia are reporting similar sales numbers in 2021.

Starting with Great Britain, motorcycle and scooter sales rose to 114,371 units last year, marking the country’s best annual two-wheeler sales since 1996. While that figure predictably exceeds the 2020 sales numbers by 9.3 percent, it also improves on pre-pandemic performance, eclipsing 2019 sales stats by 6.5 percent.

Naked bikes represented the largest portion of sales with 24,398 units moved, but registered adventure bikes grew by 19.6 percent with 19,761 units. Modern classics also sold well in 2021, with 10,717 units leading to 10.7-percent growth in the sector. Thanks to the expansion of Clean Air Zones, delivery services, and commuters, models between 51-125cc performed best, accounting for 40,664 units sold.

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Down Under, it was a completely different story. Aussies purchased 95,209 motorcycles and scooters in 2021. Within that total, off-road models accounted for 53,118 units sold, with the Honda CRF50 and CRF110 leading the small-capacity category and the Yamaha YZ250F and WR450F outpacing the big bikes. Of course, KTM, Kawasaki, and Suzuki off-road models fared well too, driving the segment to an 18.8-percent improvement over the same period in 2020.

Australian customers purchased less on-road models with 37,270 sold in 2021, but that number represents a 6.8 increase over 2020 figures. The Honda CMX500 (Rebel 500) and Harley-Davidson Breakout were stand-out models last year, but the Yamaha MT-07 and Suzuki DR650L pulled their weight as well.

Scooters only recorded 4,821 sales, but those numbers equate to an 8.1-percent increase over 2020. Unsurprisingly, Honda’s NSC110 led the pack in 2021. The UK and Australia enjoyed yet another year of growth in 2021, and hopefully, both countries can carry that momentum in 2022.