So according to the excellent “Bikes in the Fast Lane” site’s reporting of an article in Moto Journal, the top 5 motorcycle sales in 2005 were:

Italy
1. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 – 10,834
2. Honda 600 Hornet – 8,217
3. Kawasaki Z750 – 5,149
4. Honda CBR 600 RR – 4,421
5. BMW R1200GS – 4,095

Germany
1. BMW R1200GS – 6,779
2. Honda CBF 600 – 4,859
3. Suzuki Bandit 650 – 3,420
4. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 – 3,286
5. Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 2,947

France
1. Kawasaki Z750 – 7,160
2. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 – 6,474
3. Suzuki Bandit 650 – 5,475
4. Suzuki SV 650 – 3,420
5. Honda Hornet 600 – 2,687

Spain
1. Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZ6 – 5,421
2. Suzuki GSX-R 600 – 2,988
3. Honda CBR 600 RR – 2,893
4. Honda CBF 250 – 2,778
5. Suzuki Bandit 650 – 2,425

UK
1. Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 2,534
2. Kawasaki ZX-6R – 2,213
3. Honda CBR 1000 RR – 2,083
4. BMW R1200GS – 1,980
5. Yamaha R1 – 1,936

Now, whilst four of the UK’s top 5 being sportsbikes is probably a healthy thing, as far as I’m concerned, the level of sales that implies is pretty pathetic, isn’t it?

Slightly perturbed by this, I went and had a look at the MCIA’s web site and found December 2005′s figures with the 2005 totals.

It looks as though Moto Journal had ignored total PTW sales, because Honda’s learner-legal 125cc bike, the CBR 125R, was actually the year’s top-seller with 2,738 unit sales.

Somewhat more disappointing for me is that Kawasaki only sold “approximately 150″ ZRX1200Rs in the UK in 2005 whilst Triumph sold 757 Speed Triples.

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