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The US economy has been slow to recover, and so too has the US motorcycle market. With first-quarter sales down 0.3% this year though, it looked like the US motorcycle market was about to flatline.

Thankfully, that has not been the case in Q2 of 2014, as the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is proud to report that US motorcycle sales are up 4.0% in the second quarter of this year.

Selling 169,111 units in Q2 2014 (6,585 more than in 2013), motorcycles sales in the US so far this year are now up 2.6%, with 263,833 units sold so far in 2014.

How Is that rebounding economy treating you? If you work in the motorcycle industry, probably not so well according to the Motorcycle Industry Council’s latest sales report, which highlights sales from the first-quarter of 2014. Down 0.2% (or 118 units) from Q1 2013, the slight decline over last year’s numbers are primarily due to a 10.7% sales drop in scooter sales.

Dual-sport motorcycles were up 3.9% (7,644 units), with on-road bikes holding at 0.9% growth (65,301 units). Dirt bike sales were down 2.7% during the same three-month time period (16,597 units).

In total, 94,524 two-wheel vehicles were sold in the US (94,772 units were sold in Q1 2013) according to the MIC, which tracks Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Piaggio Group, Victory, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha.

Don’t call it a comeback, because even though the US motorcycle industry beat the Motorcycle Industry Council’s projections last year, sales so far for 2013 are looking less than stellar in the first-half of the year.

Down 5.2% from January to June, motorcycle sales were hit mostly by abysmal losses in the scooter segment (23.3%), and helped along by modest losses in the on-road segment (5.3%). Adding more to the misery, dual-sports suffered a 3.4% drop in the first half of the year, though surprisingly off-road bikes showed a gain, increasing 5.4% over Q1 & Q2.

As was predicted, Ducati Motor Holdings has posted a very impressive 2012 sales report, with 44,102 motorcycles being delivered to customers last year. Appeasing its new German owners, Ducati also grew 16% in revenues over its 2011 figures.

Perhaps more importantly, the American market has solidified its position as the brand’s most important market (the US market posted 21% sales gains as well). With this news, 2012 now officially marks Ducati’s high-water mark in terms of yearly sales figures. Swish.

If you read A&R with any sort of regularity, you should know by now that the European motorcycle companies have been cleaning house during these otherwise tough economic times, with 2011 being the high-water mark for many of these more premium brands. BMW Motorrad posted its best sales year ever in 2011, while Triumph and KTM have been holding their own as well.

The same has been true for Ducati, and now Ducati North America has posted its sales numbers for 2011, which show a 43% gain over the previous year. This increase in sales has now established North America as Ducati’s #1 market for the first time ever, and the Italian brand continues to grow here in the United States, Canada, and Mexico (while declining back home in Italy).

When the Triumph Tiger 800 came out, speculation immediately set forth on when the British brand would build a “full-size” adventure bike. Then the 2012 Triumph Tiger Explorer broke cover ahead of the 2011 EICMA show, and officially added a 1,200cc three-cylinder adventure-tourer to Triumph’s motorcycle line-up. Along with a plethora of other motorcycles, the Triumph Tiger Explorer hopes to take on the BMW R1200GS, the undisputed king of ADV riding.

Since the Tiger 800 gained favorable reviews and traction in the marketplace, the Tiger Explorer was expected to also be a market favorite for 2012…that is of course if Triumph could price the big-displacement Tiger competitively against the Ducatis, BMWs, and KTMs in the US market. Getting a $15,699 MSRP price tag, that element of our question has been answered, and sets the Triumph Tiger Explorer as the cheaper alternative in the premium-adventure market.

The 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 has broken cover, and the biggest feature the lightly tweaked liter-class bike boasts is a new seven-level traction control system (for our brothers in arms across the pond, a six-level traction system is being used…consider that punishment for your European ways). Other material changes include a revised engine map for smoother power delivery in the lower and middle rpms, while the footrests, triple clamps, headlight marker lamps, front cowl, and exhaust guards & end caps have also been revamped for 2012. More after the jump.

BMW has finally gotten around to setting the MSRP on its highly anticipated S1000RR sportbike. Priced in-line to compete with the major Japanese manufacturers, the S1000RR is going for a measly $13,800.

For that price you’ll receive a bike with 193hp at the crank, a dry weight of 404lbs, and a headlight only a mother could love. For an additional $1,000, you can get the S1000RR with ABS brakes,  and only sacrifice an additional 5.5lbs of that curb weight.

ducati-streetfighter-may-22nd

If you have a Ducati Dealership in your home town, then chances are you may be closer to a Ducati Streetfighter than you think. Arriving as we speak to dealerships in the United States are nondescript cardboard covered metal crates, labeled “Ducati 1098”.

Big deal right, what Ducati dealership doesn’t have a few 1098 superbikes sitting on the showroom floor, or in the shop waiting to be put together? If you saw the box, you’d walk on buy unsuspecting that in fact Ducati has begun shipping the Streetfighter purposefully in these mislabeled crates to throw off any peeking eyes.

Yes, we’ve seen a Ducati Streetfighter on American soil, and on May 22nd so will you. That is of course, assuming you don’t go down to your local Ducati dealership and beg/borrow/steal a peak in their inventory lot. Tell them we sent you.

aprilia-smv-750-dorsoduro-3pg

Not content to let KTM and Ducati play in the big displacement motard segment by themselves, Aprilia is bringing their Shiver based SMV 750 Dorsoduro motard state-side for 2009. The Dorsoduro’s 90°, 750cc, 8-valve, v-twin makes 92 hp (at 8,750 rpm) and 61 lb•ft of torque (at 4,500 rpm), and with a claimed dry weight of 409lbs, it would seem to be an ideal hooligan machine. Read more for the full details on the Dorsoduro with pictures.