STAT
ATTACK
Europe : ACEM stats for the ' Big Five ' European national markets ( Italy , France , Spain , Germany and the UK ) show motorcycle registrations for the first nine months of 2021 rising by + 10.6 % compared to the same period of 2020 , totalling 792,819 units . Almost all the main national markets registered volume gains in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 , with Italy showing the biggest increase (+ 27.9 %). UK , Spain and France also performed well (+ 13.5 %, + 8.7 % and + 8.5 % increases respectively ) with only Germany declining , by -4.9 % YTD . Compared to the first nine months of 2019 , the ' Big Five ' were + 8.2 % compared to the 732,594 new units registered for the January to September period in 2019 .
Italy : New motorcycle registrations for September were + 2.31 % at 8,911 units , + 4.02 % for October ( 6,758 units ) and -2.21 % for November at 4,901 units . For the YTD ( Jan - Nov 2021 ), Italian registrations are heavily up on the year-ago period at + 28.14 % ( 115,442 units ), and compared to 96,158 units in 2019 . This compares to 98,917 units for the first 11 months of 2019 and 94,108 for the 2020 period . In total PYW terms , the Italian market was + 24.43 % YTD at 262,572 units . The top-selling motorcycle is the Benelli TRK 502 / X ( 6,455 units YTD ), with the R 1250 GS next with 3,894 units sold , Honda ' s Africa Twin third on 2,877 units , with Yamaha ' s Tracer 9 fourth ( 2,873 units ). Total scooter sales for the period were + 21.67 % ( 147,131 units ).
UK : New motorcycle registrations in the UK for the YTD period to November 2021 were + 12.76 % at 100,919 units , having actually been down for seven of the 11 months of 2021 so far . In monthly terms , the UK had a spectacular November , with registrations + 24.30 % at 6,690 units . The UK market is now ahead of the sales levels seen in 2019 and 2020 . In fact , this has already been the best year in the UK since 2016 . In total PTW terms , the UK was + 12.11 % at 107,470 new model registrations in total . ' Nakeds ' remain the largest motorcycle segment , accounting for 23,281 units YTD . The UK scooter market accounted for 24,869 units . The best-selling model in November was the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 and Honda was overall market share leader .
Changing times in production
Our thanks to Supersprox Director DJ Maughfling for more news about the production changes and improvements being implemented at the company ' s Ukraine factory . Under his guidance , Supersprox is joining the drive that is
' Stopped using conventional cooling fluid '
increasingly seeing motorcycle industry OEM and aftermarket parts vendors embrace sustainable manufacturing processes . " The world of manufacturing is changing constantly ," DJ told IDN , " but sometimes we get so used to a particular procedure or rule of manufacturing , that we forget to look for new alternatives . For example , anyone machining steel or aluminium , with high productivity goals , knows for sure how important tool cooling is . " At Supersprox we were able to improve our environmental impact when we stopped using conventional cooling fluid in the machining process ." This is a counterintuitive claim to those who have assumed that the orthodox principles are here to stay , so we wanted to know more . After all , this idea conflicts with our understanding of the processes that have dominated sprocket and other production procedures for decades . DJ continued : " We machine sprockets every day and doing so creates thousands of tons of waste . Much of the waste is in the form of small metal chips , created by the cutting tools in turning , milling and gear cutting processes .
' It is now possible to keep tool temperatures below 70 C '
" Each chip is coated with a fine layer of oil-based cooling fluid , and that is taken out with the metal chips . We lose about 300 litres of oil each month with this process . Recovery of the oil is possible , but too expensive . Considering the type of product we produce , the oil loss was inevitable . " Technology changes have now brought new techniques within our reach - techniques that can allow us to dry cut mass production parts . These days , tool coating technology allows tools to have such a high degree of cutting efficiency that cutting steel becomes more like cutting butter . " In the past , we used HSS steel for making our parts . With a hardness of about 60 HRC and temperature resistance up to 650 C , it worked well enough for the times . The conventional tooling used was first commercially used way back in the 1940s and had not changed all that much since then . " Then we jumped up to Carbide tooling , with a considerably harder structure of around 180 HRC - Carbide based tooling is able to withstand higher temperatures . But these tools are not able to machine steel in dry conditions at high speeds and high feed rates . " However , the addition of surface coatings mean increases in surface hardness into the
' Surface coatings mean increases in surface hardness into the region of 3,000 HRC '
region of 3,000 HRC , and this ensures the tool edge remains sharp for a long time - it is now possible to keep tool temperatures below 70 C when cutting steel parts . " We are happy to be able to reduce the oil waste that would otherwise end up leaking into the ground or getting burned in the open air . We are pleased with the reduction of oils in the workplace - it is a positive health benefit for the operators . " We believe that we will be able to totally eliminate cutting oils from our processes during the next two to three years - with a positive impact all round ." www . supersprox . com
6 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - DECEMBER 2021 / JANUARY 2022 www . idnmag . com