Registrations of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds last month were 10.2 per cent up on the same month last year, according to figures issued by the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCIA).

Powered two wheeler (PTW) registrations of 13,747 were 1,269 up on April, 2007. This takes the total market this year to 44,441 - up 1.3 per cent on the same period last year. Increases were seen across almost all engine sizes and bike categories with mopeds up 49.7 per cent and scooters up 42.3 per cent.

Motorcycle registrations gained 4.8 per cent with most styles showing increases. Adventure sport bikes continued their upward trend with a 27.8 per cent increase, with the BMW R1200 GS the top seller. Supersport bike sales dipped 10.8 per cent. The biggest-selling make in April was Honda with 1,990 registrations.

News of the jump in PTW registrations comes at the same time as the Department for Transport (DfT) has released new figures on road transport use in 2007. The DfT says that at the end of last year, 1.133 million motorcycles were registered for road use, up 3.2 per cent on 2006 and the biggest total since 1985. An additional 392,000 were declared stored or off the road - a normal occurrence during December and winter months.

Around one third of all bikes were of less than 125cc and legal for use by learners. The average motorcycle engine size was 510cc.

Courtesy of visordown.com