According to the latest data released by JAMA, the trade association that represents Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, their combined motorcycle exports to Europe were up by 14.8 percent in October this year, to 11,432 units - the most for October since 2010.
For the first 10 months of the year, motorcycle exports to Europe were up by 24.9 percent, at 124,670 units, which is only 1,000 or so behind the 2011 and 2012 performance.
In terms of all Japanese made PTWs (all displacements) October was 12.2 percent up, at 12,939 units - again, these represent the best figures for October since 2010.
For the year to date, the Japanese manufacturers have nearly recovered to the position they were in 2012, at 138,990 units, which is up by 22.5 percent over the first 10 months of 2013.
Interestingly, the sustained improvement seen by Japanese manufacturers in their European dealerships has not been replicated this year in the United States, where year to date motorcycle shipments have caught up some ground, and are currently reported as running at -1.2 percent (94,248 units).
This is around 1,100 behind the first 10 months of 2013, but it still represents a dramatic improvement on the first half of this year, and compared to the near complete collapse in Japanese motorcycle exports to the US seen in 2010 - at the same point in that year the United States had only imported 48,340 250cc+ units compared to the 357,430 seen in the first 10 months of 2006.
