Words: Peter Louisson

In a US Consumer Report survey of 11,000 bike owners and 12,000 bikes purchased between 2008 and 2014, the four big Japanese brands proved the most reliable, according to results published last year.

Owners of Japanese machines had fewer problems in the first four years of ownership than American and European brands.

At the head of the pack was a resurgent Yamaha, with a predicted failure rate based on owner experience of 11 per cent, followed closely by Suzuki and Honda in equal second position on 12 per cent, and Kawasaki fourth on 15 per cent. Then it was essentially down to the American brands, with the imminently defunct Victory brand the closest to the Japanese on 17 per cent. There was then a relatively sizeable gap to the next on the list, Harley-Davidson, with a 26 per cent failure rate within four years, followed by Triumph on 29 per cent, and then Ducati on 33 per cent. BMW and Can Am trailed the field on 40 and 42 per cent respectively. There were insufficient data on makes like Aprilia, KTM and Moto Guzzi but these will feature in the next Consumer Report survey.

The “failure rate” was defined as “in need of serious attention requiring repairs”. Of note, 45 per cent of repairs cost the owners nothing, and when they did have to pay, average repair costs ranged from $US250 for Kawasaki to $US450 for BMW. The most common systems needing repair were electrical (lights, instruments and radio), brakes, and fuel related.

Oddly enough, when owners were asked whether or not they would buy the same bike again, results were rather different, with 88 per cent of Victory owners standing by their brand compared with 72 per cent of Harley owners. They were closely followed by Honda riders on 70 per cent, BMW owners on 68 per cent, Ducati on 66 per cent and Yamaha on 62 per cent. Kawasaki and Suzuki fared less well in this category, scoring at just over 50 per cent.

Asked to rate the brands in terms of overall satisfaction with aspects like styling, acceleration, handling, comfort and just plain “fun”, Ducati came out on top with a 66 per cent rating, and BMW also fared well. It would appear that design, coolness and brand image rate higher than reliability and cost of repairs in decision making.These results broadly echo those of an earlier Consumer Reports study.