Yamaha is still the most reliable motorcycle brand, according to Consumer Reports, but Victory owners are the most satisfied with their purchase.

Some CMG readers might remember the 2013 Consumer Reports survey about motorcycle reliability that left Yamaha ahead of their competitors. Two years later, Consumer Reports has published another similar article in their May issue, and the results are very much the same. According to the Consumer Reports motorcycle survey, Yamaha builds the most trouble-free motorcycles.

After Yamaha come the other Japanese manufacturers – Suzuki, then Honda, then Kawasaki. Victory and Harley-Davidson out-ranked the Euro brands; Triumph, Ducati and BMW were at the bottom. Can-Am three-wheelers also performed poorly in reliability rankings.

When it comes to customer satisfaction, though, the story is different. The Consumer Reports study says 80 per cent of Victory owners are happy and would be a repeat customer for the Polaris-owned brand. Harley-Davidson owners were 72 per cent satisfied, and Honda owners were 70 per cent satisfied.

There are plenty of other juicy bits of information in the Consumer Reports story. For instance, did you know cruisers are less likely to need repairs than other styles of bike? After cruisers, the next most-reliable style of bike is dual sport/adventure. Apparently, bikes that are built to ride around the world hold up very well when used for Starbucks runs or commuting, which is where many (but not all!) GS and KLR models end up.

Consumer Reports says a bike’s electrical system is the most likely component to need repair, followed by accessories, then brakes.

The least reliable style of motorcycle, according to the Consumer Reports survey, was three-wheelers. Their web site says “Three-wheeled bikes had significantly greater risk of repairs, especially those with two front and one rear wheel.” Take from that what you will.

To get their information, Consumer Reports says they surveyed 11,000 subscribers who owned 12,300 motorcycles; results were drawn from 3,000 repaired motorcycles.

Interested in reading the full report? It seems you can get more information from their website if you’re a paying customer, but if you aren’t interested in a subscription, you can always hop down to a newsstand or pick up a digital issue for your iPad or other tablet.

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