What began as a battle of the motorcycle brands to show who makes the most reliable motorcycle has resulted in a nationalist showdown. Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, and Kawasaki are all among the more reliable brands, based on our survey of more than 11,000 Consumer Reports subscribers. The predicted failure rates for four-year-old motorcycles ranged from 11 to 15 percent in this group.

The domestic brands Victory and Harley-Davidson fell in between the extremes, with 17 and 26 percent, respectively.

The remaining brands—Triumph, Ducati, BMW, and Can-Am—were among the more trouble-prone. In fact, BMW and Canada-based Can-Am are both estimated to have failure rates of around 40 percent by the fourth year of ownership.

Reliablity by brand

Brand Percent failed Yamaha/Star 11% Suzuki 12 Honda 12 Kawasaki 15 Victory 17 Harley-Davidson 26 Triumph 29 Ducati 33 BMW 40 Can-Am 42

With a larger sample size than in our previous motorcycle survey, now counting 12,300 motorcycles, we were able to add more brands and resolution this year. For this analysis, we adjusted for mileage driven over a 12-month period and estimated repair rates for 4-year-old models without a service contract.

Reliability is but one measure. We found that owner satisfaction creates a much different picture...

Visit our motorcycle buying guide to see our full motorcycle reliability and owner satisfaction ratings.

—Jeff Bartlett





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