Top ten most common UK bikes
Which bike isn't for people who want to stand out from the crowd
Thanks to the fact that we all have to licence our bikes for the road the Department for Transport knows precisely how many of each brand and model are in use at any time.
And because those figures are published, now we know too. OK, so it’s not quite data collection on a Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scale, but it’s still knowledge that would once have been hard to even dream of accessing.
While it would be fun to run through the rarest machines on the road, the list of models of which only a single example is road-registered runs to nearly 700 machines. Many are the result of mistakes on their registration paperwork – cars that are mistakenly registered as bikes, for instance. But if you’re commuting to work on a Laverda Ghost Strike or a Bimota DB10, you’re the only one…
So which bikes are the most common? While the DfT puts out quarterly figures, we’re concentrating on the numbers from last summer, at the peak of the riding season, to make sure we catch all the bikes that get put away for winter.
In total there were 1,354,054 licenced bikes on the road in summer 2017, and these were the 10 most popular…
10: Honda Vision 110: 4163 on the road
Believe it or not, the Vision 110 (NSC 110) is the only scooter in this list. That’s a surprise, since scooters regularly feature in the sales chart top 10s. The fact that they’re not to be seen here suggests that perhaps they’re not as long-lived as bigger bikes.
9: BMW R1200 RT: 4428 on the road
Longevity is almost certainly in play here. While the R1200RT isn’t often to be found at the top of sales charts the model has been around a long time and once on the road, they tend to stay there.
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8: Yamaha XJR1300: 4461 on the road
The XJR1300 might not be on sale anymore, but it was around from 1999 to 2016. Euro4 regulations finally killed it despite a revamp in 2015. That 17-year run means that more nearly four and a half thousand are on the road. And we bet there are probably just as many sitting in sheds waiting to be revived, too. The numbers don’t include the ‘SP’ model, either, which adds another 1097 to the total.
7: Yamaha YZF-R1: 4854 on the road
The figure here is a bit deceptive. Yamaha’s R1 is a prime example of a bike that suffers mis-naming on its registration document. There’s R1, YZF-R1, YZF R1 (without a hyphen) and various other titles in use. While YZF-R1 is the most common title, with nearly 5000 licenced, the overall total of bikes in use under all the various names, including the up-spec’d R1M, is far higher – well over 11,000, in fact. That actually means that the R1 should be vying for the number 1 spot on this list. However, we’re going by DfT figures to ensure consistency, so it’s languishing in 7th.
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6: Honda CBR600F: 5036 on the road
The old CBR 600 F regularly topped the sales charts 20 years ago and the fact that it’s still one of the most common bikes on the road speaks volumes for its popularity and longevity. Like the R1, the actual total is far higher than the DfT’s figure, since some CBRs are registered as F-3s, F-4s, FSes etc. Altogether the total is closer to 10,000, and that’s without including the CBR600RR or the CBR650F.
5: BMW R1200 GS Adventure: 5123 on the road
Well, you were expecting to see the R1200 GS on this list, weren’t you? However, this is just the high-spec Adventure version, not the base model. The DfT figures distinguish between the two.
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4: Yamaha YZF R125: 5199 on the road
It’s easy to imagine that the poor sales of supersports bikes means that British riders have fallen out of love with sporty machines. But the fact that the R125 is the fourth most common bike on the road shows there’s a whole new generation of young riders getting in on the sports bike scene.
3: Yamaha FZS 600: 6221 on the road
Yamaha might be hitting sales highs with its MT-09 and MT-07 at the moment, but the firm has always been strong when it comes to bread-and-butter bikes, and never more so than with the old FZS 600 Fazer. It’s been out of production since 2004, but still remains the third most common bike on British roads – quite an achievement. Add the more recent FZ6 Fazer into the mix and the overall total tops the 10,600 mark.
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2: BMW R1200 GS: 7565 on the road
Of course, the R 1200 GS is right at the sharp end. With the more expensive Adventure version in fifth, the base model was bound to be vying for the top spot. Add the two together and the GS is easily the most common model in use, but that’s not how they’re defined on their registration documents, so we’re keeping them separate.
1: Yamaha YBR 125: 10,714 on the road
And the most popular single model on the road is also arguably the dullest on this list. You can thank the YBR 125’s popularity with training schools and new riders, allied to a robust nature than means it can take a learner’s abuse without being forced out of action, for the fact it is Britain’s most common bike. We’ll stick with ‘common’ rather than ‘popular’ – the YBR isn’t going to fire the passion – but no bike is working harder to get more people onto two wheels, so hats off to the YBR 125.
