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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, followed closely by Suzuki, Honda, and Kawasaki. 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.
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.
Reliability is but one measure. We found that owner satisfaction creates a much different picture...
I looked at that Consumer Reports article (I have a subscription). They also rated customer satisfaction by brand. As usual, the Japanese bikes were in the top tier for reliability, but the American Victory bikes rated highest for customer satisfaction (with Harleys right behind them in satisfaction), and the Victory bikes were almost as reliable as the Japanese brands. BMWs ranked second lowest in reliability and highest in cost of service....perhaps not surprising, considering what it often costs to service BMW cars and SUVs.
I know some(not all) Harley owners put a ton of miles on their bikes, doing vast long distance cruises multiple times a year. I doubt the guys riding R1's, GSX-R, Ninja riders are going to be putting on those type of miles and getting as much use of their machine as some of the Harley(and other cruiser bikes) folks.
I've been doing some fantasy shopping and I love the Harley Davidson Nightrod. Thing is sweeeet. In terms of sports bikes I like the Ninja and CBR's and obviously Ducati.
I toured the Ducati factory last April. I didn't know it until then, but they had been bought by Audi (I was wondering why I saw so many Audis in the company parking lot). One of the things they talked about on the tour was how they were improving build quality. I would think their ratings might rise in the next few years.
My Deuce has about 38,000 miles on it. I got it in August, 2002, so its almost 13 years old. Never did a thing to it but regular maintenance. I have a riding buddy with a Night Train 14 years old with about 90,000 on it, same thing. Even the belt is still good.
04-07-15, 08:59 AM
Who makes the most reliable motorcycle?
