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Retro Fueling Resurgence In US Motorcycle Market

By George Polgar

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The promise of spring is heralded by the roar of motorcycle engines.

Martin Moto - a regional mecca for multi-brand new and used motorcycles and accessories - is hosting the 5th Annual Modern Classics Show at its sprawling Boyertown, PA facility next Saturday, March 7…featuring over 100 Classic Bikes of the '60s,'70s, and '80s.

Retro influence has been a prime mover in the recovery of the US motorcycle marketplace.

Sales for street, dual-sport and off-road motorcycles reached almost a half million, are up about 3.7% in 2014, the best two wheeler showing since 2010, but still less than half the breathtaking 1.1 million sales in 2005.

Harley Davidson was up 1.3 percent last year in the US, outpaced by a 5.4 percent international sales bump.

Increasingly, sport bikes like Ducati and cafe racer variants from Triumph and other classic nameplates are attracting a younger and more female audience.

Retro has gone historic with specialty imports like the Royal Enfield motorcycles made in India since 1932. Briefly popular here in the US Russian built, distinctly Cold War styled Ural Motorcycles hit the wall of geopolitical disruptions in the Ukraine.

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