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New motorcycle registrations have fallen for the seventh month in a row, while year-on-year sales have dropped by 12.8 per cent.

July saw 8,992 new motorcycle registrations, down from 10,261 in July of last year.

The latest figures, released by the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), also revealed that 62,129 motorcycles have been registered so far this year, compared to 71,623 by the end of July of 2016.

Sales of mopeds (50cc bikes with a maximum speed of 30mph) also fell, from 717 at the end of July last year to 667 by the same period this year.

However, year-on-year, July sales were better than June’s, which saw a fall of 14.1 per cent compared to 13.8  per cent in the previous month.

July's best seller was the Honda PCX125 with 203 registrations, followed by the Yamaha Tracer 700 (180 sales) and the Honda CB125F (179 sales).

CEO of the MCIA, Steve Kenward said: “We are still witnessing the transition between Euro 3 and Euro 4 stock.  You can see this when you break the figures down.   Smaller capacity machines, particularly 125cc bikes are down because it is likely dealers are still selling the large amount of Euro 3 stock which was registered at the end of 2016.

“In contrast, larger machines, which have been making the transition to Euro 4 over a longer period, are now showing a growth compared to the same time last year.  From a rider’s perspective that means there have been some good bargains available and government licensing tables show that January, February and March of this year saw the largest number of mopeds and motorcycles licensed on the road since 2010, when compared to the same time of year.”

In particular, demand for 125cc motorbikes has been in decline.

While sales of all vehicles have been falling in the UK, this does not appear to have adversely affected BMW's motorcycle division, who reported 88,389 sales worldwide in the first half of 2017, up 9.5 per cent on the previous year.