Recently there was a poll on one of the Facebook groups I used to frequent. Someone asked “Which manufacturer do you consider to build the most reliable bikes?”.
An innocent (and frequently-asked) question, but this time there were nearly 500 responses! I thought it was so interesting that I started to collate it all into a Google Sheet.
General disclaimer: This isn’t answering the question of “what is the most reliable motorcycle”. This is just collective opinion, which is riddled with bias — see the section on bias below. So think of this as “a quantified summary of people’s subjective opinions”.
Are you obsessed with motorcycles?
Well, I am. That’s why I created this site — as an outlet. I love learning and sharing what others might find useful. If you like what you read here, and you’re a fraction as obsessed as I am, you might like to know when I’ve published more. (Check the latest for an idea of what you’ll see.)
The most reliable motorcycle brands — the results
Here’s a pie chart (which my former bosses back at The Firm are screaming at me about) summarising everyone’s responses.
In a nutshell, Honda and Yamaha were the most-named most-reliable motorcycle brands.
“Any Japanese” motorcycle was mentioned after that. That would include Honda and Yamaha, but also includes Suzuki and Kawasaki.
Together, the big four Japanese Brands — Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki — make up ~80% of respondents’ answers to the question of the most reliable motorcycle brand.
Fewer people specifically mentioned Kawasaki and Suzuki, but some did (and usually together with the other Japanese brands).
There were some mentions of the European/British brands BMW, Triumph, KTM, Ducati, and a couple of others.
But it should be pointed out that a few people mentioned KTM and Ducati ironically (with a wink or laugh emoji). I didn’t count those. But they almost count as anti-votes.
Cross referencing with Consumer Reports
There was a study done in 2015 by Consumer Reports that surveyed thousands of motorcycle riders on the same question.
They surveyed over 11,000 subscribers and the results were that the most reliable motorcycle brand were (in order): Yamaha, Suzuki/Honda (tied), then Kawasaki.
The way they assessed reliability was to estimate the mean time to failure — asking the question whether in a given four-year period their motorcycle had broken down. This is one definition of reliability that’s very important.
Then they assessed the percentage of motorcycles in each brand that had broken down in a four year period, adjusting for mileage and age. On that basis, they concluded that the most reliable motorcycle brands are the Japanese brands.
Another thing they concluded, by the way, is that cruiser motorcycles are typically the most reliable. This is really interesting to me because they’re often the least complicated motorcycles, and the parts of motorcycles that are most likely to fail, per consumer reports, are electrical components.
Per the Consumer Reports survey, these are the parts that tend to malfunction:
Repaired parts
Percent of repaired motorcycles
Electrical system
24%
Accessories
19%
Brakes
18%
Fuel system
13%
Clutch
8%
Body panels
6%
Drive system
6%
Valvetrain
5%
Front suspension
5%
Cooling system
4%
Piston
4%
Transmission
4%
Consumer Repairs also did survey on motorcycle satisfaction. Per their findings, this is how likely owners of various brands are to buy another motorcycle of the same brand:
Motorcycle brand
Likelihood of buying same motorcycle brand again
Victory
80%
Harley-Davidson
72%
Honda
70%
BMW
68%
Can-Am
67%
Ducati
66%
Yamaha
65%
Triumph
63%
Kawasaki
59%
Suzuki
58%
Harley-Davidson owners were quite happy, with 72percent responding likewise, trailed closely by Honda at 70percent. All other brands were below70percent.
Another interesting thing that CR pointed out is that asking motorcycle owners about comfort gets responses closely aligned with overall satisfaction. So if you ask “how comfortable is your motorcycle?” you’re likely to get an answer which tells you how happy they are with it. This gels with me… many Victory and Harley Davidson (and Indian, not in their survey) motorcycles are like arm chairs.
Motorcycles are luxury items. These days, few people use full-size road motorcycles for anything other than vacations, weekend scratching, track work, and long-distance travel. A small scooter or a car is always a more practical choice.
So I expect people to buy motorcycles for love, not because they’re a few percentage points more reliable, but it’s also good to be armed with reasonable data in your head.
Does this information make sense?
Whenever you ask someone’s opinion, including about the most reliable motorcycle brands, their answers are riddled with bias. The most common types of bias are
Confirmation bias — if you expect a motorcycle to fail, and it does, you’ll think “I knew it!”; and if you expect it to be reliable, and it fails, you’ll think “that was bad luck” and discard the data
Recency bias — a motorcycle that failed on you this morning will seem like more of a lemon than one that failed a few times ago twenty years prior (which you might even have forgotten about)
Halo effect — a motorcycle you really love riding or owning will always give you a more positive feeling than one you don’t love.
Those are actually just a few kinds of bias. The fact that we’re all riddled with biases (because we humans are just squishy blobs of organic goo, not machines) is why we try to rely on data.
Data is never perfect either. In fact, the data here is just asking people for opinions. But sometimes, collective opinions — when correlated with other sources — can get closer to the “truth” about the most reliable motorcycle brands.
One person I know has a motorcycle rental business. They rent out touring bikes to visitors from BMW, Triumph, and Honda, among a few other brands. Per his account, the only motorcycles to never have problems are the CB500X models they have. It could be that people ride them gently, but whatever the reason, that’s the output.
Here are the failures I’ve had on my Ducatis and Hondas, of which I’ve had enough to form a small amount of personal data.
Motorcycle & years owned
Repairs needed (aside from regular maintenance)
1981 Honda CB900 Bol’Dor (2001-2007)
Slightly weeping fork seals
Ducati Monster M900
Failed stator coil (did not start) Failed regulator/rectifier (did not start, blew headlamps)
2003 Ducati Multistrada 1000DS
Failed oil pressure sensor (limp mode back to mechanic)
1988 Honda Hawk 650
–
2003 Honda CB900 919
–
2007 Ducati 1098S Superbike
Failed fuel level sender (I ran out of gas as there was no warning)
1998 Ducati Supersport 900
Failed crank position sensor (did not start)
2001 Honda CBR600F4i
–
2014 Honda VFR800
Cover of the heated grips button fell off
I have had so many problems with old Ducatis that I’m taking a break and going just Japanese. Other brands may be more reliable, but their parts are more expensive. So in the chance of a failure, a repair will always cost more.
Other owners of Ducati motorcycles talk about it as being a love-hate relationship. It’s mostly love. But even newer Ducatis fail on people. While they make amazing bikes that can serve people wonderfully, to date, Ducati has not earned the reputation of being one of the most reliable motorcycle brands.
A good way of assessing whether a motorcycle is very reliable is to browse forums specific for a motorcycle. Join the Facebook groups and watch for what people say. If it’s all talk about tyre pressure, accessories, and what oil to use, then it’s a good sign. But if people mention things like “I’ve got the famous xyz error” or “bike won’t start” and many people rush to suggest common problems, then you may have found a problematic bike.
(Note that I don’t think you can ask “is this bike reliable” or “are there common problems”. Usually, I haven’t seen useful answers to those questions. Some will mention a few, and then more than one person will say “four bikes, 100,000 miles, no problems”, and you’re left wondering where the truth lies.)
“But my bike is super reliable and doesn’t deserve this reputation!”
It’s interesting to me when people cite their specific experiences. It highlights one of the above examples — confirmation bias.
Here are three things to bear in mind:
“Reliable” is poorly defined and very vague. Does it mean a bike where nothing breaks, ever? Or one that just doesn’t fail catastrophically, leaving you stranded? People sometimes discount trivial or small faults. A button failing is very different to a crankshaft failing. So you don’t know what people are not counting as a “fault”.
We mature with experience. If you’ve done 100,000+ miles on various bikes, survived many crashes and are still riding, you probably discount into oblivion the time when your clutch cable failed a little early, particularly if it was an epic bike you loved. But a new rider would care a lot and might say “this bike is junk”.
Sometimes we get defensive about machines we love. A lot of people rag on KTMs and Harley-Davidsons as being unreliable. But another thing common to both KTM and Harley-Davidson is people are passionate about those bikes. People are generally less passionate about something on which they just commute or do Uber Eats deliveries, and maybe that’s why they react less emotionally to something on those bikes breaking.
What do you do with this information?
“Reliable” isn’t everyone’s first priority. Some people want a motorcycle with soul. Some people want a motorcycle that’s a classic. And some just want one to get from A to B.
But for those of you who want a bike from the most reliable motorcycle brands, there are a few data points that make owning a Yamaha or a Honda a compelling option. For example, before you dismiss Honda as being “boring”, have a look at this list of super interesting Honda motorcycles that most people would be hard-pressed to not get excited about.
Reliability isn’t my own top priority, but it’s up there. I look for motorcycles with soul and personality that I can fix myself and that still are reliable enough to not break my spirit. And another aspect of reliability for me is being able to procure parts without having to pay a fortune or wait for them to arrive from Italy. The reality of owning a Ducati (on a budget) is often knowing how to cross-reference parts diagrams and scour forums for compatible components.
Anyway, I hope the above is helpful and not too contentious. For all of you who say they’ve put 100,000 km or miles down on a motorcycle doing nothing but oil changes and cleaning it: tell us about it! Because chances are someone reading this post would love to buy that model bike.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine the most reliable motorcycle – although the Big Four Japanese brands (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki) tend to dominate the market for dependability. Luxury brands like BMW and Ducati tend to be less reliable not to mention more expensive to maintain and repair.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine the most reliable motorcycle – although the Big Four Japanese brands (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki) tend to dominate the market for dependability. Luxury brands like BMW and Ducati tend to be less reliable not to mention more expensive to maintain and repair.
Any Kawasaki is bound to be a reliable motorcycle, but they do have a few popular standouts, like the highly popular and reliable Ninja and KLR models.
Honda's 50 cc C100 Super Cub is the biggest selling motor vehicle in history, having racked up 100 million sales in the last 63 years, and is still going.
While Harley Davidson is indeed the quintessential “all-American motorcycle company”, America has produced a number of important, notable, and otherwise influential motorcycle manufacturers. Indian comes to mind, but they are not the only ones.
What is the best-selling motorcycle ever? Honda Super Cub is the best-selling motorcycle of all time. Honda has sold over 100 million motorcycles to date.
Question: Why is Honda the most stolen motorcycle brand? Because of the sheer amount of Honda motorcycles available on the market. Being one of the most popular motorbike brands in the world means more Honda's are stolen more than the average.
Firstly, they tend to have excellent reliability. This means that they're pretty much the types of bikes you can just ride and not really worry too much about. On top of that, Japanese motorcycles tend to have parts in abundance, as well as cheaper running costs than their European counterparts.
The most common engines are Kawasaki and Kohler. The average life expectancy of one of these commercial grade engines is usually 3,500 hours with oil change intervals of 50 hours. Typically at 2,800 you can start to notice a lack in power, usually do to low compression.
Unlike many of the other counterparts in Japan, Yamaha strongly fabricates their engine components with more gripping quality control. This ensures enhanced reliability, and Yamaha has attained the status of being one of the most reliable bike manufacturers in the line.
As we concluded in our road test, “The GSX-S1000GT+ strikes an excellent balance between performance, technology, weight, comfort, and price. Life is good when the scenery is a blur.” Congratulations to Suzuki for the GSX-S1000GT+, Rider's 2022 Motorcycle of the Year! 2022 Suzuki GSX-S1000GT+.
Japanese motorcycles are considered the most reliable of all bikes because consumer reports suggest that these bikes have the lowest failure ratings. This is because the Japanese motorcycle industry has been around the longest and developed through wartime precision manufacturing with strict quality controls.
The best Japanese motorcycle brands like Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, and Kawasaki offer reliability and performance. Italian motorcycle brands like Ducati are all about power and style, whereas German bike brands like BMW are known for their superior design and quality.
The Ninja H2R is the most powerful production motorcycle in the world and a turbocharged liter-class monster. To ride it, though, you must be on a closed racing circuit, and it is only intended for track use. In India, the cost of the most recent 2022 model begins at Rs 79.60 Lakhs.
A pair of AFSOC Combat Controllers (CCTs) pictured riding Kawasaki KLR250-D8 motorcycles. CCT motorcycles can be airdropped from aircraft on special pallets under parachutes. The 75th Ranger Regiment also use KLR-250s for administration and reconnaissance, along with newer, smaller Suzuki DS80 mini bikes.
All Indian Motorcycles are currently made in the USA at the Spirit Lake, Iowa plant. However, like all other bike manufacturers several components are sourced elsewhere before being shipped to Spirit Lake for assembly.
All Harley Davidson motorcycles for the U.S market are produced in the U.S. More specifically however, some parts are manufactured here, some are manufactured elsewhere but they are completely assembled in these U.S factories.
In the majority of these cases, the car strikes the motorcycle from the front. And, it's no surprise that when head-on collisions occur, they're often fatal for the motorcyclist.
Over half of new motorcycle sales in the United States are cruisers, thanks mainly to the huge influence that Harley-Davidson has on the US motorcycle market. By sheer volume alone then, cruisers dominant motorcycle crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
The Insurance Information Institute reported that in 2020, motorcyclists had a fatality crash rate of 31.64 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. By comparison, the fatality crash rate of passenger cars was 1.15 per 100 million vehicle miles and for light trucks, it was 0.67 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Many drivers assume that motorcycle riders are reckless or careless on the road. But the facts say something different. Truthfully, most motorcycle accidents happen because of another driver's actions. A car or truck driver is more likely to be at fault for a motorcycle-related crash.
Japanese motorcycles are globally renowned for their reliability, incredible performance, and ever-improving fuel economy. Indeed, motorcycles from Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha routinely make the “top lists” and “best of” posts on every motorcycle blog and printed magazine.
Chinese motorcycles can seem like a bargain, but with all of their potential pitfalls, they are anything but cheap. Whether you're looking for reliability or performance, a Chinese motorcycle is rarely the right choice due to high maintenance costs, poor quality spare parts, and questionable warranties.
The lack of regulation in customisation and mechanics, as well as tumultuous ownership in the seventies, meant that some Harleys were of lower quality and reliability. Overall, if correctly maintained, Harley Davidsons are very reliable when compared to other brands.
Cruisers. A cruiser is a motorcycle with a low seat height, thick tires, and a V-twin engine. Overall, the cruiser is a great choice for beginners because they're stylish, comfortable, and has a relaxed power output to handle better at low speeds.
Up to 125cc motorcycles (A1 licence) - Honda CB125F | 138.7mpg. Although it can't quite match the economy of its CBF125 predecessor or live up to Honda's claims of 150mpg, Honda's latest CB, as introduced in 2021 with an even more efficient engine, is still the class-leader in terms of fuel efficiency.
The 1972 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV. And so we come to the top spot. And what a bike it is. Following on from the almost-equally-as-dangerous H1 Mach III 500cc, the '72 two-stroke triple with an astounding 750 cc's showed that Kawasaki has learned nothing from the broken bones caused by the H1.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that motorcycles with an engine of 1,001-1,500 cc have a higher fatal crash rate than lower cc engines. Engines with 500 cc or above account for 40% of accidents, while engines with 50-125 cc account for only 20% of accidents.
Simply put, both Honda and Harley Davidson bikes have the performance you can trust. However, Harley gets the slight edge, mainly because they're designed with larger engines. In fact, some models have displacements of up to 1,700cc. This leads to more torque, power, and serious revving capabilities.
Larger motorcycles, like Harley-Davidson, can usually take more miles without their engines being worn down as quickly. For these bikes, the high mileage point is around 40,000 to 50,000 miles.
Are you wondering what is high mileage for a Harley Davidson? The usual answer is 80,000 to 100,000 miles, but Harley Davidsons can get up to 150,000 miles as well. This will depend on the wear and tear on the bike and the model. There are a few simple ways to keep your Harley Davidson bike running longer.
Chinese motorcycles can seem like a bargain, but with all of their potential pitfalls, they are anything but cheap. Whether you're looking for reliability or performance, a Chinese motorcycle is rarely the right choice due to high maintenance costs, poor quality spare parts, and questionable warranties.
What Is High Mileage For A Motorcycle? A motorcycle would typically travel between 20,000 and 50,000 miles. Most motorcycles are considered old after 50,000 miles.
Introduction: My name is Carlyn Walter, I am a lively, glamorous, healthy, clean, powerful, calm, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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