Honda C90 and Triumph Bonneville top the charts for classic motorcycle enthusiasts

The humble Honda C90 and trusty Triumph Bonneville are the most popular classic bikes with British enthusiasts, according to a new report from loop detailing the carbon footprint of the UK’s historic motorcycles.

Following our earlier report quantifying the carbon footprint of the UK’s classic car parc, loop has turned its attention to classic motorcycles, analysing historical data stretching back more than 100 years.

The report concludes that riding a classic motorcycle for a year has roughly the same impact as a single roundtrip flight from London to Portugal, or little more than drinking a latte a day for a year. In total, the entire classic motorcycle fleet accounts for just 0.05% of the UK’s overall transport emissions.

While famous brands such as Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki dominate the sector, early pioneering marques including Velocette, Matchless and AJS are not far behind, suggesting bikers are proud of their motorcycling heritage and keen to see it preserved.

Honda is the most popular make overall, with almost 36,000 classic bikes registered for use on UK roads. In second place is BSA, makers of the iconic Gold Star and Bantam, with nearly 29,000 bikes still puttering about the countryside.

The report also reveals the popularity of “young timers” — relatively modern classic bikes parked up in storage while waiting to be awarded historic status by the DVLA. Behind the ever-present C90 is the legendary Honda VFR750F, with more than 2,500 currently on SORN.

Alex Kefford, loop’s Head of Editorial and author of the report, said: “By trawling through millions of datapoints and delving into decades of archive data, we’ve been able to paint a fuller picture of the UK’s classic motorcycle scene.”

“As a result, we’ve seen the effect popular culture has had on the rise and fall of the powered two-wheeler, as well as the impact of the occasional oil crisis. But what’s surprising is how intent bikers are on keeping their motorcycling heritage alive and on the road. In fact, the average age of a UK motorcycle is now more than 15 years — the oldest figure on record.”

The report is available to download here.