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- Ghost riders: only half of the motorcycles imported into the Russian Federation are registered
Ghost riders: only half of the motorcycles imported into the Russian Federation are registered
From January to April, more than 27,000 new motorcycles were imported to Russia, but just over half of the bikes were registered. At the same time, experts emphasize, these statistics illustrate only "official" motorcycles that are allowed to operate on public roads and require registration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The volume of imports of officially unregistered motorcycles is many times higher. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The growth of two wheels
According to the results of the first four months of 2026, 14.6 thousand new motorcycles were sold in Russia. This was announced by Sergey Tselikov, General Director of the analytical agency Autostat. He noted that this result is 6.5% higher than in January – April last year.
The largest share of sales is accounted for by motorcycle models with an engine capacity of up to 400 cubic meters. see, said the head of Autostat. From January to April, Russians bought 8,686 such bikes. The leaders in this segment are the Russian brands Regulmoto (23.1% of the rank), Motoland (13.7%) and Racer (10.1%): they are assembled in our country from imported "motorcycle kits". The top five low-capacity motorcycles also include models from the Chinese brand Voge (5.6%) and the Indian Bajaj (4.7%).
Motorcycles with engines from 400 to 800 cc are in noticeably lower demand (3852 bikes sold). The leaders of this segment by a significant margin are bikes from the Chinese brand Voge (26.5%). This is followed by CF Moto brand products from China (8.5%), Indian Royal Enfield (8%), Chinese Benda (7.8%), Zontes (7.6%) and QJ (7.2%).
The segment of "full-size" motorcycles with engines over 800 cubic meters is relatively small: 2,049 bikes were sold in four months. The German BMW brand holds the lead here (20.5% of the market), but the Voge brand (China) has already come close to it with a share of 19.4%. Motorcycles of the American brand Harley-Davidson (8.8%), Japanese Honda (7.3%), Italian Ducati (6%) and British brand Triumph (5.7%) are also popular in this segment.
— The market is growing due to low-power motorcycles from China, plus their assembly in Russia. The total volume of import of motorcycles and bikes for four months amounted to 27.6 thousand units: twice as many as registered, — says Sergey Tselikov.
Not sold yet
The fact that only about half of the motorcycles imported into our country are registered does not mean at all that motorcyclists are in no hurry to register bikes, says Ivan Vladimirov, editor-in-chief of Moto magazine. Some of these motorcycles are still in warehouses and in dealer showrooms, he notes.
— It is at the beginning of the year that the main peak of supplies falls: importers try to import equipment before the start of the motorcycle season. This year, taking into account the geopolitical situation in the world, the active import of motorcycles began even earlier than usual. It should also be understood that if we are not talking about models supplied by alternative imports, then they come to our country partially disassembled.: it's easier and more convenient from the point of view of logistics," the expert said.
At the same time, some parts are completed in dealerships, as part of pre-sale preparation, and some are already in Russian factories, which also takes time.
"So a certain proportion of imported motorcycles have not been registered, because they simply have not been sold yet," says Vladimirov.
Nevertheless, a certain category of motorcycle buyers really deliberately does not register them in order not to buy a CTP policy or pay a transport tax. This is especially true in regions where a person buys a bike to go fishing in the village or to the forest for mushrooms.
Roman Sitnikov, a motorcycle expert, instructor, and graduate of the European ATV Safety Institute, holds a similar point of view. He also believes that some of the imported motorcycles have not yet found their buyers, therefore they have not been registered. At the same time, Izvestia's interlocutor also recognizes the problem of exploitation of unregistered bikes. According to him, it is more typical for the regions of the Russian south and the Far East.
Without registration
The figures given by the head of Autostat on the number of motorcycles imported and registered relate only to equipment that is officially a vehicle, which has a remote control system and which must be registered with the State Traffic Inspectorate, Ivan Vladimirov emphasizes. At the same time, pit bikes that are not vehicles have recently become widespread, they do not have a PTA and do not require registration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
— It is strictly forbidden to use them on public roads, as they do not meet the safety requirements for motorcycles. They are considered sports equipment, and they can only be operated on closed tracks. It is impossible to name the number of imported pit bikes — they follow the same foreign economic activity codes as hockey sticks, tennis rackets or soccer balls," the editor—in-chief of Moto magazine told Izvestia.
The volume of pit bike imports into our country is unknown even to the Federal Customs Service (FCS). This follows from a letter from the department (a copy is available to Izvestia), sent in response to an appeal from the National Automobile Union (NAS) regarding this technique. The Federal Customs Service notes that sports equipment (officially pit bikes. — Ed.) is subject to classification in heading 9506 TI of the EAEU Foreign Economic Activity.
"According to the results of the analysis conducted by the Federal Customs Service of Russia of the information contained in the central database of the Unified Automated Information System of Customs authorities, through a contextual search for information contained in the text data of the electronic copy of the goods declaration according to the description of the goods, it was found that the declaration by participants in foreign economic activity of goods named as "pit bikes", "ATVs", "motorcycles"There was no implementation of the EAEU foreign economic activity in commodity item 9506," the letter from the Federal Customs Service says.
What's in the boxes?
Roman Sitnikov believes that the problem of identifying motorcycles and pit bikes during customs clearance is compounded by the fact that both vehicles come to us in a semi-disassembled form. In this state, it is difficult to distinguish one from the other, even for an expert, he notes. This plays into the hands of importers of "two-wheeled sports equipment", who very often import pit bikes under the guise of spare parts.
— No one will import a pit bike as a sports equipment: everything happens in a completely different way. Imagine the picture: in two identical boxes on a special crate stand there is a frame with a motor, but with the wheels removed, some suspension elements and a number of other parts. But only one box contains an official and legal motorcycle, the other contains a pit bike designed as spare parts. It is impossible to visually determine which is which. At the same time, if the annual volume of the motorcycle market in Russia is about 50 thousand units, then this figure is several times higher for pit bikes," Roman Sitnikov told Izvestia.
The exact or even approximate number of pit bikes that are imported into Russia and, despite the ban on their use on the roads, are actively used, is unknown to anyone, says Anton Shaparin, NAS Vice President. Judging by the number of relevant ads on the Internet, this technique sells almost by weight, he emphasizes.
— Due to the fact that pit bikes are imported under the guise of spare parts, the budget of the Russian Federation does not receive significant funds, because unlike motorcycles, such equipment is not subject to recycling and is cleared at lower customs duty rates. Then these motorcycles and mopeds are actually sold, including to children.: Statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs show sad figures of accidents involving minors operating such equipment. At the same time, such motorcycles, allegedly intended for sports competitions, according to the Federal Customs Service, do not come to Russia as sports equipment, which clearly shows the lack of connection between pit bikes and sports, Anton Shaparin told Izvestia.
In his opinion, the practice of pit bikes going through customs with the wheels removed and the steering wheel turned out as spare parts can be easily stopped by analogy with "saws" and "constructors": similar car import schemes were widespread in the past, but they have learned to deal with them. At the same time, it is necessary to completely prohibit the sale and operation of motor vehicles without a PTC and a self-propelled vehicle passport, even if we are talking about "sports" ATVs, the expert believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
