The UK new bike market grew for a ninth consecutive month in September, according to the latest MCIA registration figures — and Honda’s CB1000 family continued its remarkable run of form, with the CB1000F becoming the latest member of the range to top its category.
Every bike built on Honda’s CB1000 platform seems to find its way to the top of the sales charts. The CB1000 Hornet topped the naked category for much of 2025 on its way to winning that year’s MCN Bike of the Year and Naked of the Year awards .
The CB1000GT then did the same to the Adventure class in its debut month this July. Now the retro-styled CB1000F – styled after the 1979 CB750F and inspired by Freddie Spencer’s AMA racing exploits – has topped the Modern Classic chart in September, recording 123 registrations to end the Honda GB350S ‘s long reign at the top.
The overall market grew 6.8% in September compared with the same month last year, with 12,111 machines registered — and 87,685 so far in 2026, up 14.4% year-to-date. Competition bikes were the standout performer, up 27.1% in the month, with naked bikes continuing their strong year, up 14.3%.
Honda remained the best-selling brand overall with 2159 registrations, well clear of BMW (1256) and Triumph (1001). BMW’s R1300GS was September’s best-selling model overall with 201 registrations, leading the Adventure class, while Honda’s PCX125 (272) topped Scooters and the CB125F (206) led Naked bikes.
Royal Enfield’s Super Meteor 650 topped Custom, BMW’s S1000RR led Road Sport and the R1300RT topped Touring. Honda’s CB1000GT also remained the best-seller in the 751-1000cc capacity band with 143 registrations.
“September is a key month for the full year market being the second largest of the year, so it is very pleasing to see the market continue to recover from 2025,” said Tony Campbell, CEO of MCIA. He also repeated the industry’s call for government action on rider licensing, adding that mopeds, motorcycles and other L-Category vehicles should be “a key element in a well thought out integrated travel system.”
Honda’s CB1000 platform is having one of the best years of any single architecture in recent memory – three distinct bikes with different personalities each topping the sales charts. That’s a serious return on one engine and frame combination. Nine straight months of market growth is a great result, too, and it will be interesting to see what happens as we head into the final quarter of the year.
Ben Clarke began riding (legally) at 21-years-old when he passed his direct access one month before shipping his Yamaha XT660 R to Miami and embarking on a 13,500-mile tour of the USA and Central America. He's worked at MCN for the last six years, riding everything from super nakeds and superbikes to small-capacity electrics and scooters across several continents. In more recent years, he's worked closely with the bike kit team to bring you all the latest news and reviews about the bike-related products we all use every day.
Lover of V-twins and big singles, partial to a tour