Honda has released sales information comparing 2009 calendar year sales with 2008 for motorcycles. Global sales are virtually unchanged, but there are vast regional differences.
Honda had a rough year in 2009. Motorcycle unit sales fell in the North America market from 391,000 in 2008 to 204,000 in 2009. The market in North America (and Europe for that matter) is quite a bit different than the market in much of Asia, where small, inexpensive transportation devices replace Americans' taste for expensive, fast motorcycles often used for entertainment purposes. Nevertheless, Honda, and many other manufacturers, rely on sales of smaller, less expensive motorcycles to form the bulk of their financial results.
It is interesting to note that while some manufacturers have held steady, or even improved sales in the United States (Triumph comes to mind, and BMW had a much smaller percentage reduction than many other manufacturers), some of the Japanese manufacturers have seen huge losses in unit sales, and, presumably, market share here in the United States during the past year. 2010 looks to be even more interesting. We'll see whether Honda, and other industry giants, can recover to pre-recession levels, or at least head in the right direction.