MotoGP: merry-go-round continues as Yamaha court Spies

For sure, nice guy Colin Edwards would be a catch but he's not front page material and Nicky Hayden, although he likes to present a teenage media friendly image, is really yesterday's man - not that he was ever much more than a wannabe anyway, having lucked into a championship when Rossi was injured.

But Ben Spies is different. "Elbows" is the man on a mission: the American who actually stands a chance of winning the world championship on merit. And sticking him on a bike is a way of getting almost as much coverage in the USA as the sport itself gets. And for Yamaha, that's important. The old adage "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" is long gone in four wheel racing: most series are single or two make series or have no visible connection, other than a badge, to anything anyone can buy for the road and while reflected glory is one thing, it's not the most important thing.

But bikes are different. Of course, the road-going bikes are hugely different to the racing bikes. But there are clear similarities and, in outline, they look very alike.

And so for bike manufacturers, the adage remains true. And although MotoGP makes only one visit to the USA each year, it is to the iconic Laguna Seca circuit, genuinely one of the world's best tracks.

Americans are nationalistic and will applaud an American doing well anywhere. And so, Spies, who is consistently outperforming much of the field in his first full season in MotoGP, is an advert waiting to happen.

But also he is a nice, wholesome boy: the kind middle America wouldn't mind as a son-in-law. He never aims to shock, eschews sticking his tongue out and wiggling it (supposedly suggestively) at the camera and even when things go wrong, he presents a calm, measured presence for the media. On and off the track, he's exactly what Yamaha needs for Monday morning's papers.

In the USA, bike manufacturers are competing with each other, with market conditions and between sectors where cruisers and sports bikes battle for market share in the road-bike market. According to a compilation of sales figures produced by WebBikeWorld, sales of "street bikes" have fallen more than 14% when comparing Q1-2 2010 with the same period in 2009. In the cruiser market, last month Harley Davidson said they had seen a reduction of more than 15% in sales in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period last year.

The Japanese Auto Manufacturer's Association shows that Japanese production in both the over 50cc and the under 50cc classes have fallen consistently since 2000, with severe falls in larger bikes in 07,08 and 09. The previously similar fall was in 2002 at the height of the mini financial crisis at that time.

Over the same period, Japanese sales of smaller-engined bikes had held up until 08-9 when they fell dramatically. Larger engined bikes began a similar steep fall a year earlier.

But it's in exports that the Japanese figures are most startling: small bikes remain almost stable except for a small rise in 2003. Stable and a very small part of the market. That probably reflects the fact that most small bikes are built under licence in developing markets around the world. But Japan builds its big bikes at home. In 2003, exports fell then regained most of that loss until late 2005 a slow decline has turned into a cliff-diving trajectory of steeper than 45% and it's now barely a quarter of the 2000 figures.

JAMA says that there has been a 17% increase in production in the first half of this year - but it also shows a 7% reduction in sales. When the car markets were stimulated with all manner of incentives, motorcycle markets were not: few countries consider motorcycle production a national industry.

Yamaha had led that increase in production - a whopping 43%. Only Kawasaki reduced production.

So, linking an American with the brand will have an immediate increase in brand profile at just the time that Yamaha has a problem: it's made too many bikes and it needs to shift them before stage two of the recession - already under way in many parts of Europe and the USA - really begins to bite and credit dries up again.