I wouldn't say people are buying more European brand bikes because I still see more new or newer Japanese bikes than European bikes on the streets and events such as the International Motorcycle Show.
Although the MSRP gap is as close as it has ever been thanks to the Japanese brands continuing to increase their MSRP year after year and the European brands' MSRP either idling, or has minimal increases or in some cases lower than the previous MSRP, I think a major factor why Japanese bikes still far outweigh European bikes on the streets is Japanese brand bikes can still be bought for way less than its MSRP. When that huge discount is taken into account, the Japanese brand bikes are still thousands less than comparable European brand bikes. Another factor is European bikes tend to cost more to own overall i.e., maintenance.
I still see brand new 2011 Japanese brand literbikes go for about $10-11K regularly instead of the listed $13k plus MSRP. Can't say that about the Duc 1198, BMW S1000RR, or other 2011 European brand liters. That huge discount also applies to other models and classes and have been that way for years. That's been my observations over the years.
