Two-Wheeled Demographics Growing

Motorcycling is growing and rapidly becoming more mainstream at the start of the new millennium, says the latest census of two-wheeling. The number of American households that own motorcycles jumped 26 percent from 2003 to 2008, while the overall number of U.S. households increased roughly 5 percent. During the same period, the motorcycle population grew 19 percent while the U.S. population rose by about 5 percent.

These are some of the findings of the latest Motorcycle Industry Council Owner Survey, the powersport industry's most comprehensive resource for information on U.S. motorcycle ownership, usage, demographics and trends. Motorcycling is changing with the times and along with millions more riders there are increasing percentages of women and youth and a shift toward riding to get around, not just to have fun.

"Motorcycling is playing a bigger role in our fast-changing world and many of the trends we were hoping to see some twenty years ago have become reality," said MIC President Tim Buche. "Household penetration over the past five years has increased by 1,516,610 individuals or 20 percent. As an activity, a form of transportation or a lifestyle, motorcycling still has tremendous room for growth, but two-wheeling has made significant inroads among various key demographics and is a larger part of American culture than ever."