The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that 19 Marines were killed while riding their motorcycles last year, supposedly the highest level ever recorded. In addition, 77 Army personnel were killed in the same way last year.

To help combat that, the military is lecturing its members on the dangers of riding motorcycles, what many refer to as the "don't be stupid" lecture.

Apparently, the cause of all this are two things: boredom, and lots of money.

Marines returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan are paid combat pay in addition to their usual pay. On top of that, many of them are able to save thousands of dollars by moving out of their apartments, and storing their belongings into a storage space, before shipping out.

So, when they come back to the states, they've lots of money to spend, and almost nothing to do. As the Press-Enterprise explains...

Military commanders say the deaths are largely the result of boredom, bonus pay that can top $20,000 and $30,000, and adrenalin to burn off after troops return from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Carbajal, 21, said Marines and motorcycles can make a bad mix.

Labels: Motorcycle Statistics

NADA Guides, which publishes a well known book of used vehicle prices, announced today that the number of people researching motorcycle purchases increased 48% in March 2008, compared to March 2007.

However, actual sales still lagged.

The company, a vehicle pricing and information website, says it believes this growth in interest -- in spite of lackluster sales -- is an indicator consumers are increasingly considering motorcycles as 'daily drivers' versus luxury purchases as concern grows over soaring fuel prices.

Labels: Motorcycle Statistics, NADA Guides

A new report published by J.D. Power and Associates, "2007 Motorcycle Comptetitve Information Study", says that while motorcycle owners are happy with single-brand dealers, their satisfaction with multi-brand dealers have decreased from last year.

The study, which is in it's 10th year, looks at five major facets of motorcycle ownership experience: product, quality, cost, sales, and service. Overall, satisfaction of motorcycle ownership is up for the fifth year in a row.

Customer experience with dealerships appear to be heavily influenced by repair work, and may explain why single-brand dealers tend to score higher satisfaction ratings than multi-brand dealers.

A small portion of motorcycle owners report that the dealer caused a new problem while repairing their bike. More than 20 percent of owners took their bike in for repairs, and when the work was not performed correctly the first time, 22 percent say that the dealer created a new problem. And these statistics have increased from last year.

According to Tim Fox, research manager for Power Sports Practice at J.D. Power and Associates...

"While this only occurs for a few motorcycle owners, dealers should be aware that the number of initiated problems among this subset is increasing. Quality of the work being performed significantly drives satisfaction with service, so it becomes critical to ensure not only efficient service, but also accurate and high quality repairs the first time around."

"Loyalty and advocacy levels are particularly high among motorcycle owners when compared with owners in the automotive and boating industries," said Fox. "For example, only 47 percent of boat and 35 percent of auto owners say they are loyal to their brand. The motorcycle industry is much more of a niche market where consumers have a particularly strong allegiance to a brand compared with automotive and marine industries."

Labels: Motorcycle Statistics

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released some new figures that pinpoint SuperSport motorcycles as causing the lion's share of motorcycle fatalities.

Here's a link to an article on USA Today...
http://www.usatoday.com/..../ 2007-09-10-Deadlybikes_N.htm

Here are some stats...

Number of deaths for every 10,000 registered motorcycles in 2005, by type of bike:

Cruiser: 5.7
Touring: 6.5
Sport: 10.7
Supersport: 22.5

Of course, I'm never the one to read this stuff at face value. I have to read between the lines and look for a rat somewhere.

I think we all understand that it's not the bike that kills the rider, it's either the rider, or some other driver. It's like saying that guns are responsible for killing people, when in fact, people kill people.

So, why would the IIHS want to pick on SuperSport motorcycles? It gives them justification raising insurance premiums. They want to raise premiums, so they publish statistics like this to explain why they're doing it.

But there's a bigger issue here.

If someone does something stupid while riding a motorcycle, and gets himself killed, why is that concern for us? Why do people feel as if that person had to be protected from himself? Why can't we let idiots get killed?

We were founded as a nation of personal responsibility, not community responsibility. Personal responsibility is what makes it possible to have individual freedom. Community responsibility demands that individual freedom be taken away for the good of the whole. That's what Vietnam & China is.

You decide what's best for our country.

Labels: Motorcycle Deaths, Motorcycle Statistics, SuperSport Motorcycles

Scripps Howard New Service obtained death certificate records of 3,697 people who died in a motorcycle accident to paint a statistical portrait of dead bikers.

Read the full article.

The data came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and includes accidents occuring in 2003 up to the current year.

90 percent of them are male.
87 percent of them are white.
46 percent of them are aged 40 and up.
33 percent of them have attended college, compared to 50 percent for the general public.

Scripps Howard also found that 20 percent of cycling fatalities were men who were divorced at the time of their deaths, a rate that is more than double the national average.

The study goes on to suggest that motorcycle deaths may be particularly linked with middle-aged men, going through mid-life crisis, compounded with failing eye-sight.

Interestingly, the study did not take into consideration that cars were involved in many motorcycle accidents, and that it might have been a 40+ year old cager in mid-life crisis with failing eyesight that actually caused a biker to die.

Labels: Motorcycle Deaths, Motorcycle Statistics

Last week, Nationwide Insurance Company published the results of a survey regarding higher gas prices and increased motorcycle riding.

The survey shows that 35 percent of motorcycle owners plan to ride their bikes more over the next year as a result of higher gas prices, and that they'll be turning their riding hobby into an everyday form of transportation.

It also shows that motorcycle owners spent 26 percent of their total riding time last year commuting to work.

The survey, conducted by Brandware of 2,544 motorcycle, power boat, bass boat and ATV owners, shows that both male and female motorcyclists expect to ride their bikes for approximately 22 more hours than they did in the past year. Male motorcyclists expect to ride 172 hours over the next year, while female riders expect to ride 146 hours.

It goes on to show that motorcyclists are so passionate about their fuel-efficient bikes, they will pay $3 to $4 more per gallon before they stop riding.

Nationwide Insurance commissioned the survey as part of its effort to market its motorcycle insurance policies.

Labels: Gasoline Prices, Motorcycle Statistics

A report published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune provides some statistics on the type of people who make up the "biker population" in the United States. The report was actually focusing on the 56th Grand National Roadster Show last weekend, but went on to list some statistics from the American Motorcyclists Association:

• the average household income for a typical biker in the American Motorcyclists Association is $84,000 a year, and 21 percent of them have completed some college.


• In fact, 12 percent have postgraduate degrees.

Labels: Motorcycle Statistics

USA Today reports sales of motorcycles in the United States topped 1 million units for the second straight year, and pushed sales up 5% from the previous year.

They also noted that that the average age of motorcycle owners has been rising, reaching 41 in 2003. In 1990 the average age stood at 32. Most riders were married and a third were college graduates.

Meanwhile, motorcycle registrations in the UK fell 14% in 2004 compared to 2003, based on figures from the Motor Cycle Industry Assocation.

Labels: Motorcycle Sales, Motorcycle Statistics

Harley Davidson issued some figures today on the number of women purchasing its motorcycles. The company said that in 2003, 10 percent of the customers who bought an HD were women. That equates to 23,000 bikes.

The increase in the number of female riders doesn't surprise any of us fellow riders. But numbers are always interesting to me.

The Motorcycle Industry Council reported the same figure, showing that the percentage of lady riders increased from 8.2% in 2002 to 10% in 2003.

Paul James, communications manager for Harley-Davidson, Inc. says one thing that has helped fuel the increase in women riders are bikes with lower seats, such as the Sportster. In addition, many dealers are carrying a full line of HD branded clothing, and are hiring women to help sell to other women.

Labels: Motorcycle Statistics, Women Riders

The Associated Press reports that the number of motorcycle fatalities occuring in the State of Maine reached new heights in 2004. Twenty-two deaths occured in the Pine Tree State last year, with 14 of those 22 to persons 35 years of age or older.

Even though the number of motorcycle registrations has increased by 31% during 1999 through 2003, the issue is not just numbers. The article cites a growing trend of baby-boomers riding bigger motorcycles. Not so much that the bigger motorcycles are more dangerous, but that the riders are not experienced enough. Many older riders rode motorcycles in their youth, but gave it up. Then later on in life, they buy a motorcycle again, but opt for a big bike:

"People have had licenses and haven’t ridden in 10 or 20 years. All of a sudden, they buy a big Harley. They’ve got to learn how to drive it," Hallman said.

"I’ve seen a lot of people getting back into the sport. They say, ‘I used to ride 20 to 25 years ago. I’m having a mid-life (crisis). I want to get back into it,"’ said Ireland, who offered instruction to 200 riders in 2004.

There is one little problem no one has talked about, however. Research shows those basic rider training courses don't have much effect. The only measured difference between training course graduates and those who start riding without any formal training shows up during the first six months, when those who take the course suffer somewhat fewer lapses - events such as crashes and tickets - than unschooled riders.

Labels: Maine Motorcycle Deaths, Motorcycle Statistics

An article published in the Merced Sun-Star reports that in California, the number of women holding a Class M1 license (motorcycle license) increased 27% compared to four years ago.

Jack Becker, who teaches a motorcycle training class in the Central Valley of California, said there has a been steady increase in the number of female students:

"Probably 30 to 40 percent of our students are ladies (now)," Becker said. "Ten years ago, maybe it was 10 or 15 percent."

"Usually, the husbands don't want to give up their first bike, so they'll give it to their wives and then get a new bike for themselves," she said. "(The women) get the hand-me-downs, but who cares? It's still a Harley."

Labels: Motorcycle Statistics, Women Riders