Falling Behind

The motorcycle industry is hurting. This isn’t anything new. It hasn’t really recovered since sales plummeted in the mid 2000s when the economy took a hit and the first things people gave up were their “play” items. They stopped buying sports cars, boats and bikes. When things started to pick up again, motorcycle manufacturers found themselves trying to sell powerful machines to people who were too old to want them. 

On the whole, motorcycle companies failed to look over their shoulders and cultivate a new generation of riders. They focused on making better machines for current riders. But middle-aged people get old, if they’re lucky, and they no longer want the fastest bike with the biggest growl. According to Bloomberg News, “Between 2006 and 2010, the number of big-engined Harleys registered in the U.S. plummeted by almost half.” Harley and other companies went back to the beginning and started designing starter bikes, in hopes of grabbing the  youth market, with varying results.

My hubby Derek also noticed the downturn over the decade when he produced The World of Motorcycles Expo. He also points out that insurance has gotten insanely expensive. He’s a certified instructor with more than four decades of riding experience and he still pays $1200 a year. It’s been a long time since insurers allowed bikers to downgrade their policies in the winter to fire and theft. You have to pay as if you’re riding 365 days a year.

There are still lots of riders but it’s not as much of a thing with millennials as it was with their parents. Riding a motorcycle doesn’t have any benefits for your health and fitness, even though you’re exhausted after a good day in the saddle.

I gave up my motorcycle when I felt I couldn’t rely on myself as a rider anymore. I’m simply operating on too little sleep and motorcycling requires more concentration than I found I could muster. It might not be forever, but it was awfully easy to sell my beloved B3 once I felt my safety was at risk. I’m still a happy bike passenger. But passengers aren’t owners and I seem to be part of a growing trend of shrinking bike ridership.