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Easier Riders

Flaring Fuel Prices Pump Up Motorcycle Sales

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 20, 2006

• Labor Day Gas Prices Up a Penny • Gas Prices Fall for 37 Days • Gas Prices Slide 8 Percent from Record • Gas Prices Creep Down • Oil Price Trend May Be Good News For Consumers • Gasoline Drops Below $3.90 a Gallon • Gas Prices Pull Back Slowly • Oil Prices Fall As Storm Misses Rigs • Latest Gas Price Round-Up • 'Run Your Car On Water' Scheme Could Leave Consumers All Wet • Unregulated Energy Trading Blamed for Much of Gas Price Gusher • Airlines Join Effort To Limit Oil Speculators • Questions Raised about MyGallons.com • 'Hypermiling' Is Dangerous, Says AAA • Struggling Drivers Blame Washington for High Gas Prices • What’s Really Fueling Those Sky-High Oil Prices • Credit Card Fees at the Pump are a 'Hidden Tax' on Consumers • Survey: 3 Out of 4 Angry About High Gas Prices • $2 A Gallon Gas Possible, Analysts Tell Congress • Speculators Buy More Oil Contracts Than Oil Companies • Saudis to Pump More Oil • Limiting Oil Speculators Gains Ground • Congress To Probe Oil Price Spike • Oil Market 'Saturated,' Iran Claims • Feds See No Relief from High Gas Prices • High Gas Prices Could Mean Lower Insurance Rates • High Gas Prices Good For Kia, Honda • Gas Prices Rip Past $4 and Keep Climbing • Administration, OPEC See Different Causes Of Oil Surge • Feds Probing Possible Oil Market Manipulation • Beware of Fuel Sippers Sipping High-Test • Retailers Respond to High Gas Prices with Discounts, Promotions • Rushing Into a Smaller Car Too Soon May Not Save Money • Hybrid Sales and Prices Climb in Lockstep with Gas Prices • Truckers Bemoan Burden of High Diesel Costs • Gas Prices Biting into Worker Productivity • Consumers Warned About Gas-Saving Schemes • Is Tony Soprano Controlling Gas Prices? • Oil & Gas: The New Bubble • Critics: New Federal Gas Mileage Standard Falls Short • Consumers Feeling Pain of Skyrocketing Gas Prices • New Gas Price Record Forecasts Expensive Summer Driving Season --- • More ...

Not everybody is screaming bloody murder over rising gasoline prices. Motorcycle makers are ecstatic.

According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, more than 350,000 people will take its new-rider course in 2006 -- a 10 per cent increase over the year before. So many people want to ride that there's a waiting list for spots in the class. The wait can sometimes take months.

Waiting is a good idea, says safety expert Hugh Hurt Jr., an accident researcher. Hurt, professor emeritus of safety science at USC, insists that new riders know what they're doing on the road. The combination of older riders and bigger motorcycles can be deadly even before alcohol is added to the mix, he suggested.

The Motorcycle Industry Council, also based in California, knows the number of riders is rising rapidly. Sales of motorcycles and scooters climbed 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2006, compared to the same period of last year, and is expected to continue its upward spiral.

One manufacturer, Vento Motorcycles, reported a 33 per cent increase in April and May alone. Vento makes scooters and smaller motorcycles that are especially good for beginners.

Because of rising fuel prices, there are a lot more novices on motorcycles.

In fact, the American Motorcyclist Association reports that 35 per cent of motorcycle owners plan to be on their bikes more as a direct result of pumped-up prices at the pump. One driver, Bill Menzel of North Bergen, NJ, took a 9,000-mile vacation trip by motorcycle last month -- the longest he had ever tried.

Another, Vincent Stone of Los Angeles, said he switched from van to cycle because of the enormous difference in fill-up prices: $85 for the van as opposed to $13 for the motorcycle.

The typical motorcycle gets 50 miles per gallon of gas, while the average passenger car gets less than half of that -- 22.4 miles.

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