Motorcycle Riders More Likely To Be Retired Boomers
By Anita Creamer, The Sacramento Bee | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Not until a decade ago, nearing his retirement from insurance sales, did
"The call of the pipes," said
Five years ago, she began riding, too -- not on a Harley like her husband, who's now 71, but on a lighter, more nimble
"This is midlife," she said, "but it's not a crisis."
The math of the motorcyclist is consistent: Research through the decades shows that as the baby boom generation ages, so does the population of motorcycle devotees. Far from the outdated stereotype of rebellion and outlaw living that bikers represented back in baby boomers' youth,
"We have doctors, lawyers and dentists in our group," said
"I'm kind of a nerd Harley rider," he said. "I'm not the big tough guy. I ride with a small group of friends, and one of the wives calls us 'The Mild Hogs.'"
But the aging of motorcycle riders brings problems, too.
The number of older riders killed in motorcycle crashes has doubled since 1995, according to the
"There are more fatalities in the younger group, but it's a problem for older riders, too," he said. "Maybe they had a motorcycle back in the 1960s or 1970s, and now that they're retired, they have more leisure time and more money and they want to rejoin the riding community.
"They tend to think they can just go back to what they did at 22. They don't feel that they're invincible, but they have too much confidence. They have too much motorcycle with too little strength and too little training."
And when older riders are in motorcycle crashes, even fairly minor, slow-speed mishaps, they're more likely to suffer injuries. Brown University research suggests that motorcyclists who are 60 and older are hospitalized after an accident three times more often than younger riders. That's mostly because older people -- even those who don't consider themselves old -- are more likely to have underlying health conditions.
And the normal aging process can make older riders more at risk, the Brown study shows, because they're more likely to have delayed reaction time, balance problems, declining vision and decreased bone density and muscle strength.
"When you're 35 and fall off a motorcycle at 25 miles per hour, you bounce," Cochran said. "At 75, you break a hip."
After retired marketing executive
Brinsley first rode a motorcycle when he was 12, in the
"It's time," he said. "We lose members not just because of age but because they have medical conditions. You want to quit before it's too late.
"That's what I'm going through myself. My reflexes are really good, but I'll be 75 in a couple of months. It's time for the younger guys to take over."
Trikes -- big three-wheel motorcycles -- represent a growing segment of the motorcycle market, as an aging biker population deals with aching hips and knees and balance that's grown uncertain. But Brinsley said the trike is not for him.
"We have a couple of trikes in our club," he said. "I gave it consideration, but that's not what I want to do."
"As soon as they let me turn the throttle on that little bike in class, it was love," she said. "Oh, yes."
Not long ago, the Korbs returned from a two-week ride together up the coast into
"People will say, 'You ride a motorcycle? Do you have tattoos?'"
"
"The show does not represent a good element,"
"This is middle America having fun in their mature years," his wife said. "If you didn't know these people ride, you'd have no idea they're on Harleys."
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