Baby Boomer Bikers

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With kids in college and more free time, Baby Boomers have returned to motorcycling.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motorcycle ownership among the over-40 crowd has been on the rise for years, jumping from 15.1 percent of total motorcycle ownership in 1980 to 43.7 percent by 1998.

Since 1995, U.S. motorcycle registrations have increased from 3.8 million to nearly 6 million at the end of 2004. Baby Boomers are in the driver's seat of the current expansion.

Even a 2 percent increase in motorcycle sales to this generation would result in about 750,000 new riders, and that's probably a conservative number, according to David Anders, a Merrill Lynch analyst in New York. Given that an average boomer is 49 years old, they will continue to ride another 10 or 15 years, Anders said in a research report released in March.

Despite their passion for riding, evidence suggests older bikers may pose more of a safety risk. According to the NHTSA, motorcyclists 40 and older accounted for 47 percent of 3,900 fatalities in 2004 and 60 percent of the yearly increase in deadly crashes.