Biker News

Maybe the theme song for the motorcycle industry these days should be "Born to Be Mild."

Middle-age bikers – gray-bearded, black-clad stockbrokers on Harleys and faux Harleys – are noisily pushing total motorcycle sales in the U.S. to more than 1 million for the third straight year.

In fact, with cruisers leading the way, total motorcycle sales in the last four years have exceeded those during the entire decade of the 1990s, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. Sales in the third quarter were up 16 percent, far outpacing the auto industry.

"I refer to this period as the modern renaissance of motorcycles," said Larry Little, publisher of Cycle World and chairman of the Motorcycle Industry Council.

Many of the fat-fendered artifacts of this new age will be on display Friday through Sunday at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The show is from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $12 for adults and $5 for children 6 to 11. Kids 5 and under get in free.

Besides 2006 models, you can see the Liberty Bike, the obscenely expensive chopper built by Orange County Choppers of TV fame. It's plated in copper preserved from the Statue of Liberty.

Cruisers make up more than half of the on-road motorcycle segment, and with many of their riders over 50, "demographics will catch up to us in the next five or 10 years," Mr. Little said.

Until then, these middle-age cruisers will continue to be a powerful force in the $23 billion-a-year motorcycle industry. "What we find in this business is it's not how old you are, but how old you think you are," Mr. Little said.

One reason sales in the cruiser segment are up is that practically every manufacturer in the world is building a Harley-Davidson knockoff. Buyers can opt for a Suzuki or a Honda or a Yamaha that sort of looks and sounds like a Harley-Davidson.

And if that's not odd enough, consider this jarring blip on the industry radar: At the opposite end of the motorcycle spectrum, scooter sales were up 65 percent this summer over the same period last year. Even weirder: It might be the start of a trend.