So I was just watching CNN and they mentioned McCain's visit to the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Then they said the average motorcycle rider is:

-married
-55 years old
-has an income of something like $40-50K (forget exactly how much)

I couldn't find that stat online, but I found this on the Sturgis rally's website:

A quarter century ago, the typical motorcycle rider was a male under 25 who would take off on his motorcycle to find freedom out on the open road. Today, 9 in 10 owners are still male, but they tend to be older and more upscale, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. In 1998, when the group conducted its most recent survey, the average motorcycle owner was 38 years old, up from 27 in 1980. The majority - 60 percent - were 35 or older, up from 24 percent in 1980. Their median household income was $44,250 in 1998, up from $17,500 in 1980. And one-third had a household income of $50,000 or more, compared with just 2 percent in 1980. Don’t let this valuable market go untapped!!

http://www.sturgismsrally.com/...ID=23

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I also found a New York Times story from 2005 about the increasing trend of trailering bikes to rallies like Sturgis:

Chevalier Kevorkian will be there, too, just as he has been about a dozen times before. But his bike will roll into town another way - in the back of a tractor trailer. For roughly $675, Mr. Kevorkian, a 57-year-old screenwriter from Palm Springs, Calif., is having his Harley shipped from his hometown to Sturgis and back. Instead of taking three long days of riding just to get there, he'll arrive fresh off a flight and pick up his bike at a local hotel.

"I just don't have the schedule to do it this year," said Mr. Kevorkian, who has ridden to Sturgis from Los Angeles in the past. "At least I'll be there and be on my own bike."

In a major shift from tradition, a small but growing number of enthusiasts, who like to ride but not to rough it, are shipping instead of riding their bikes to motorcycle events. For the months of May through August, the Federal Warehouse Company in East Peoria, Ill., an affiliate of Allied Van Lines, expects to ship 3,000 bikes for individuals and groups to various places this year, up from 2,800 as recently as 2003.

. . .

The demographic of motorcycle buyers has shifted in recent years. In 2003, the average motorcycle owner earned $55,850, up about 26 percent from $44,250 in 1998, according to the most recent data from the Motorcycle Industry Council. On average, Harley-Davidson owners earn more than $80,000 a year, according to the company.

For many of these riders, motorcycles are more a hobby than a lifestyle. As a result, some motorcycle gatherings are losing their rough edge. "People used to think Bandidos and Hell's Angels," said Tom Griffith, a spokesman for the Sturgis rally. "Now, you're just as likely to see a bunch of lawyers driving, and for the first time in 51 weeks they haven't shaved."

http://travel.nytimes.com/2005....html

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I know all these things are about cruisers, but the average motorcycle rider is very different now than it used to be ... motorcycles have a different image and are seen very differently. Good thing? Bad thing?

 

They're the same guys, just older.

 

I'm going to sound like an *** but 50, 60, 70, even 80K really isn't all that much anymore, especially here in SoCal.

Perhaps being on the coast skews our view a bit. In the middle part of the country, I will have to say that most of the riders I've seen are 40+.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jasper_db1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm going to sound like an *** but 50, 60, 70, even 80K really isn't all that much anymore, especially here in SoCal.

Perhaps being on the coast skews our view a bit. In the middle part of the country, I will have to say that most of the riders I've seen are 40+.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The median income in the United States is about $48k.

So the average motorcyclist is your average American.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The median income in the United States is about $48k.

So the average motorcyclist is your average American. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds about average to me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jasper_db1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm going to sound like an *** but 50, 60, 70, even 80K really isn't all that much anymore, especially here in SoCal.

Perhaps being on the coast skews our view a bit. In the middle part of the country, I will have to say that most of the riders I've seen are 40+.</TD></TR></TABLE>


here in hell, IL a single person can live comfortably on maybe 30-40K

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ragnaroek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


here in hell, IL a single person can live comfortably on maybe 30-40K</TD></TR></TABLE>Must not be near Chicago

 

No I'm not the average motorcycle rider. I actually wear gear.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ILcrxsi1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Must not be near Chicago</TD></TR></TABLE>

South and west side?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LAS2K &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No I'm not the average motorcycle rider. I actually wear gear. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ILcrxsi1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Must not be near Chicago</TD></TR></TABLE>

nope. south of i-80

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ILcrxsi1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Must not be near Chicago</TD></TR></TABLE>

close to chicago, you could make 40ish and live. look at those post college kids that live in lincoln park and wrigleyville.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mookie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

close to chicago, you could make 40ish and live. look at those post college kids that live in lincoln park and wrigleyville.</TD></TR></TABLE>

They all have rich parents.

Which is why I hate hanging out in Lincoln Park

 

I live comfortably on 28-30k a year here in the good old sunshine state.

Thats not having a car, only have the bike for personal transportation, a g/f with a similar economic income in a year, she has a car thats paid for, low inusrance, and a company work van. And i drag race.

I'm over the under-average american.

 

I don't fall in to the average rider

 

The cost of living is so crazy here.

We have an office in Dallas, TX that I visit and have a friend who's building a 2500sq', 3 bed, game room, 2-car attached, SFH for $180K. I can't buy a 1 bedroom condo for less than $250, even in today's economic environment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jasper_db1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm going to sound like an *** but 50, 60, 70, even 80K really isn't all that much anymore, especially here in SoCal.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What's *** about that? It sucks for the SoCal people only, haha. 80k in Georgia will go a long way.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ...rohit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't fall in to the average rider </TD></TR></TABLE>

yah, cause you're a virgin. I &lt;3 U.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RotiEatter &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

What's *** about that? It sucks for the SoCal people only, haha. 80k in Georgia will go a long way.

yah, cause you're a virgin. I &lt;3 U. </TD></TR></TABLE>i want to make sweet love to you

 

I know people that trailer their bikes to Sturgis. Thats really for two reasons though:

1. The ride from Rochester to Sturgis is really boring.

2. You can carry more camping gear that way.

 

just in the responses in this thread alone im seeing real estate economists, a drag racing squid , and a gay couple ....im pretty sure nobody here is the "average rider"

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So the average motorcyclist is your average American. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess that's kinda my point. It seems like more and more "bikers" are just weekend warriors who are lawyers / doctors / etc. Mon-Fri, then don the leathers and the skull cap every once and a while for stuff like Sturgis.

I know it's nothing new, but it's interesting to me when I see guys mean-mugging on Harleys and think that they're probably just average upper/middle-class guys who drive a Benz on the weekdays.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by toshiro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I know it's nothing new, but it's interesting to me when I see guys mean-mugging on Harleys and think that they're probably just average upper/middle-class guys who drive a Benz on the weekdays.</TD></TR></TABLE>

"Harley Davidson, making white collar workers feel like blue collar workers since 1903"

 

^^not white-collar.

It definitely started to change decades ago, but I don't think H-D has always been about white-collar.

 

Nowadays HD sells lifestyles, not bikes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Starscream &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nowadays HD sells clothing, not bikes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Fixed.

Its kinda funny when you walk into a Harley dealer and wonder where all the bikes are. Its like a clothing store with a handful of bikes lol.