19% of all motorcycle owners in the US are women, according to research carried out by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). This is almost twice as much as in 2009. There’s every possibility the number will be growing even higher. Will riding still preserve its status as an area dominated by males?
Is it more or less than earlier?
As MIC conducts this type of research periodically, we have a chance to compare the figures from the previous surveys. In 2009, the proportion of women among motorcycle owners in the US was only 10%. In 2012, the number grew by 2%. During the following two years, it grew by another 2%, so in 2014, it equaled 14%. In other words, since 2009, the number of female motorcyclists has been growing roughly by 1% a year.
Another important finding is that a female rider annually spends $77 more on maintenance, modifications, and accessories than a male rider ($574 and $497 on average respectively).
Will the trend continue?
There’re more female bikers among younger women. To be precise, while the number of women among motorcyclists from the Gen X equals 22%, the number of females among motorcyclists from the Gen Y reaches 26%.
Taking into consideration the statistics, it’s only natural that Andria Yu, MIC director of communications, claimed: “We could soon be looking at 25% of motorcycle owners being women.” As the number of Boomer and mature motorcycle owners will be going down and newer bikers will replace them, this is probably the only possible outcome.
The results of the research seem to be confirmed by what’s going on in the industry. For instance, events like Over & Out and Babes in the Dirt have been growingly popular among women. A major cross-country dual-sport ride for women, the Suffragists Centennial Motorcycle Ride, will take place in the summer of 2020.
It would be interesting to know how much preferences of female bikers differ from those of male bikers. Do they purchase American motorcycles or do they prefer brands from other countries? In what way do the characteristics they look for in a bike differ? The answers to these questions offer important insights into the future of the industry.
For now, the list of most popular makes and models among female cyclists include Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 SuperLow, Star Motorcycles V Star Custom / Classic (650), Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom, Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe, and Star Motorcycles V Star 950.
At this point, other questions arise. When will the number of female motorcyclists stop growing? Is it possible that eventually, the numbers of female and male motorcyclists will be the same?
Also, we should point out that the new women buyers probably won’t be able to make up for the loss of interest the motorcycle industry is experiencing. According to the analysis published by Bernstein Research in the spring of 2018, Millennials are 30 to 40 percent less interested in motorcycles in comparison with the previous generation. This probably means that American car brands have a better perspective than motorcycle brands.
Can we trust the research?
Motorcycle Industry Council is a US trade association uniting companies producing and selling motorcycles, scooters, parts, and accessories. While the association was incorporated in 1970, its history can be traced back to 1914.
Now, what about the way the research was carried out?
The Motorcycle/ATV Owner Survey was carried out online. It included almost 2,500 adult motorcycle and ATV owners nationwide. MIC has been conducting similar surveys periodically for decades.
