Easy Riders Columbians’ need for speed

[Shades]

With only two wheels, a set of handlebars, a seat, a couple of lights, and an engine, the motorcycle is one of the simplest forms of mechanized conveyance. But if its fundamental construction is simple, it's also a complicated Rorschach test of human fears and flights of fancy.

"It's something that brings out my instincts, the wildness and vulnerability in me," says Shinya Kimura, a famed custom motorcycle designer whose bikes combine a minimalist form and function aesthetic called "zero-design style."

According to a Motorcycle Industry Council study, 8 percent of U.S. households had at least one motorcycle in 2018, which is up from around 5 percent in 2014, but the same study found the average age of motorcycle riders was up as well, 50 years old versus 45 in 2012. That was an ominous sign, with the concern being that motorcycle enthusiasts are aging out of the market and not being replaced by younger riders.

In spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic apparently brought an unexpected gift: motorcycle sales started to climb, often at double-digit rates.

Jim Wertman, the owner of Carolina Honda in Columbia, confirms the trend. "The coronavirus is bringing people back to motorcycles," he said. "We've been selling three months of off-road product per month since this past spring. I think it's partly that people are looking for ways to travel and commute without being in a group, and motorcycles are a socially distant form of transportation."

Anyone who has visited a major European city knows that motorcycles are a transportation mainstay there. Young riders weave in and out of traffic on sleek sports bikes, and it's not uncommon to see a middle-aged man or woman in business attire driving to work on a motorcycle. But if the pandemic is making motorcycles more mainstream in the States, it's more of a nudge than a major shift, according to Jim. He says Americans still primarily think of motorcycles as a form of recreation or escape.


Read full story at: ColumbiaMetro.com