NATION More motorcycles hit road as price of gas remains high

Harley-Davidson of Youngstown says its sales are 'awesome.'
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- Even though he's facing double hip replacement surgery, Bill Smith is more than happy to struggle out the door each morning, limp past his brand new P.T. Cruiser and grimace as he hops aboard his Honda motorcycle.
Then he's all smiles. With the price of a gallon of gasoline so high and no hint of an impending drop, commuting to work on two wheels has never made him happier.
"I'm very conscious of gas prices, and I make every effort to ride my motorcycle to work rather than use my car," said Smith, a 58-year-old banker who works in nearby Glens Falls and has logged more than 73,000 miles on his 8-year-old motorcycle. "I can save a lot of gas."
Steady growth
These days, Smith has a lot more company than when he first began riding in the 1960s. The U.S. motorcycle industry, spurred by the impressive success of Harley-Davidson, has grown steadily in each of the past 11 years, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.
This year, it's booming.
"Sales are at an all-time-record high, all brands, all styles," said John Wyckoff, a longtime industry consultant who regularly calls 60 dealers a week and says all are running 10 to 50 percent ahead of last year in sales. "It just took off like a flying goose."
According to MIC, a not-for-profit national trade association based in California, sales of new motorcycles rose 6.4 percent to 996,000 in 2003. Overall, the association's latest estimates show the industry generating more than $20 billion in consumer sales and services, including around $7.5 billion in retail sales of new motorcycles.
Locally, the effect of the boom is uneven.
Local sales
Harley-Davidson of Youngstown quickly sells its allocation of 380 new Harleys each year, said Keith McCowin, sales manager.
"Sales are awesome," he said.
Overall, the Canfield dealership sells between 600 and 650 new and used motorcycles each year.
Most of the dealership's customers are white-collar professionals in their late 40s or 50s, he said.
Rob Gollan, manager of Gollan's Honda Motorcycle Sales, said, however, that the Youngstown dealership has been hurt by the area's economy in recent years. Sales are down compared with five years ago, he said.
He said he's confident in the dealership's marketing and products but added that area residents are hesitant to spend money.
Some people in their 50s and 60s are buying motorcycles after not riding for many years, and some of their wives are buying motorcycles, he said.
"That stuff is happening, but it's not happening enough," he said.
Youthful generation
Although the success of Harley-Davidson motorcycles has led the national sales boom, Chick Hancock, a Harley-Davidson dealer in Albuquerque, N.M., said he feared an oversupply when Harley announced it would increase production 8 percent this year. The oversupply never materialized.
"This is a generation that refuses to age. That's at the core of this," he said.
Even for motorcycles that haven't been ridden in a while.
"The resale value is going up in the used-bike market, and a lot of people are aware of that," said Frank Wal, who works at trade shows for BMW. "People are looking for cheap transportation, fuel economy, that type of thing. You're seeing a lot more motorcycles being sold that probably sat in the garage the last two or three years. It's putting a lot more bikes on the road."
And in the repair shop.
"We have seen quite a few bikes being pulled out of garages and repaired," said John Tilton, who has operated a motorcycle repair shop for 28 years in Syracuse. "We've been running two to three weeks behind in major repairs."