Motorcycle sales are up, thanks to early warm weather

It's no surprise that Iowa's premature spring brought out motorcycle enthusiasts earlier than usual this year.

What might be surprising, though, is that women are a fast-growing segment in this traditionally male-dominated activity.

Jeff Wilkin, owner of Fast Forward Cycles in Cedar Rapids, which specializes in sales and service of used Harley-Davidsons, has seen a significant increase in motorcycle sales over the past seven years that he has been in the business.

And bike sales to women, he noted, are way up.

“Women don't always like to be on back,” Wilkin said. “Just like men, they like riding and handling the bike. “And men like it, too, because then they don't have to carry a passenger all the time.”

In fact, John Carney, manager of Transportation and Safety Programs for Kirkwood Community College, added that the number of female registrations has climbed in the basic motorcycle safety training course.

“In the past five years, we've seen female participation go from 29 percent of overall class members to 36 percent - a 7 percent increase. The current student ratio is 2 to 1 male to female.”

More than 900 students annually take one of the 75 motorcycle training courses held on the Kirkwood's Cedar Rapids and Iowa City locations.

Nationwide motorcycle retail sales are up this year - by an average of 21 percent the first 3 months of this year over 2011's first quarter, according to webBikeWorld.com's survey of 1,700 dealers. The site also attributed increased sales to the early warm weather.

“THEY LOVE TO RIDE”

Mike McGrath, owner of McGrath PowerSports in Cedar Rapids, also attributes nice weather to the start of an already good year for motorcycle sales. But that higher gas prices and some very aggressive lending options available right now are contributing factors, he added.

McGrath, who employs 35, has only been in the motorcycle end of the business for five years but said his sales have increased every year.

McGrath specializes in new scooters, sport touring bikes, cruising bikes and ATVs from Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and an American-made brand called Victory.

“We picked up the Victory product a year ago,” says McGrath. “The fact it is made locally in Spirit Lake, Iowa, is kind of cool.”

The attraction to motorcycles, McGrath figured, is pretty straightforward.

“It's simple,” he said. “People buy motorcycles because they love to ride.

“They like the way a bike handles and the feeling of being out on the open road - it's fun.”

Buyers choose a bike based on purpose of use, size and weight, size of engine or how the ride “sits.”

For example, McGrath said his dealership sell a large number of scooters (50 cc engine) to local college students because they are reliable transportation, inexpensive, provide fuel economy and easier to find parking for on a crowded campus.

And while Iowa is among only three states - Illinois and New Hampshire are the other two - that does not have a motorcycle helmet law, McGrath stocks hundreds of different sizes, shapes, and colors of helmets.

“We do not want someone to walk out of here without a helmet just because we did not have one in stock that they liked,” he said.