Saddling Up

By Laura Koss-Feder

They have spent their lives doing what was expected of them--advancing their careers, raising their children, paying their taxes. They are middle-aged and respectable. Now they want recreation and travel that's liberating and youthful, even a bit on the wild side. They're motorcyclists--baby-boomer bikers.

Like Dr. Charles Falco, 54, a professor of optical sciences at the University of Arizona at Tucson. He enjoys art history, theater, ballet and travel. He has an extensive library in his home--and 17 motorcycles outside it. Falco's journeys have taken him as far as the Pyrenees Mountains, bordering Spain and France, and the back roads of western Ireland. "Riding a bike gives me a young feeling, like I'm 15 again," Falco says. "It's a great way to see the world and awaken the senses."

Another baby-boomer biker is dentist Steven Bobbe, 55, of Melrose Park, Ill. "Driving my car, even for a couple of hours, puts me to sleep," says Bobbe. "But when I'm on my bike, I'm invigorated and can ride for days." Bobbe returned last month from a 2,300-mile round trip to Santa Fe, N.M., driving straight through on the way home.

Baby boomers are the fastest-growing segment of America's 6 million--member motorcycling population; their numbers are increasing 10% a year. Boomers tend to have the time to take to the open road, as well as the financial resources to buy bikes costing as much as $20,000, just for the thrill of it. Nearly a third of Harley-Davidson riders are now 50 or older, says Joanne Bischmann, vice president of marketing.

They have a celebrity role model in Jay Leno, 52, who helps raise money for charities at widely publicized biker runs. Last year the comedian and talk-show host auctioned one of his motorcycles, adorned with numerous celebrity signatures, on eBay to raise money for the Twin Towers Fund after the terrorist attacks.

"Especially since 9/11, we see how unpredictable and short life can be," says Robert Rasor, president of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). "More and more boomers are now wanting to try something different in their lives, like motorcycling, realizing that they shouldn't put off their dreams until tomorrow." The average age of AMA members is 47; a decade ago, it was 42.

In the past five years alone, the number of people 50 or older taking motorcycle road trips has increased about 50%, notes Burt Richmond, tourmeister for Lotus Tours, a Chicago company that arranges motorcycling trips worldwide for groups of eight to 20. Lotus' service includes planning the routes, arranging for bike rentals, booking hotels, handling all luggage and even arranging seating during meals. The average domestic trip is 10 days and 1,800 miles and costs $3,500 to $4,200, not including airfare.

Operating a motorcycle is a far cry from driving a car. For beginners, lessons are important. Tim Buche, president of the Motorcycle Industry Council, suggests starting with a two-day course offered by the nearly 6,000 instructors certified by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF). (Call 800-446-9227 to find a course location near you.) That qualifies you for a waiver on a motorcycle-license test in most states, as well as discounted insurance premiums with some insurers. The course has a minimum of seven hours of classroom instruction and at least eight hours of practical riding experience. Motorcycles and helmets are provided. The average cost is $150.

Many beginners buy smaller, used bikes, which can be as cheap as $500. The average price for a new small bike is $4,000, Rasor says, while a midsize version costs about $10,000. Models known as tourers are designed for long-distance travel, are more comfortable to ride and have built-in compartments that can store as much as a week's worth of clothing and toiletries. Full-dress versions can cost anywhere from $17,000 to $20,000.

After working with Harley-Davidson Motor Co. (based in Milwaukee, Wis.) as a client and seeing how much fun doctors, judges and others in his age group were having riding motorcycles, Tim Carr, 59, senior vice president and branch manager at a Morgan Stanley brokerage firm in Mequon, Wis., took an MSF course once a week for a month when he was 50. "I figured that if others in my age group could ride so effortlessly, then so could I," says Carr, who now clocks about 3,000 miles a year on his two bikes. Two years ago, Carr began taking an annual June road trip with a group of 13 friends, covering 400 miles through Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. And he says, "I'm already planning my first trip for after I retire: riding on Route 66."

An additional allure of biking vacations, particularly for the 50-and-older crowd, is the philanthropy associated with them. About 3,000 local, regional and national runs with some charitable component take place each year, according to the AMA. For these runs, motorcyclists usually take donations of money or merchandise and ride together in a parade formation to show support for their charity. AMA-chartered organizations raised nearly $6 million for charities in 2001.

Stuart Fierman, 62, a Briarwood, N.Y., dentist who began riding at 40, has taken part in more than 250 charity runs locally and nationally in the past decade, many of them as a member of such biker groups as the Motorcycling Doctors Association and the Chai Riders Motorcycle Club, for Jewish bikers. Among the causes he has supported are breast-cancer research, Israel and children with terminal illnesses. "When 200,000 bikers show up in Washington and ride past the White House on Memorial Day to make sure that politicians don't forget about pows, that makes a very strong statement," says Fierman, who has taken part in six such rallies.

Ginny Shear, 52, of LeRoy, N.Y., a quality-assurance technician for Eastman Kodak, devotes a lot of her spare time to serving as the executive director of the Women's Motorcyclist Foundation, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about motorcycling. In 1996 the group started the Pony Express Relay, a national run to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Three such relays have been held; the last, in 2000, drew about 700 men and women and raised $450,000. The next event, scheduled for July, will have participants joining the route at various points from Seattle to New York City, Shear says, and will cover about 10,000 miles. "The feeling of camaraderie you get from taking part in one of these rallies is pretty euphoric," says Shear, who has ridden her motorcycle to the Arctic Ocean and back.

So forget the Hell's Angels. When you see a group of leather-clad, middle-aged bikers roaring down a stretch of highway, remember: it may be a group of doctors or stockbrokers, perhaps raising money for a worthy cause. Or it could be grandparents taking a cross-country trek to enjoy the American landscape. And maybe next time it could be you.