Women Make up 14% of Motorcyclists in the U.S.

BY Rachel Cagle
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"'We are not surprised that female motorcycle ownership is at an all-​time high, what with the work we’ve done to expand women’s presence in motorcycling,' reports Motoress. A survey (2015) done by the American Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC); Motorcycle Owner Survey found that women account for 14% of all U.S. motorcycle owners. This is up from the 8% reported in 1998. It’s really no surprise, that’s nearly two decades ago."

"The survey covered 9.2 million owners, where more women were recorded than in the past. In fact, the survey noted that the number of women motorcycle owner more than doubled just from between 2003 to 2014. And, among the more than 30 million Americans who swung a leg over a motorcycle and rode at least one time in 2014, a quarter of these riders were women."

"The American Motorcycle Industry Council’s Motorcycle Owner Survey shows female riders account for 14% of the riding population, a 50% increase over the last 10 years. And women are big influences when it comes to motorcycle or motorsport purchases as nearly 25% of people who swing a leg over a motorcycle are female, including passengers."

According to AudienceSCAN, of the 2.4% of U.S. adults who make up the Motorcycle/​Scooter/​Moped Shoppers audience, 26.9% are female. Over half (52%) are between the ages of 17 and 34 and 44.6% live in metropolitan areas.

"Among younger generations of owners, the percentage of women is even higher. Slightly more than 17% of Gen X owners, and 17.6% of Gen Y owners, are women. Among Boomer owners, women make up nine percent."

"The Motorcycle Owner Survey also revealed what type of motorcycles women prefer:

  • Cruisers: 34% of female riders
  • Scooters: 33%
  • Sport bikes: 10%"

"In the survey, of some 48,000 American households, women were also asked to share their top three reasons for riding motorcycles. They answered:

  • Fun and recreation
  • Sense of freedom
  • Enjoy outdoors and or nature"

"When it comes to purchasing a motorcycle, women rate 'Fuel Economy' and 'Test Rides' as the most important decision-​making factors."

This year, according to AudienceSCAN, 31.9% of Motorcycle Shoppers want to make purchases that help them feel fun and exciting and 25.6% would like to buy things that help them feel free.

"The study revealed that female riders are safety-​conscious. While 60% of women took a motorcycle safety course, only 42% of men had any formal training. In some state motorcycle safety training programs, women make up 30% of the student population."

"Other key US Industry Survey Results on Increase of Women Riders:

  • The median age for female motorcyclists is 39 versus 48 for males
  • More than 49% of women motorcyclists do their own maintenance or have a friend or relative do it, instead of taking their bikes to a shop
  • New motorcycles are preferred over used by 57% of female riders
  • 49% of female motorcyclists are married
  • 47% of female motorcyclists have a college or post-​graduate degree"

Last year, 74.3% of Motorcycle Shoppers took action after seeing a TV commercial, according to AudienceSCAN. The TV is viewed as the best source for automotive news and/​or car care advice by 26.3% of this audience. Also within the last year, 70.3% of this audience took action after seeing a sponsored search result. This audience is also 108% more likely than other adults to take action after seeing a pre-​roll video ad.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. Media companies and agencies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.


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