Not only are motorcyclists ageing, they're riding more vintage machines

Dutch motorcyclists are growing older. While their average in 2000 was 39 years, this has risen to 45 years in 2009. Two-thirds of motorcyclists are now 40 years or older. And not only motorcyclists are growing older on average, the motorcycles themselves are, too.

Motorcycle owners ageing

On 1 January 2009, there were 595 thousand privately owned motorcycles in the Netherlands.  This is nearly one and a half times the number nine years ago. The number of motorcycles owned by people aged 50 and older has risen substantially. At the beginning of this year one third of motorcycle owners were 50 or older; in 2000 this was still just 17 percent.
The number of motorcycles owned by younger people has dropped on the other hand. On 1 January 2009 people aged under 30 owned fewer than 10 percent of motorcycles.

Privately owned motorcycles by age of owner

Large rise in vintage motorcycles 

Not only motorcycle owners are ageing, the bikes they ride are also growing older. One fifth of the motorcycle fleet in the Netherlands consists of machines aged 25 year or older; this is the equivalent of nearly 120 thousand motorcycles. This puts the vintage motorcycle fleet at the four times the number of nine years ago.

Age of privately owned motorcycles

The older the rider, the older the motorcycle

The share of motorcyclists with a vintage motorcycle has risen in all age categories in the last nine years. Older motorcyclists are much more likely to own a vintage motorcycle than young motorcyclists, however. At the beginning of this year, 7 percent of motorcycle owners aged under 30 had a motorcycle of more than 25 years old. Among 50-59 year-olds this was one quarter, while just over a third of the over-60s had a vintage model.

Privately owned vintage motorcycles by age of owner

Astrid Dohmen-Kampert