Challenge: Make Motorcycles More Popular in the US

AltHistoryNerd

As it says in the thread. Make motorcycles a more popular form of transportation in the US.

My POD is in the 1970s and early 2010s, when gas prices are astronomical. People ride motorcycles as a way to offset high fuel prices.
 

Peg Leg Pom

You need city councils to start taxing private cars to a stupid level to get most of them off the streets and promote the humble scooter and tuc tuc in their place.
 

Carl Schwamberger

Waive away the cannard of the motorcycle rider as a outlaw biker.

Make police/prosecutors a bit more balanced in sorting out blame in car/motorcycle accidents.

Accomodate motorcycles with designated parking. The local university did that for two decades. We riders could count on specific parking spots, and the car parking was not discombobulated with random motorcycles clogging up parking spots. When the university ceased the motorcycle accommodation ridership on campus by the student/facility dropped by roughly 30% over the next five years.
 

AltHistoryNerd

Here's how I'd do it. Market the motorcycle as a fuel efficient, urban summer vehicle in countries and regions with winter climates (Sub 0C/32F) and a working man's vehicle in countries and regions with a climate that lacks snow.
 

Peg Leg Pom

In the UK at least three wheel cars are classed as motorcycles, if this is true in the US as well the weather issue can be got around. I have to admit the thought of a 300lb Bubba heading off to work in a Reliant Robin pick up is amusing.

 
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ejr1963

marathag said:
Motorcycles aren't really an option in over half the country from December thru March
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Unfortunately that's quite true. I live in Wisconsin, and with the weather getting colder, I'm already contemplating putting mine up for the winter within the next few weeks (despite havllng colder weather riding gear, it gets downright chilly at 70 plus mph on my naked sportbike during my 25 mile [one way] commute).

As was mentioned earlier, the image needs to change with regards to riders. I've lost track of the times, I've been asked, "what Harley are you riding?", when I've mentioned that I'm a motorcycle rider. It gets kind of old. Not everybody rides a Harley and does the "Born to Be Wild" outlaw biker image thing. Ditto for the "squid" image (a "squid" is a derogatory term for a motorcyclist who is riding [typically on a sportbike, but not always] with little to no protective gear, in an extremely reckless fashion - I've seen squids wearing just shorts and flip-flops [not even a shirt much less a helmet], weaving in and out of heavy traffic at high speed in the middle of rush hour - not cool!). It adds to the negative image that all motorcyclists ride in a dangerous fashion.

One thing that might help (and I've seen it to an extent during my commutes home from work on my BMW R1200R this year), is more marketing for smaller displacement/more user friendly motorcycles, like the Honda Grom (a 125cc motorcycle, that has become pretty popular within the past two years). A lot of people people find the heavier weight, and higher horsepower of your typical motorcycle to be intimidating. Also, a larger motorcycle can be overkill if you typically only travel around an urban area. Smaller displacement motorcycles are more urban friendly. Throw in their cheaper price, and fuel economy, and even in colder weather areas, smaller displacement motorcycles start to look attractive.

Honda Grom
products-grom125_2014.jpg
 
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Dilvish

My impression is that lowering the price of motorcycles would increase the number of motorcycles. My other impression is that motorcycles are more popular in the US than the raw ownership/rider numbers indicate. Price is one issue, practicality is another.

What are the ownership/rider numbers in the US? What is the number of people in the US that would want a motorcycle or similar vehicle?
 

Mark E.

In parts of the US, there are apartment complexes where motorcycles are literally banned because they are noisy. The energy-efficient short-distance scooter never took off because Americans drive so far between destinations. The motorcycles that were most popular were large. As one person put it decades ago, "a vehicle with as many carburetor barrels as it has cylinders is not optimized for fuel efficiency."
 

SwampTiger

Banned
I remember seeing the first Honda 750 at high school in 1970. The 'Super Bike' had arrived. Before this kids rode a variety of smaller, cheaper motorcycles and scooters. You only graduated to Harleys, Triumphs, and similar big bikes if you had money. A concerted effort by the motorcycle industry to popularize motorcycles and scooters in the 1970's could have paid dividends, but faced opposition from the auto industry. Insurance providers and safety advocates fought to enact additional safety rules. Harley-Davidson rode the coattails of the Outlaw Biker fad, almost ignoring any attempt to grow motorcycling as an alternate transport.

Harley, Honda and the other major manufacturers should have promoted the smaller bikes and scooters as short range commuters. Push to have these accepted as delivery/messenger vehicles. Accept the move towards sound and safety rules. Encourage cities, universities and businesses to provide dedicated parking. Promote high fuel economy.

Also, note http://craigvetter.com/pages/Motorcycle_Designs/Motorcycle Main.html for ideas on making motorcycles more practical.
 

Lautréamont

Peg Leg Pom said:
Their families can though, and no one wants to spend three or four years in a small room with Bubba.
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No one wants to feel guilty for the rest of their life about having killed a person anyways. It's just that we're really good at telling ourselves that "it won't happen to me, I know what I'm doing after all", which is not something you can change by expanding prison rape culture.
 

TonyA

Many good suggestions. Dilvish wants to lower the price, and, that's probably the clue to success, but somewhere along the way, pricing policies got (smoke, flames, eerie music in the background) weird. If you made something that saved the buyer money over the competition, that's reason to raise the price. For years it was, "Want something bigger, faster, flashier? Gotta pay for that!" All of a sudden, it's, "Want something smaller, less versatile, and cheaper to operate? Gotta pay for that!" AND, you still paid more for bigger, faster, and flashier. Can't win...
 

Dathi THorfinnsson

Heck, our family can't afford two cars anymore, so my wife rides a gas efficient bike when she can. It's amazing how often that's possible even in Syracuse NY, the snowiest major metropolitan area in the US.
Cars are so bloody expensive these days. Even used ones.
 
marathag

marathag

Banned
SwampTiger said:
I remember seeing the first Honda 750 at high school in 1970. The 'Super Bike' had arrived. Before this kids rode a variety of smaller, cheaper motorcycles and scooters. You only graduated to Harleys, Triumphs, and similar big bikes if you had money. A concerted effort by the motorcycle industry to popularize motorcycles and scooters in the 1970's could have paid dividends, but faced opposition from the auto industry. Insurance providers and safety advocates fought to enact additional safety rules. Harley-Davidson rode the coattails of the Outlaw Biker fad, almost ignoring any attempt to grow motorcycling as an alternate transport.

Harley, Honda and the other major manufacturers should have promoted the smaller bikes and scooters as short range commuters. Push to have these accepted as delivery/messenger vehicles. Accept the move towards sound and safety rules. Encourage cities, universities and businesses to provide dedicated parking. Promote high fuel economy.

Also, note http://craigvetter.com/pages/Motorcycle_Designs/Motorcycle Main.html for ideas on making motorcycles more practical.
Click to expand...

At that time, AMF owned H-D, and they tried everything wheeled for sales in the '70s, including golf carts and snowmobiles, even a Moped, that was AMF but not H-D branded, but from another company they bought the bones from, Roadmaster.

In the early '60s, H-D made the Topper, but they were expensive and not as good as Vespa and other Italian makes.
 
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