The Drive That Separates a Biker From a Motorcyclist

And I'm Steve Ember.  Hop on -- this week our subject is motorcycles in America.

If you love motorcycles, then this is the week to be in the Midwest for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Around half a million people are expected in Sturgis, South Dakota, for a week of concerts, races, charity rides and other activities. Bikers can buy from eight hundred sellers of motorcycle products and clothing.

The first event was held on a single day in August of nineteen thirty-eight. A small number of people gathered to watch nine racers. There was no rally in nineteen forty-two because of wartime fuel restrictions.

The United States also has other big motorcycle rallies.

Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida, takes place during the first full week of March, plus three extra days.

Bike Week also includes concerts along with rides to raise money for charities.

Riders say one of the highlights of Bike Week is riding down Main Street in Daytona Beach. People go to see and be seen on every kind of bike -- from old ones with the paint worn away to beautifully styled new ones.

Thousands of motorcycles move slowly down the street in a kind of never-ending parade that continues all day and night.

Motorcycle rallies can be found in just about every state. Some are held by local riding groups. Others are held by motorcycle makers and their fans.

The Iron Butt Rally takes place every two years. Riders must travel more than fourteen thousand kilometers over an eleven-day period. They earn points by arriving in certain areas within a certain time period and by visiting additional places in between. The Iron Butt Association says the rally is not a race, but a test of strength and riding skill.

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People who go to motorcycle rallies get to explore new places and get new ideas. But more importantly, they get to meet other riders to share stories and talk about bikes.

In the Internet age it might be called social networking. But many riders call it a vacation from their normal lives.

Motorcyclists have jobs and professions like anyone else. For some, a motorcycle is just transportation. For others, it represents freedom and individuality. Gone are the days when the image of a biker was a rebellious young man with tattoos. Old motorcycle films like "The Wild One" and "Easy Rider" only fed this image. So did the Hells Angels, a violent, real-life biker gang.

Classic bikes share the road with new bikes built to look like classics. And there are sport bikes, cruisers and big touring bikes.

And then there are the custom choppers. These are personalized bikes built as road-ready art with lengths of metal and imagination.

Newer companies like West Coast Choppers in California and Orange County Choppers in New York State get a lot of attention. But the biggest American motorcycle company is Harley-Davidson. William Harley and Arthur Davidson started producing motorcycles more than a century ago.

A blog on the Web site says the first production vehicle for the two thousand nine Indian Chief was finished in July.

Performance is most important in a sport bike. Sport bikes are designed for racing.

Touring bikes are built for comfort over long distances. Newer ones even have heated seats. Touring bikes generally have music systems and two-way communications between driver and passenger through headsets in their helmets.

Twenty of the fifty states require all motorcycle riders to wear a helmet. Four states have no helmet requirements.

Harley spokesman Paul James says the company sold two hundred forty-one thousand bikes in the United States last year. He says the company sold ninety thousand bikes in other countries.

Prices start at about seven thousand dollars and go up to more than thirty-five thousand dollars.

The American Motorcyclist Association has three hundred thousand members. Spokesman Peter terHorst says the average member is in his mid forties, and nine out of ten are male. But he says the membership is changing as children of older members join the group.

Industry council spokesman Ty van Hooydonk says more than nine million people in the United States rode motorcycles as of two thousand three. New findings will not be ready until the end of this year.

Part of the fun of riding a motorcycle may be the sense of danger. But deaths of motorcyclists have more than doubled since nineteen ninety-seven.

The government says the latest numbers show that crashes killed more than four thousand eight hundred riders in two thousand six. That was a five percent increase from the year before. Motorcyclist deaths now represent eleven percent of all traffic deaths in the United States.

Crashes often involve alcohol. In two thousand six, among all drivers killed while legally drunk, the highest percentage, twenty-seven percent, were motorcyclists. Says researcher Patty Ellison-Potter at the Department of Transportation: "It's really unforgiving when you're on a motorcycle."

Robert Gladden is with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides guidelines for states and training for riders. He says each state has its own requirements to operate a motorcycle, but in every state, riders must pass a written test and a skills test.

He says studies show that riders who receive professional training have fewer accidents than those who do not.

Motorcyclists with years of experience say they have learned to ride as if other drivers cannot see them. People who buy mopeds or other scooters may not even need a motorcycle license. That only adds to the concerns of some experienced riders. The concern is that people riding motorcycles or scooters just to save money on gas may not be as well prepared for the road.

And I'm Barbara Klein. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.