Cruisin' Away The Gas Crunch Blues

If you want to see how the mid-cruiser market came to its recent prominence, you need to step back to 2002.

Jesse James and the Teutuls ruled the airwaves with tales of big inch custom motorcycles. They become the next pet rock, or Rubic's Cube, just with a much higher price tag. Between 2001 and 2005, manufacturers like Harley-Davidson, Big Dog, and American Ironhorse cranked out record production to meet demand.

That was then... As more and more people fall victim to rising unemployment, gas prices rise beyond the ridiculous level (gas is in the mid-$3 range and we're cheering about it?!), and the housing market starts its nosedive, discretionary income dries out. People just can't afford a five-figure hobby anymore.

Which isn't to say Americans really fell out of love with motorcycles. Semi-utilitarian "baggers" gained popularity, stealing the spotlight from choppers. There has been another side effect from the boom, too. A lot of Americans who couldn't afford the high displacement iron during the Chrome Boom still wanted to ride. Now, with fuel prices touching the stratosphere, would-be motorcyclists are taking a serious look at lower displacement machines as an economical alternative to cars (and using gas costs as the excuse they need to buy a bike). Other buyers are veteran riders who left motorcycling for one reason or another and are coming back for much the same reasons, albeit with a more experienced eye for what they want in a bike.

Economy bikes: high gas mileage, low sticker price machines. Small and mid-size motorcycles don't make as much power as their larger cousins but they also don't eat as much fuel. The sort of machines best suited for commuting and running around town, as opposed to hitting the open road for a three day tour.

While the new cruiser boom has a few things in common with the custom rush, one of the biggest differences is in the type of riding; recreational versus utilitarian. You don't need a drag race motor and thirty grand in sheetmetal to commute to work and buy groceries. Traffic is another reason small and medium bikes are so popular. It's easier to navigate traffic on something nimble. Scooters and smaller cruisers are enjoying huge sales across the country right now. Whether you live on a coast or somewhere in the middle, it's hard to find a dealership with new cruisers in the 250-800cc range. Ray Didier, sales manager for Honda of Elmhurst, near Chicago, told us,"We sell as many as we can get. We've been out of scooters since the end of May. It's the price of gas. A little 50cc scooter gets 105 mpg, you sell a lot. The 250 and 600cc street bikes go extremely well, too, but more folks want scooters because they've got automatic transmissions. We can't keep the lower displacement cruisers in stock, either. That's a good thing, but now we've got nothing to show people coming in who want them right now. We're waiting for the 2009s. We'll only get a small quantity but not enough."

When we talked to dealers on the East and West Coasts, it was much the same story. Most of them didn't single out any particular model as selling better as far as economical or smaller bikes go but there were two exceptions. The only bike Harley makes in this category is the 883 Sportster and some reported noticeable increased sales of that model. The other? "If you're looking for a smaller 'home run' as far as bike sales go, I guess you could say that about the Kawasaki Ninja 250," Lawrence Hart told us, operator of Los Angeles Honda. "It's got small displacement but it's nicely styled and sporty."

Manufacturers are working to get new products to market but one of the reasons it's tough keeping pace with demand is a lack of variety. There really isn't all that much between 250 and 600cc's in the cruiser market. Honda has its 600; Suzuki's smallest is a 650. If you want a motorcycle on the small end, you're looking at Yamaha's V Star 250 or a Honda Rebel 250. Lawrence Hart had some insight into that. "They (smaller cruisers) were slow movers up until the first gas price spike two years ago." When that happened, sales went up accordingly but dropped off again. He continued: "I think people get used to the higher gas costs. Sales leveled off after that surge. But now that fuel's going higher, we're seeing more demand again. I don't think it's sustainable. Cars are getting closer and closer to motorcycles in terms of fuel efficiency and that's what's going to end the rush. Another spike could trigger a rush, though. It feels like a lot of the guys who're going to buy already have."

"The guys" being new and ex-riders looking to score an economical machine. All of the dealers told us that the biggest blind spot new customers have is in finding what's best suited to them. First timers looking to commute on the freeway walk in thinking a scooter is going to give them enough power to be safe at highway speeds; good dealers know to ask what sort of riding the person plans to do and go from there, recommending models to match. Ex-motorcyclists are a bit different though. They tend to come in with a good idea of what they want but may not be familiar with today's models. If the last thing you rode was an `83 V65 Magna or a Shovelhead, you're in for a bit of a shock when you see today's cruisers. Bruce Rossmeyer told us, "They always want the nicest and the coolest. Then we ask what they're going to do with it. Slow 'em down, figure out what they really want. Touring with the wife? You'll need something with a good passenger seat. If you don't, two weeks later they'll come back saying they should've gotten this other model instead." In the case of imported iron, Ray Didier said, "We've been a dealership for over 40 years, so we get a lot of turn around, repeats, next generation riders. Folks have raised a family, so they get a bike. It's mainly 1100 to 1300cc or 1800cc cruisers for our return riders. They've got a good idea what they want." Lawrence Hart added, "The vets come in looking for mid-size cruisers but they tend to go bigger once they see how much more comfortable and easier it is on the big bikes when you have a passenger."

These frugal riders keep those accessories pretty basic, too. There aren't a whole lot of orders for bling; they're customizing theme is "practical." Windshields, back rests, and saddlebags are the big sellers.

One of the biggest accessories is something that should be a necessity: rider-training courses. All of the dealers with whom we spoke cited it as the number one thing they recommend to all their new clientele. It seems they've been listening, too. Rider training classes are enjoying record attendance across the board.

It's been seven years since Jesse James opened mainstream America's eyes to choppers and, subsequently, big cruisers. Gas prices may have killed the fad but riding a bike in today's economy still makes sense. Econo cruiser sales and increased rider training show that the American public, while not always bright, still knows a good deal when they see it.