'More bikers in Britain'
Date: 21/01/2008 11:32:18
The number of Britons investing in a motorbike - and potentially motorcycle insurance - rose by the largest proportion in seven years in 2007.
According to the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCIA), biker registrations were up 8.6 per cent at 144,583.
"This is a great result for the motorcycle industry despite rising interest rates, falling house prices, record oil prices, the credit crunch and even poor weather," commented Craig Carey-Clinch, director of public affairs at the MCIA.
He suggested that registrations could have been bolstered because riding a biker makes "economic sense", offering low ownership costs and fewer congestion and parking problems.
The biggest share of the market was taken by powered two-wheelers with engines of between 51cc and 125cc, with three of these bikes becoming bestsellers in 2007.
It recently emerged in related news that numerous bikers were escaping prosecution for speeding by using number plates that are too small to be read by handheld speed cameras, the East Anglian Daily Times reported.