The How, Why, Where, and What I Ride Survey

Way back in 2011, I stuck a survey up on Survey Monkey and asked my readers to take part in the silliness. I should be the last guy on the planet to administer a survey because I tend to disbelieve everything claimed in every survey in the history of humans. Still, I got a fair number of responses (more than my free Survey Monkey account would let me access, in fact) and I made an attempt at compiling the information. About half-way through the project, I was distracted by something bright and shiny (my Yamaha WR250X) and the whole project fell through the cracks. You, my brilliant friends and readers, are atypical as hell and I suspect nothing gleaned from this survey would have squat to do with the attitudes of the average motorcyclist.

I always end up with a stupidly large “dead pool” is article ideas that will never see the light of day anywhere; blog or MMM column. Regardless, here is what I ended up with, statistics-wise:

In the dead of a past winter (2011), I was suffering cabin fever and my bike was practically encased in ice. Outside temperatures were in the negative numbers and the usual distractions failed me. The only break in the winter national television monotony came in mid-January when Ryan Villopoto beat James Stewart at the first ever Dodger Stadium Supercross. No fun like that for us here in Minnesota this year, thanks to the Metrodome's dome failure. So, I came up with a brilliant plan to piss off as many people as possible with a motorcycle survey called "The How, Why, Where, and What I Ride Survey." Ten questions, all designed to elicit as much animosity as possible. I promoted the thing on Cycle World and MMM's Facebook sites, on the MN-Sportbike and MN-Dualpurpose maillist, and got about 500 responses over the last 20 months.

1. The reason I own a motorcycle is (select all that apply)

Response

for daily transportation (weather and season permitting)

72.00%

for recreation.

90.00%

for social events (group rides, poker runs, charity runs, etc.).

32.00%

off-road racing.

5.00%

road racing.

3.00%

Ok, I can absolutely believe this set of numbers. In retrospect, I should have made this a "pick one" question because I think the answers overstate the number of us who use motorcycles for daily transportation. The 90% recreational figure is absolutely believeable, though.

2. I own (select all that apply)

adventure touring bike

47.00%

a sport bike

39.00%

a dirt bike

19.00%

a dual-purpose bike

52.00%

a cruiser

16.00%

a sport touring bike

0.00%

a standard

0.00%

a touring bike

25.00%

Good enough. I'm a little surprised at the two 0% categories, though.

3. My primary ride is

an adventure touring bike

38.00%

a sport bike

18.00%

a dirt bike

1.00%

a dual-purpose bike

27.00%

a cruiser

5.00%

a touring bike

11.00%

Seems consistent with #2.

4. If I were only able to own one motorcycle, it would be

a 250cc or smaller sportbike

0.00%

a 250cc or smaller standard

0.00%

a 250cc or smaller cruiser

0.00%

a 250cc or smaller dirt bike

0.00%

a 250cc or smaller dual-purpose

2.00%

a 251cc-750cc sportbike

4.00%

a 251cc-750cc standard

8.00%

a 251cc-750cc cruiser

1.00%

a 251cc-750cc dirt bike

0.00%

a 251cc-750cc dual-purpose (adventure touring)

43.00%

a 251cc-750cc tourer

2.00%

a 751cc-1200cc sportbike

6.00%

a 751cc-1200cc standard

5.00%

a 751cc-1200cc cruiser

1.00%

a 751cc-1200cc dirt bike

1.00%

a 751cc-1200cc dual-purpose (adventure touring)

18.00%

a 751cc-1200cc tourer

4.00%

a 1201cc-and-up sportbike

1.00%

a 1201cc-and-up standard

0.00%

a 1201cc-and-up cruiser

0.00%

a 1201cc-and-up dirt bike

0.00%

a 1201cc and up dual-purpose (adventure touring)

0.00%

a 1201cc-and-up tourer

4.00%

Again, this seems consistent.

5. I own the following pieces of motorcycle gear (select all that apply)

a shorty helmet

11.00%

a 3/4 helmet

18.00%

a full-face helmet

99.00%

an off-road 3/4 helmet

7.00%

an off-road full-face helmet

27.00%

off-road armor (vest or full-body)

16.00%

armored riding jacket

96.00%

armored riding pants

85.00%

armored motorcycle boots

80.00%

motorcycle gloves

98.00%

weather-proof riding gear

91.00%

eye protection (other than a helmet's face shield)

46.00%

heated vest, gloves, and/or suit layer

54.00%

Wow! Who would have guess that 99% of any group of riders would own a full-face helmet?

6. I always wear the following gear everytime I ride (select all that apply)

a shorty helmet

2.00%

a 3/4 helmet

5.00%

a full-face helmet

94.00%

armored riding jacket

92.00%

armored riding pants

43.00%

armored motorcycle boots

62.00%

motorcycle gloves

92.00%

weather-proof riding gear

20.00%

eye protection (other than a helmet's face shield)

30.00%

heated vest, gloves, and/or suit layer

4.00%

none of the above

2.00%

Ok, this was my first piece of evidence that my self-selecting group of riders was not typical. We all know that 94% of us do not always wear a full-face helmet.

7. I will not ride (select all that apply)

when the temperature is below 0F