2,100 UK motorcyclists completed our State of the UK Biking Nation survey.
Check out our video infographic for full statistics…
A brief overview
Who is your ‘average’ biker?
Out of the 2,100 bikers who took our Biking in Britain Survey, 92% were male and 8% female.
It was clear that the overall majority of UK motorcyclists are aged between 40 – 59 (63.38%) and one third of bikers are aged between 50-59 (33.83%).
Unsurprisingly, with the generation of bikers being more mature, 68.23% have children.
The most populated area of motorcyclists in the South East (19.05%) of the UK with 12% of bikers using their motorcycling for commuting purposes and 8% to avoid congestion.
Brand and Styles
The Japanese motorcycle manufacturers rule: Honda (26.56%), Suzuki (19.63%) and Yamaha (19.20%) are the favourite bike brands of approximately two thirds of the UK’s motorcyclists.
Similarly, when asked what bike they would purchase if money was not object the response to this was hugely eclectic but the three brands that really stood out included Ducati, BMW and Honda.
The top three styles of motorcycles are sports (24.59%), naked (20.69%) and touring (21.07%).
Touring styled motorcycles are most popular with the 50 – 59 age group, this could be due to having more time for longer rides and trips on their motorcycles, therefore opting for comfort over speed.
Safety
Motorcycle safety is growing concern within the biking community as more and more organisations and companies are promoting ‘all the gear all the time’. It’s law to wear a motorcycle helmet when riding; however no other gear is compulsory.
94% of motorcyclists wear protective gloves, 91% protective boots and 70% wear protective trousers.
Additional training
69.33% of motorcyclists replied negatively to the question “Have you had any additional motorcycle training?” Of those that have taken additional motorcycle training the top three training organisations were BikeSafe (20.00%), IAM (9.65%) and the Enhanced Rider Scheme (7.41%).
To get insurance discounts accounted for only 12.64%, which suggests that some insurers may be missing a trick in not outlining the cost benefits of taking additional training more clearly.
Insured with Devitt and completed an advanced training course? Find out what discounts on your insurance you could get…
On road issues
71% of bikers biggest road issues was ‘other road users’, closely followed by road conditions at 62%.
Do bikers live up to their stereotypes?
The general consensus for motorcyclists is for them to be males covered in tattoos and have a beard. Devitt Insurance thought they would delve a little deeper to see if this was actually the case.
39.18% of motorcyclists have a tattoo.
Less than a third of UK bikers have a beard, 27.30%.
Rock music came out on top at 74% for bikers favourite music, but nearly a third (30%) of bikers said classical music also tickles their fancy too!
Biker favourites
Ace Cafe stormed ahead for the bikers best cafe with 21% of the vote, followed by Squires (10%) and Ponderosa Cafe (9%).
UK motorcyclists’ favourite motorcycle race to watch is Isle of Man TT (46.26%) followed in second place by the MotoGP (25.61%).
Guy Martin is our man for the best biker personality of 2015, with over 40% of the vote. Other racers mentioned included Rossi, Foggy and Barry Sheene.
Want to find out more? Read our full report here.
