Saga launches Motorcycle Insurance

A new study by Saga Insurance reveals that motorcycling is big business amongst the over 50s, 21% of all motorcyclists are aged over 502 with almost 700,000 owning a bike and a further 1 million yearning to be a biker. That's a total of over 1.7 million people with a thirst for the open road.

84% of these easy riders, say they have a bike because they love the freedom of being on the open road and 16% state they enjoy the thrill and danger of riding. For a quarter (23%) of financially savvy over 50s, motorbikes offer a cheaper alternative to driving a car, while a further 17% enjoy the liberty of weaving through traffic on the commute to work.

Whilst over half of bikers over 50 say they have always been bikers, almost 40% say they have recently returned to biking, probably because they have more spare time and money as they have paid off the mortgage and the children have left home. Some 42,000 people first get into biking once they have reached 50 - in fact almost 3,000 people over 50 passed their motorbike test in 2006/7 and over 250 of these were women.

Touring bikes are most popular among over 50s, with over a quarter (26%) owning one of these machines. A fifth of over 50s drive a no-nonsense standard bike, 14% ride a scooter and over one in ten (11%) speed junkies own a sports bike.

Andrew Goodsell, executive chairman, Saga Group, commented: "With more over 50s than ever before taking to the road, it is a great indication that this age group is really embracing the idea of living life to the full".

This study marks the launch of Saga's new motorcycle insurance product, which covers riders over the age of 50. The policy offers cover enabling bikers to indulge in their passion, safe in the knowledge that should an accident happen, they have an insurance policy tailored to their needs.