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Show Motorcycling: Less Money, More Fun Motorcycling was once a transportation mode favored mostly by the young, but largely as a result re-sult of rising prices and diminishing gasoline supplies, sup-plies, it is gaining popularity with people of all ages. It's definitely "in," and like the gas shortage, it's expected to stay "in." Whole families are enjoying enjoy-ing motorcycling, not just for transportation but for family fun as well. Depending on size, weight and engine capacity, motorcycles motor-cycles can get up to 120 miles per gallon. More realistically, realis-tically, the cyclist riding a comfortable touring road bike, like the Suzuki GS-1000 "superbike," is likely to get 40 to 50 miles per gallon. That still means lower costs and less waiting time at the pump. An indication of growing popularity among riders of all ages is seen in this report by one dealer: today, 16 to 20-year-olds are his lowest sales group for motorcycles. Middle-class commuters 35 Motorcyling seems to be bringing people together. and older are now his largest group of customers. Overall, motorcycle sales are way up. Suzuki sales for 1979, for example, are very strong and substantially ahead of last year's record. Other manufacturers report similar gains. . There's a silver lining to the cloudy fuel-shortage situation. sit-uation. It's bringing more people out in the air. Increased In-creased sale of winter gear means motorcyclists use their bikes in cold weather. Many dealers report motorcycling's becoming a family affair. Whole families are becoming cycle enthusiasts. enthu-siasts. It's helping them bridge the generation gap. |