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For more, visit the StateImpact NH website.StateImpact Reporters Amanda Loder and Emily Corwin travel the state to report on how business and economic issues affect you. Read reports and listen to her on NPR member stations.StateImpact New Hampshire is a collaboration of New Hampshire Public Radio and NPR.

People In New Hampshire Love Their Motorcycles (But Not As Much As People In Montana)

This story was originally published on StateImpact New Hampshire in July, 2012. StateImpact New Hampshire is now an archive. New content will be available from Emily Corwin and Amanda Loder here, at NHPR.org.

New Hampshire only has three or four good riding months a year, yet the state is among the top five most popular places in the country to own a motorcycle.  In fact, almost all popular places to own a motorcycle have short riding seasons.  Check out this map of motorcycle registrations per person.  Why is that?

It may have everything to do with the short riding season. Tim Buche, the president and CEO of the Motorcycle Industry Council, has data showing that bikers in all climates average the same number of miles per year.  

We’ve heard a lot of people say the Granite State has the most motorcycle registrations per capita in the country, but when we crunched the numbers (using 2010 state population numbers from the US census, and motorcycle registration data from the Department of Highway Safety,) the state ranked #5. Montana came in first by a long-shot. Click on each state to see how many motorcycle registrations there are per resident.

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