Raffle Jay DeLeo and Janet Rich sold 5 books each  
Barbara (bzrider) sold $1,085 in chocolate

Overall satisfaction with the motorcycle ownership experience has increased in the past five years, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Motorcycle Competitive Information Study released today.

The study finds that improvements made in product satisfaction and dealership service have helped drive the increase in overall ownership satisfaction across the industry. Service, build quality and product/performance primarily drive the overall motorcycle ownership experience.

Overall satisfaction with the cost of ownership has increased among motorcycle owners for a second consecutive year, with owners being most satisfied with the initial price and resale value of their bike. Satisfaction with maintenance/repair costs, cost of accessories and insurance has also increased.

Motorcycle owners are strong advocates of their brand and dealer, as 68 percent "definitely will" recommend their brand and 56 percent will recommend the dealer from which they purchased their motorcycle.

"Loyalty and advocacy levels are particularly high among motorcycle owners when compared with owners in the automotive and boating industries," said research manager Tim Fox. "For example, only 47 percent of boat and 35 percent of auto owners say they are loyal to their brand. The motorcycle industry is much more of a niche market where consumers have a particularly strong allegiance to a brand compared with automotive and marine industries."

Experienced riders drastically increase their chances of crashing simply by riding a different motorcycle, an insurance study has found.

Even experienced riders can be pretty wobbly when they hop on an unfamiliar bike, according to data from the country's largest motorcycle insurer, Progressive, which conducted a study of almost 2 million motorcycle policies over a five-year period and found that riders who switch bikes are nearly 70 percent more likely to crash than riders who keep the same bike.

"Most people already know that riding can be especially dangerous for new bikers," said Rick Stern, a Progressive motorcycle product manager who is also a rider. "But our data shows that the less familiar you are with your bike, the more likely you are to be involved in a collision, regardless of your experience."

The study also found cruiser riders who switch to sport bikes are three-and-a-half times more likely to crash. That's more than double the risk they'd have than if they just switched to another cruiser.

Sport bikers, on the other hand, can reduce their risk by more than a third just by switching to a cruiser, according to Progressive's research.

In 2004 Louisiana had 80 motorcycle fatalities, but despite the helmet requirement that figure rose to 95 in 2006, when Louisiana ranked No. 3 in the highest number of motorcycle death rates per 10,000 registered motorcycles with a death rate of 15.5 per 10,000 registered motorcycles; more than double the national rate (nationally, in 2006, 7.3 motorcyclists were killed for every 10,000 registered motorcycles on the road). Neighboring Mississippi, which also has a helmet law, ranked No. 1 in the NHTSA data with 20 riders killed per 100,000 bikes.

The report also noted that nationwide in 2006 just 1 in 2 riders wore a helmet, but 42% of motorcyclists killed in crashes between 2002 and 2006 were not wearing helmets.

Editor's note: Am I the only one who noticed that more people who were wearing helmets 58% died than those who were not wearing helmets (42%) nationwide? Those figures tell me that wearing a helmet has little or no effect on saving lives.