At the Motorcycle Show, a Dream of a Ride

Of course, we have to note that Lawrence was killed while riding his motorcycle in 1935.

Well, there's no reason to dwell on that, is there? Or that although they make motorcycles much safer today, there are still more accidents? Perhaps it is the simple volume of riders (about 6 million now). Maybe it's other drivers (ask Gov. Schwarzenegger about his chin-banging accident last weekend). Or maybe the repeal of helmet laws in many states.

But the bottom line goes back to risk. Motorcycles are inherently more dangerous than almost any other way of getting from point A to B. People still love them, and that, you're not going to change. Like this Suzuki RGV 500 on display, the 200 horsepower, super lightweight (about 330 pounds) bike that Kenny Roberts Jr. rode to the American Grand Prix World Championship in 2000.

"You do the horsepower to weight calculations, it's pretty close to the space shuttle," says Robert Pandya, show spokesman. "In first gear, it'll take you up over 100 mph."

Prefer style over speed?

Here's a Scott Britt-modified version of a Kawasaki Vulcan 2000, a green-and-blue, chromed-out chopper you'll never see on the street. It goes for a cool $38,000. Looking for something for the kids, you know, like they need another way to crash into something on their own? Here's a knee-high Kawasaki KDX 50, which goes for $1,200.

And back here is Billy Lane, the custom bike builder from Florida, a white guy with dreadlocks whose appearances on the Discovery Channel and other cable shows have made the Choppers Inc. founder a cult figure.

"All of a sudden I get little old ladies coming up to me in airports," he says, pausing between posing for pictures with kids and parents. "Doing this for 18 years, nobody knows you; you get on TV, everything changes."

Crossover appeal, baby. There is a line 20 people deep to talk to him.

Of course, some things about cycles do change. Right over here is a monstrous Honda Gold Wing, which now comes equipped with air bags .

Things change, II:

More women ride bikes now. About 10 percent of all riders, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.

And sure enough, here are three guys and a girl, all in their twenties, and right away you feel sorry for Shatara McCoy, because you just know her boyfriend and his buddies dragged her out here.

Except she's the one in the market. The guys are tagging along.

"I don't really know what I'm looking to get, but I know it's not a scooter," says McCoy, a student at the University of Maryland's Eastern Shore campus. "I want a cycle. I want to ride."