Silver dream machines: older bikers on the rise

The number of over-55s learning to ride a motorcycle has risen by more than 80per cent in the past five years.

A Freedom of Information request to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency found that the oldest to pass last year was an 80-year-old man.

In 2013, a total of 1,151 over-55s passed their motorbike test, but last year the number rose to 2,082. The majority, 75per cent, took up biking as a hobby, with just 25per cent saying they commute to work on a motorbike.

Simon Bayley, of car finance lenders Moneybarn, said: “It shows people potentially fulfilling lifelong dreams once they have more free time and disposable income to purchase a bike.”