The motorcycle is becoming more common on Iowa roads There are about 124-thousand motorcycles registered in Iowa. Scott Falb, stat man at the Iowa D-O-T, says there’s been a steady increase in motorcycle registrations over the past four years. Falb says it’s happening for a variety of reasons. The bikes are getting more affordable. Gas prices keep inching higher and motorcycles get good gas mileage. And he says many men acquire a cycle as part of a mid-life crisis. Falb says “middle aged males, now that they have their children safely out of the house, have rediscovered their love for motorcycles.”Falb says most of those men kept their licenses over the years while they weren’t riding. He says there are two to three times as many Iowans with a “motorcycle validation” on their drivers license than there are registered motorcycles in the state. Falb is among that group who has a motorcycle license but not a bike — he says it’s the equivalent of a woman keeping her size seven jeans, hoping one day she’ll fit back into ’em. Falb says if you ever gave up that motorcycle license, “you’re giving up your young maleness, like you’re giving up your hair.” Falb says middle aged men are a little afraid to take the motorcycle test again. Falb says middle-aged men who hold the motorcycle validation passed the test in their 20s, and it was pretty hard, so they don’t want to have to take the test again in their 50s.Falb says he doesn’t have a motorcycle because his 21-year-old daughter “still comes home and says ‘Boy, dad, if you got a motorcycle, I could learn how to ride.'”