He was lucky.

Fatal motorcycle crashes have more than doubled in the past decade, federal statistics show, rising to 4,810 deaths nationwide in 2006. North Carolina had 150 deaths that year -- the eighth-worst rate in the nation.

On Thursday night, two North Carolinians -- 24-year-old Jamal Thomas El-Ferkh of Raleigh and 18-year-old Brittany Custer of Wendell -- died when the motorcycle El-Ferkh was driving and Custer was riding on slammed into a pickup turning left in Johnston County.

For middle-age riders such as Hinnant, a tool and die maker from Raleigh, the motorcycle crash statistics are even more grim.

Ten years ago, middle-age or elderly bikers made up just 29 percent of all motorcycle fatalities. But in 2006, the most recent year examined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half the fatal crashes claimed riders over 40.

On a recent Bike Night at Locked & Loaded, Garner's premier Harley hangout, Hinnant explained why:

"A lot of guys get in a midlife crisis," he said. "A lot of guys buy a bike with no experience and sit up here and drink all afternoon."

Before October, Hinnant had 30 years of wreck-free motorcycle riding and a solemn pledge not to drink on two wheels. He and other seasoned riders attribute the rising mortality of their hobby to a flood of new riders and a changing biker culture that lets aging professionals roll directly from the showroom floor to the streets.

The risk of crashing has always hovered around bikers, and wrecks claim riders of all ages.

Veteran riders talk about driving as though every car were about to merge into their right legs, and about appearing invisible to drivers staring right at them.

"I've had them look right in my eye," said Lonnie Smith, a Raleigh builder who lost half a leg when a car sideswiped his bike. "They can turn and almost touch me with their arm, hit me with a cigarette butt. I'm up past the rear-view mirror and they still pull out. They're just not looking for you."

The same riders also talk more about the explosion of new bikers, most of them 50-ish types who can afford a new $20,000 Harley. Nationwide, ridership has increased 74 percent in the past decade, rising from 3.8 million registered motorcycles to 6.6 million.

Along with that rise, riding has grown more deadly. In 1996, 55 riders out of every 100,000 died. In 2006, that number grew to 71.

"A lot of guys are riding for the first time over 40," said Mike Kemmeries, a 44-year-old Raleigh fireman who founded a local chapter of No Rules Riders. "Before, they'd just buy muscle cars."

In April, 49-year-old Michael Steven White of Fuquay-Varina died after colliding with a car on Interstate 40.

The same month, 63-year-old Willie Junior Adams of Clayton died when a sport utility vehicle crossed his path outside Smithfield.

Raleigh lawyer Rick Davis can remember buying his first Harley in the late '90s, when a new model might take six months to arrive. Now, they can be bought right off the showroom floor.

Growing sales

The sales department at Ray Price Harley Davidson confirms that demand outpaced supply even five years ago.

It's the same for sport bikes, the leaner, faster Suzukis and Kawasakis more popular with younger riders. Salesmen at Barnett's Suzuki in Raleigh said it's hard to gauge demand because so many new dealers keep popping up. Barnett's has been around for 37 years and now competes with two other dealers within a 16-mile radius.

Davis Harley-Davidson in Burlington recently expanded. Harley-Davidson of Greensboro has dealerships in High Point and Reidsville -- the last one open only about a year.

"It's not the rough person's hobby anymore," said Davis, who also founded a No Rules group in North Raleigh. "Those people riding are not as much the hard-core people."

More than 300,000 people in North Carolina have motorcycle licenses, which require passing a road test. Many dealers and community colleges offer safety courses, but the state does not require them. "Not yet," said Marge Howell, a DMV spokeswoman.

Spend a night at any of the Triangle's biker-friendly bars and it's clear the culture has changed. No flying chairs. No broken-bottle fights. Not even very much leather.

Iron Horse Bar in Apex holds a poker night on Wednesdays, and you won't see a single bike parked outside.

Locked & Loaded sits next to an Office Max in Garner, and it inhabits a square brick building complete with a drive-through lane that looks like it might have once housed an Applebee's franchise.

Most of those clustered around the bar look about 25, and aside from Chinese characters tattooed on a few necks, they aren't menacing in the same way that, say, Marlon Brando was in "The Wild One."

You wouldn't exactly call them Hell's Angels, either.

But "you wouldn't want to call them yuppies, necessarily," said Kemmeries, the No Rules rider.

Inside Locked & Loaded, Tiny Hinnant is one of a few patrons who looks like a classic Harley rider. Long white beard. Confederate flag bandanna. He lived through wilder days and plans on riding through many more.

"Knock on wood," he said, rapping his forehead.

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