If you want a hedge against 4-buck-a-gallon gas; if you want to live life in the HOV lane, whizzing past lemmings in air-conditioned boxes; if you long to release your inner Easy Rider, John Allendorf has a suggestion.

MATT NAGER / DMN Special Contributor

Riding Coach Trevor Anderson gives a biking demonstration for motorcycle and scooter riding during a state certified class by RiderCourse Center at Standridge Football Stadium in Carrollton.

Sit astride a motorcycle. Listen to its throaty signature. Accelerate into a nonconventional life.

Spurred by fuel costs and fanned by the winds of middle age, the fire for motorcycle riding is burning across Texas and the nation.

Motorcycle riding classes are packed for a month. (You'll be lucky to find a spot before August.) The most popular bikes and scooters are back-ordered. (Expect to pay a premium.)

"I think there's a part of all of us that just wants to get out there and be free, and I mean just let go," said Mr. Allendorf, his voice whimsical. "I think many of us were waiting for a reason to act on it, and with the gas prices, now we have a reason."

Mr. Allendorf is the 49-year-old owner of a woolly-mammoth-size SUV with a prehistoric thirst for fuel. But instead of paying at the pump, the computer engineer from Fort Worth recently opened his wallet and his mind.

Today he drives a Yamaha motorcycle that sips gas, and this weekend he's buying another motorcycle for his wife.

"It's not just nostalgic," he said. "It makes economic sense."

Andy Long, co-owner of RiderCourse Center, which offers state-licensed safety courses in Carrollton and North Richland Hills, said most motorcycles get between 40 and 60 miles per gallon.

Owners of trendy Italian Vespas, economical Buddys and other scooter models say their runabouts can achieve as much as 100 miles per gallon. College students often prefer the ease of parking, in bike racks next to classroom doors, and other riders appreciate the low emissions.

Scooter sales have surged 24 percent so far this year, according to industry figures.

"Our business has increased 200 percent, and from what I understand, that's happening everywhere," Mr. Long said.

Last year, 34,000 people in Texas passed a motorcycle-safety course. This year, more than 24,000 students have donned helmets and dodged little orange cones set in a lazy-eight pattern.

Classes are not mandatory. But riders who complete a state-sanctioned safety course are not required to take the riding test to get their Texas motorcycle license.

Cindy Flores, a motorcycle-safety trainer for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the demand for safety courses is outstripping capacity. By year's end, as many as 60,000 new, trained riders could be on the state's roads.

"The people I talk to say this is something they always wanted to do," she said. "And it looks fun."

That's what gives John Hollis heartburn. As director of TxDOT's safety program, he sees too many baby boomers on powerful bikes.

"It seems like a lot of people have done their white picket fence, and the kids are out of college, and now they have this extra money and they're like, 'Let's go get a nice bike,' " he said. "The bottom line is a lot of people are getting more bike than they have the experience and skills to handle. That will kill you real fast."

One hundred forty-one motorcycle and scooter riders died statewide in the first four months this year, a 27 percent increase from the first four months of 2007, according to TxDOT. Accidents resulting in injuries to riders increased more than 20 percent.

Andrew Schmeltz, 18, leaned one way and then the other Saturday morning, guiding his black Kawasaki Eliminator through an obstacle course in the parking lot of Carrollton High School's Standridge Stadium.

An experienced dirt-bike rider from a motorcycle-riding family in Krum, about nine miles west of Denton, he isn't worried about becoming a hood ornament on an SUV.

"The class was pretty easy," he said. "If you practice and listen to what the instructors say, you'll be fine."

Mr. Allendorf was a bit unsure atop a Honda Rebel 250.

A rider more than 20 years ago, he said economics and nostalgia inspired him to ride again. Saturday's class didn't seem to shake his confidence, but he learned a little about his limitations.

"You have to keep your bike in the lines of the figure eight without putting your foot down; that was hard for me," he said. "You have to think through a few different steps ... even to do something as simple as stopping."

Mike Mount, a spokesman for the Motorcycle Industry Council, said he expects motorcycle and scooter riding to surge when his group completes its 2003-08 survey soon.

"With everything that's going on in the media, people are seeing more motorcycles on the big screen, small screen and in product advertising," he said. "Gas prices are part of it. There's just something motivating people to check it off their life list."

IDENTITY: Applicants must provide proof of identity (driver's license, passport, birth certificate, etc.) and their Social Security number.

PAPERS: Proof of Texas vehicle registration and liability insurance

FORMS, FEES: A six-year license costs $32.

TESTS: Written, riding and vision tests