Police are encouraging motorcyclists to take safety courses after a horrific holiday period on the roads.
More than a quarter of fatalities during the recent holiday road toll period involved motorbikes, and police say older riders on big, powerful bikes are at greatest risk.
"Over 90 percent of those killed are males," says Dave Cliff, assistant commissioner of road policing. "They tend to be older, in the over-40 bracket. They're out there on the open road and on larger and more powerful bikes."
Mr Cliff says many of these older riders still think they have their teenage reflexes.
"When people are taking out a high-powered motorcycle infrequently, a few times a year in the warmer weather, their skills are not as good as they used to be."
Mr Cliff is encouraging older motorcyclists to upskill by taking part in the ACC's Ride Forever safety campaign, which targets middle-aged riders.
It's also supported by the Ulysses motorcycle club, which caters for riders over 40. President Mike Dew says the statistics don't tell the full story.
"There's not a lot of the younger people out there riding motorcycles, so I guess we are going to be a higher group to have accidents."
Mr Dew says that often in a crash, the motorcyclist isn't solely to blame.
"If a car hits a motorcycle or a motorcycle hits a car, usually it's the motorcyclist that gets injured, so ACC put it down as a motorcycle accident when it could've been another vehicle at fault."
Mr Dew agrees that riders need to make sure they know their vehicles by riding them regularly, not just in the summer - because when it comes to biking, age is no substitute for experience.
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