TACOMA, Wash. - Gary Snyder is a typical example of first-time Harley buyers.

"My wife said to me, 'You're about to turn 50, I think you should get it, you've always wanted one,"' said Snyder, of Renton, Wash.

Owning a Harley had always been the dream but they were just always too expensive, he added, while looking at the bikes this week at a Tacoma dealership, Destination Harley-Davidson.

"I've owned several different Japanese bikes but I was never really satisfied with them, but they were what I could afford. There's just something about the Harley mystique," Snyder said.

Veteran rider Mickey Gentile wore a black bandana with bright orange and red flames tied around his head. This was matched with a denim jacket with black leather sleeves.

"It's not about how much chrome you have on your scooter, it's all about getting out and catching some wind," said Gentile as he looked at his classic black low-rider bike.

Harley-Davidson, whether it's in Tacoma or outlets in the Midwest, just seems to go together with chrome and black leather.

Increasingly, thinning gray hair and wrinkles also are part of the Harley look.

The median age of Harley buyers is 47, six years older than the industry average and an indication of how much the brand's fortunes rest on free-spirited baby boomers who have money to burn.

Because boomers have the most money for discretionary purchases such as motorcycles, that's the right bracket to be in, says Tom Watson, Harley's marketing director

"Our demographics mirror America. Baby boomers are buying most of the big-ticket items," he said.

Atlanta marketing strategist Al Ries says Harley's close association with boomers could make the brand harder to sell to younger customers.

"Harley-Davidson is so embedded in people's minds as the brand for old fat guys in black leather," Ries said. "Kids want something different. It's almost universal that the younger generation rebels against the older generation," whether it's music, fashion or the toys they buy.

Ries points to Buick in the auto world and Levi's in clothing as examples of brands that forged strong links to an older generation but had trouble winning over younger consumers.

"The stronger the brand is with the older generation, the weaker it is with the younger generation," he said.

Watson says Harley is in no danger of becoming the next Buick, whose average buyer age is older than 60, because it attracts new buyers and wins the aspirations of "wannabes."

Last year, 31 percent of Harley buyers switched from competing brands, and 27 percent were new to the hobby or hadn't owned a bike for at least five years.

The company also has started a rental program that has proved popular.

The rental program, which started in 1999, is a tool for Harley-Davidson to hook customers on riding and entice them to commit to buying a motorcycle.

"They're looking to get the experience of riding a Harley out on the open road," said Lara Lee, Harley-Davidson's vice president of enthusiast services. "For a lot of people it's a great way for them to try out the products before they buy."

Although the renters are primarily men, Lee said, the program does ease the buying process for people who might have just learned to ride on Harley's Rider's Edge program - whose clientele is 40 percent female and about 30 percent under the age of 35.

"There are examples of that - learn, rent and then buy," Lee said.

Younger buyers favor sleek, high-revving sport bikes over the heavyweight touring models and custom cruisers that are the bulk of Harley's business.

Suzuki, for example, sells mainly sport bikes, and its median buyer age is 37 - 10 years younger than Harley's. The median age is 33 for Suzuki's sport models.