There are fewer motorcycle enthusiasts dying on America’s roads and none of the experts can say why.

A report by the Governors Highway Safety Association includes data about motorcycle accidents and for the first time in twelve years, the numbers are dropping. While the experts are left perplexed, most news reporting agencies have turned to the same stereotype used when motorcycle accidents and fatalities were increasing in tragically record numbers; the weekend biker and baby-boomer motorcycle enthusiast.

And the drop comes after a year after 5,290 motorcycle fatalities set a record.

Comparing the first nine months of 2009 to the prior year, thirty-eight states reported a drop in motorcycle deaths and twelve states recorded an increase. With its attention to not only road safety but seemingly ongoing motorcycle awareness programs, California led the states that experienced and drop in fatalities with 133 fewer deaths.

But a state that wasn’t expected to be in the reduced fatality list was Florida with 111 fewer motorcycle deaths. The thoughts of less ‘part-time’ bikers may have well started with this statistic. It’s widely reported Florida has led the nation in the housing crisis during the tough economic times leading many to believe personal financial challenges would naturally lead to fewer ‘checkbook bikers’.

The state of Ohio was third in the most improved category with 48 fewer motorcycle accidents.

But it wasn’t all good news for motorcycles in the Governors Highway Safety Association report with Hawaii and Rhode Island experiencing double-digit increases in motorcycle accidents, topping the list of twelve states that saw a rise in numbers compared the year prior.

Even so, experts feel once numbers for the final three months of 2009 are factored in, the report projects the annual fatality decline will still be 10 percent.

And these numbers shouldn’t be going away anytime soon.

Released on Thursday, the Governors Highway Safety Association report was compiled from the same statistical information that state agencies supply to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. That means this data will be included and further analyzed in the annual report issued by the NHTSA in July or August.

In the meantime, safety experts are trying to understand the reason behind the fall in fatalities.

"It's good news that fatalities are decreasing, but I really don't have a clue as to why," said Samir Ahmed, an Oklahoma State University expert who is leading a four-year, $3 million research project on the cause of motorcycle accidents. "I really don't see anything that would cause that, unless people are just not riding."

But what experts are saying with confidence; one good report doesn’t necessarily make a trend.

"The fact that there was a blip from one year to the next won't really tell us that much," he said. "The upward trend has been going on for 12 years. Show me several years of downward, and then we have something."

As mentioned earlier, many are pointing to fewer baby-boomers riding motorcycles on weekends as a cause for the decrease in numbers. Another theory looks to the stronger economy and lower fuel prices taking the opportunists out of the saddle who may have turned to motorcycles to save money on commuting.

But some motorcycle advocacy groups give credit to the attention and money spent by state and Federal agencies for motorcycle awareness and safety training noting that maybe there are just better riders on the road.

The final thought may have die-hard motorcycle enthusiasts happy, the wave of riders that bought motorcycles based on an image have realized there is more to riding than black t-shirts and an abundance of chrome.

It would also be easy to claim the large fall in motorcycle sales have kept many new, would-be bikers off the road, but the more positive safety experts speculate motorists may actually be more aware of the two-wheeled cousins sharing the road.

Even as the data continues to make headlines and experts work towards a common agreement to the reasons behind the falling numbers, it appears motorcycle enthusiasts need to take a long look in the mirror over the riders who are dying.

The NHTSA has reported that 41 percent of motorcyclists and 51 percent of their passengers who died in 2008 were not wearing helmets. Thirty percent of fatalities involved riders whose blood alcohol level was above the .08 legal limit, NHTSA said, and 35 percent of them were speeding.

While the recent study is good news, safety experts point to the last time motorcycle fatalities fell. From 1980 to 1997 motorcycle fatalities dropped nearly 60%, but then began to rise.

"Just because it went down last year, that doesn't mean it'll stay down," Study author James Hedlund, a former associate administrator at NHTSA told USA Today, "Now is the time to put programs in place that you know work."