This paper attempts to highlight the association between different socioeconomic factors and the preference for popular motorcycle brands manufactured in India. Further, the reasons for preferring a particular brand are also probed. The analysis in the study has been made on the basis of primary data collected from 150 male sample respondents in Theni District in Tamil Nadu. Percentages, Chi-square test, and Garrett's ranking techniques are the statistical tools used in this study for analyzing the data.

Since time immemorial, man has been seeking means to transport himself and his belongings and produce from one place to another. In his quest for better and cheap means of transportation, he is making many breakthroughs. Invention of motorized vehicles may be said to be the landmark in transportation or movement of persons and things. Since then, different kinds and models of motorized vehicles suiting the varied requirements of diverse users are produced by many manufacturers throughout the world. Among powered motorized vehicles, motorcycles have come to occupy an enviable position both among the young and the old. Man's desire to possess his own personal transportation mode and to have social status, and versatility of motorcycles are a few of the manifold reasons for purchasing them.

A consumer purchases a product to satisfy his select needs among the unlimited requirements. In the present "Buyers' Market" state, every product has substitutes or alternative products of same kind; so, the customers/consumers are at liberty to choose from the many products available in the markets. Once the consumer decides to purchase a product, he first selects a brand and then model (style) from within the select brand. Thus, purchasing a product may be for satisfying a single or a group of needs. But the decision to purchase a particular model from among the several models of select brand is mainly made on the basis of taste, suitability, requirements, price, utility, etc. This perception is pertinent to every type of product and to every type of consumer.

At present, India is one of the leading manufacturers of motorcycles, next only to Japan and China. If the growth and development of this industry in the subcontinent is explored, it will reveal many exciting points. Before the 1980s, the motorcycle industry had not made any remarkable headway, both in the number of units sold and the profitability of the manufacturers.

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