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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Harley-Davidson pulled a wheelie on Wall Street today. Shares of the motorcycle giant shot up more than 10% Tuesday after it reported that U.S. bike sales rose on an annual basis for the first time in nearly five years.
Dealers sold more than 53,000 new motorcycles in the U.S. during the second quarter, up 7.5% from a year ago and the first year-over-year quarterly rise since the fourth quarter of 2006. Global sales climbed almost 6% during the period.
The strong sales helped the Milwaukee-based company boost its second-quarter profit nearly 40% from a year earlier to $190.6 million, or 81 cents per share, as overall revenues rose 18% to $1.34 billion.
The results blew past Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were looking for the company to earn 71 cents per share for the quarter, on revenue of $1.26 billion.
Harley-Davidson (HOG, Fortune 500) also lifted its guidance for the year. The company expects to ship up to 235,000 new motorcycles to distributors worldwide this year, up 12% from 2010. At the end of the first quarter, Harley's most optimistic forecast called for an 8% rise in shipments for the year. 
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