Left to our own devices?

[willowstreetguzziguy]

We all know that motorcycle ownership is down with the younger folk. I recently spent time with an older, retired friend who took up hobbies years ago when he was much younger and raising a family and working... hobbies such as model trains, archery, guns, model boats, books, bicycling, fly fishing, antique collecting.

There are gathering and events in my area for so many hobbies but the crowds are getting older and fewer. I know when I go to motorcycle gatherings, there's a   of gray hair there and not many young people. Motorcycling, model train building, racquetball/squash fixing a car, stamps/coin collecting, astronomy, woodworking, toy collecting and many many more hobbies seemed to be dying with younger people. Hobbies have given way to interest in modern technology but is that a passion? The fact that hobbies may be a thing of the past is an eerie thought. Is the modern technology that we engage in considered a replacement for real hobbies that we would have engaged in? Are the new passions now Instagram, Twitter and other products of the digital age?

My observations are that more people are always looking down at their devices and fewer seem to be venturing outside. Is there anything that the motorcycle industry and riders can do to promote more interest interest in riding from the younger generation???

If not, I think we'll see dealerships close, existing dealerships merge, brands die (maybe one or two of the big 4), model selection drastically reduced as manufacturers scramble to stay afloat. Is this what it means to be" Left to our own devices?"

 

[Tusayan]

The big four (does that include Enfiled, at 2000+ bikes per day or the Chinese manufacturers) probably don't make a great deal profit in the US as it is.  I'm led to believe the money comes from undeveloped countries and high volume, and perhaps a bit from Europe given the less competitive market and higher prices there. 

The manufacturers at risk will be those that sell at low volume, sad to say.

[Zoom Zoom]

I agree with the thoughts. I see the same thing in RC model planes.

On another note, is this not directly related to the other current ongoing thread???

John Henry

[usedtobefast]

I'm with you in the "it doesn't look good" camp. 

I also ride mountain bikes, something you'd think the younger crowd would be into ... but looking around the parking area at most places seems the age range is more mid thirties and up.  I can't remember the last time I've seen a 18-28 year old mountain biker that wasn't with their dad (and the dad/son combo is super rare).

For the motorcycle world, I grew up riding dirt bikes around the farm.  They didn't cost that much and I could ride right away from my house.  Today new dirt bike prices are very expensive, and in most places you gotta load them up and drive a ways to get to a riding area.  No wonder that is dying off. 

So yes, I think the number of "likes" and "followers" a person has now is way more important to them than a hobby or sport to them.  Very sad. 

[Aaron D.]

The generation after the "device" generation is a little different.
Still, the world of motorcycling is centered in Asia. Lots of new bikes geared toward that market.
There will be enough for us.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I think you nailed it on the head right there.
I travel on public transit every day, easily 90% of riders have their nose stuck in the cell phone doing one thing or another.
The leisure hours of the younger generation are spent at different non motorised pursuits, not necessarily safer.
I think we are very lucky to be alive in this generation.

[not-fishing]

I'm with you in the "it doesn't look good" camp. 

I also ride mountain bikes, something you'd think the younger crowd would be into ... but looking around the parking area at most places seems the age range is more mid thirties and up.  I can't remember the last time I've seen a 18-28 year old mountain biker that wasn't with their dad (and the dad/son combo is super rare).

Crudmudgeons!

Half a decade ago I was the Assistant Coach-Team mechanic for a High School Mountain bike Racing Team.  It was the first year the team had been formed.  We had 50 members but the other High School in Folsom had about 100, that team had been formed 3 years earlier.  We raced X-Country.  They're in their early 20's now.

After one race at Northstar I took a few of the boys and we'd head up to Northstar for a little "downhill".

Now they're in college and take mountain biking trips to Northstar, backpacking trips, paintball, kayak, Shooting, Hunting, Alpine and Nordic skiing......
It more a matter of how they are raised.  If the parents are couch potatoes they will likely become couch potatoes.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Is the sport of air biking coming back?

[SED]

Crudmudgeons!

This!  14 and 15 year old students ride the roads to the trails and ride.  Occasionally they come to school with scrapes, limps or a  broken collar bone.  There are 12 year olds with 12 year old friends, Dads and Moms with kids, and guys and gals old enough to know better (older than me) all riding the trails.  Other kids are sailors, backpackers, robot builders and there's the kid that built a forge.  All of them far too young to buy a beer. 

Last mtn bike ride I was on, 150 miles from here, ran into a couple who live in my city and are members of the local vintage motorcycle club.  They were mtn biking with their friends and kids. 

If memory serves there is a very old song...
https://youtu.be/afam2nIae4o

[Toecutter]

Different times, different hobbies.

I see a lot of drones. Lego is huge now with adults.  Vinyl is seeing a resurgence still. Boardgaming is a huge industry now, cafes and restaurants built around it.

As for motorcycles... want young folks? Go to custom/ garage built gatherings., there are tons of young adults fixing, rebuilding and modifying shitty old motorcycles into something cool.


Just changing times is all.

[BRIO]

Technology  offers an amazing low cost virtual world. In one day you can be a race car driver, friend, elite soldier, pilot, wizard, etc. Actually, much of life’s experiences can be condensed into a smartphone. The reason most millennials have an unimpressed attitude about the world is because they have seen more of it than a veteran seaman would have decades ago. Virtually. However, just like driving through the Atlas Mountains isn’t the same as watching a YouTube video virtualization of life cheapens the actual experience.  I can’t blame the younger generations for choosing new tech over bikes. After all they are expensive, dangerous machines with little practical value compared to a car.

[rocker59]

Technology  offers an amazing low cost virtual world. In one day you can be a race car driver, friend, elite soldier, pilot, wizard, etc. Actually, much of life�s experiences can be condensed into a smartphone. The reason most millennials have an unimpressed attitude about the world is because they have seen more of it than a veteran seaman would have decades ago. Virtually. However, just like driving through the Atlas Mountains isn�t the same as watching a YouTube video, virtualization of life cheapens the actual experience. 

 

It's the same in every outdoor sport or pastime. 

Along with motorcycles, Bird Dogs and Horses have figured prominently in my life.  Events today are attended almost exclusively by people over 40.  And, very few of their kids are interested in attending hunts, field trials, trail rides, or shows.

When I was a kid competing in horse shows in the 1970s and 1980s, the classes were full.  15-25 horses in the youth classes.  Now, those same classes have two or three or four kids.  Same for bird dog field trials.  When I was a kid, all the adults my parents age had kids who were there, riding and watching.  Now, not only are most of the people my age not there, neither are anyone's kids.

Sports hobbies are expensive, time consuming, and lots of work to be good at.  I guess it's easier to just stay home.

[Chuck in Indiana]

They won't know what they are missing...sadly

Sad... but true. Flying a Pitts (for instance) on a simulator is about like making out with that hot babe on the TV..