Most attractive at BMW finger lakes rally

[slopokes]

All the gs riders were jealous...

[Perazzimx14]

From the pictures it looks like you turned their world on edge!

All the gs riders were jealous...

[oldbike54]

 Cool 

 Dusty

[Sheepdog]

Let’s face it: a BMW GS is many things, but “attractive” isn’t one of them. Guzzis always look better than Beemers.

[frozengoose]

From the pictures it looks like you turned their world on edge!

There, fixed it. It's amazing, they have these apps where you can rotate the photo!

One thing I noticed in the photo is that most of the folks are older. It's like that at the airheads meeting I occasionally go to, where the average age must be close to sixty. Maybe the youngsters just don't go to meets, but it seems like the biker population's definitely aging.

[slopokes]

Average age was sixty eight this year.. up one year from last year

[twowheeladdict]

There, fixed it. It's amazing, they have these apps where you can rotate the photo!

One thing I noticed in the photo is that most of the folks are older. It's like that at the airheads meeting I occasionally go to, where the average age must be close to sixty. Maybe the youngsters just don't go to meets, but it seems like the biker population's definitely aging.

I didn't gather with other riders for the first 20 years of riding.  Rode to work, rode to the beach, rode with a couple friends that rode to work.  Didn't even know there were clubs and gatherings, etc.  I'm sure a lot of young people are the same way.  They are spending their time working, learning, raising, romancing. 

[Lannis]

I didn't gather with other riders for the first 20 years of riding.  Rode to work, rode to the beach, rode with a couple friends that rode to work.  Didn't even know there were clubs and gatherings, etc.  I'm sure a lot of young people are the same way.  They are spending their time working, learning, raising, romancing.

I'd never thought about it before, but I started riding in 1970 and went to my very first rally/gathering in 2000.    Since then, I've probably been to 100 of them.

I suppose we're not the only ones like that.

Lannis

[Kev m]

I started riding around 92 and went to the Finger Lakes Rally by 96 or so...

[Lannis]

I started riding around 92 and went to the Finger Lakes Rally by 96 or so...

You were an older fella (by comparison) when you started ..... I started at age 15 years 8 months 1 day (the legal age at the time), and spent all my time ".. working, learning, raising, romancing."    We had a bit different name for some of that (      ) but it took all my time!   Had to wise up before I understood about rallies and the friends therein ...

Lannis 

[frozengoose]

I'd never thought about it before, but I started riding in 1970 and went to my very first rally/gathering in 2000.    Since then, I've probably been to 100 of them.

I suppose we're not the only ones like that.

Lannis

I think a lot may have to do with the internet making information so available, now people can find out about  meets and clubs so much easier than back in the 70's and 80's. Just like this blog, if it was a written newsletter, how many would spend their time on it?

We had a Brit bike ride up here in the 80's, but it was a local thing and don't ever remember any coming up from Anch. Now a days, you could have a state wide gathering if it was posted on the net.

[Kev m]

You were an older fella (by comparison) when you started ..... I started at age 15 years 8 months 1 day (the legal age at the time), and spent all my time ".. working, learning, raising, romancing."    We had a bit different name for some of that (      ) but it took all my time!   Had to wise up before I understood about rallies and the friends therein ...

Lannis

Yeah (early 20's) but that kinda throws the whole speculation thing about new riders not going to Rallys out the window. If you're including kids in the new rider category, of course they're not.

I think the real question would be do new adult riders go to Rallys in their early years or not.  I'm just saying I'm an example of one who did. Probably attended more then than I do now.

[jpv7]

Started riding in '93 and went to my first D.O.C.C. (Ducati Owners Club of Canada) in '98 at Mosport (around 29 years old).  Wow - I'll never forget it.  First track experience and first rally.  It was great having a beer at 5pm and laughing about how many times you saw Jesus at the end of the Andretti straight...those were good times, and you wouldn't believe the characters that would show up from both Canada and the US.  And the bikes:  Bimotas, Ducatis, Guzzis, Laverdas.  Wow

[Sheepdog]

When I was in my forties and living in New Mexico, I went to a bunch of rallies. When I was in my twenties and in the Army, I went to a bunch of bars...

[wirespokes]

i think you nailed it twa - I started riding in 66 and it wasn't till the early 90s after getting hooked on airheads that rallys caught my attention. The romance was over, learned all I needed to know, raising wasn't a big issue any more, and hell with work!

[John Warner]

I started riding (legally) in 1978.
Went to my first 'organised' event this year!
Rallies were where the bearded, beer-bellied old farts went, when I was young!

[Murray]

A lot of the rallies seem to have very little to do with motorcycles and lots to do with drinking without female supervision.

[molly]

I started attending bike rallies in the late seventies and stopped 30 years later. Too much excessive drinking and conforming to club rules finally wore a bit thin. I'm far more contended pleasing myself and using pubs and hotels to rest my head.

[Cam3512]

A lot of the rallies seem to have very little to do with motorcycles and lots to do with drinking without female supervision.

So what's your point?  Plenty of females hoisting them with us.  Lots of motorcycle talk.

[Lannis]

Do what's your point?  Plenty of females hoisting them with us.  Lots of motorcycle talk.

Yep.   I've been to a dozen rallies in the UK (just got back from one), and who knows how many Guzzi rallies in the US, and I've never noticed the "excessive drinking" and "no females" thing.    The last Virginia Guzzi rally was probably 70-30 guys and girls.

And I don't even drink, meaning I would notice if alcohol driven chimp-like behavior was part of the scene.   I wouldn't even be at a rally dominated or merely affected by obnoxious drunks.

Maybe  a more judicious selection in the type of rallies chosen would result in better results!   That's certainly my plan.

Lannis

[Kev m]

I suspect, even with the collective amount of experience we have on this board even a subject like motorcycle rallys is diverse enough that it might be hard to make too many generalizations.

[roadventure]

it seems like the biker population's definitely aging.

You think????? 

[frozengoose]

You think????? 

Sarcasm? Nice, but not too original Gibbs. My point was not to make an amazing observation but rather stimulate discussion about the lack of younger riders. When we used to have the Brit Bike rallies in the 80's and 90's, the average age was maybe mid 30's. Now it seems like most of the guys I see riding are older, so why aren't younger folks riding motorcycles. You see kids here on on bikes, 4 wheelers, and snow machines but seldom on cycles. Just seems odd to me, cause I couldn't wait to get one when I was a kid.

[John Warner]

I started attending bike rallies in the late seventies and stopped 30 years later. Too much excessive drinking and conforming to club rules finally wore a bit thin. I'm far more contended pleasing myself and using pubs and hotels to rest my head.

Molly.
I can thoroughly recommend the Adventure Bike Festival, it's the event I went to this year, my first ever mass attended Bike meet.
You don't need an 'Adventure' Bike to attend, plenty of people didn't even come on Bikes, although much of the 'content' is related to them.

I'm not a drinker, so wasn't sure what to expect, but had a whale of a time.
Already booked my place for next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhxn9ptUvYQ

[kidsmoke]

I suggest those of you who believe young people don't like old bikes try to make it to Louisville this weekend. an event that started a couple years back as a local old bike festival with several dozen guys has grown into a weekend of camping live music and old machines drawing 10-15K people. It's not my kind of event, but the point is it's mostly 30 - 45 year olds all gaga over old bikes and the scene that surrounds them.

In Indy last Thursday night there was a kickoff for the organizers of the local DGR ride. Not everyone rode as folks to carry lots of promotional materials etc, but of the bikes that came...

3 Guzzis (ages 52,43,33)
3 Triumphs (all 50 ish)
2 Kawasakis (both younger 35 ones bike older than they were)
1 BMW (45)



Cadre in Cincy is the number two seller by volume in the country, achieved mostly by selling V7's to younger riders.

Vintage Bike night here in Indy is a monthly event, and while there are guys in there 50 - 60's present, Most are under 45. I just don't see the same data points ya'll do, unless I'm sitting with you. Which I do at every opportunity.

I'm 52. Love these bikes. Have made wonderful friends with guys who are committed to making several rally's a year. And you won't see me at them despite my desire, as my life is such that there are only so many weekends and so many different worthwhile ways to spend them, grown children spread about etc... As I age I see Rally's as more and more amenable. You cannot judge that state of motorcycling on the attendance at a Guzzi Rally fer cryin' out loud.


To the OP...nice machine. I like the red presentation best, I think.

[frozengoose]

I suggest those of you who believe young people don't like old bikes try to make it to Louisville this weekend. an event that started a couple years back as a local old bike festival with several dozen guys has grown into a weekend of camping live music and old machines drawing 10-15K people. It's not my kind of event, but the point is it's mostly 30 - 45 year olds all gaga over old bikes and the scene that surrounds them...

You cannot judge that state of motorcycling on the attendance at a Guzzi Rally fer cryin' out loud.

No you can't judge that, just like another rally somewhere else doesn't prove the opposite. Here's what a quick Google search comes up with...

"A graying market:  The median age of the typical motorcycle owner is 47, up from 32 in 1990 and 40 in 2009."

[Cam3512]

Regardless of age, the same handful of Guzzi riders in New Jersey are the ones going to rallies every year.   Others don't seem to want to get out of their comfort zone and actually travel out of state for a long weekend.  MOST are relegated to half day rides, and never leave the state.

Honestly, how difficult is it for a grown man or woman to take a weekend here or there and travel on their bike. 

[Kev m]

Honestly, how difficult is it for a grown man or woman to take a weekend here or there and travel on their bike.

It's about priorities.

Some don't care enough.

Others are just plain busy.

I mean shit, it's tough as hell for me. Jenn works part of at least half the weekends every month, and I've got two young school age kids that can't be left alone.

We don't have any family close enough to just drop in for baby sitting (it's an overnight venture) and so we reserve that for the few times a year we (Jenn and I) want to do something together. Sometimes that's a rally - but more often that would be a weekend away together (on the bikes) to somewhere OTHER than a rally.

Barber's isn't gonna be easy.... FOR HER....

[kidsmoke]

It's about priorities.

Some don't care enough.

Others are just plain busy.

I mean shit, it's tough as hell for me. Jenn works part of at least half the weekends every month, and I've got two young school age kids that can't be left alone.

We don't have any family close enough to just drop in for baby sitting (it's an overnight venture) and so we reserve that for the few times a year we (Jenn and I) want to do something together. Sometimes that's a rally - but more often that would be a weekend away together (on the bikes) to somewhere OTHER than a rally.

Barber's isn't gonna be easy.... FOR HER....

This...

It's not difficult to take a weekend now and then...
to travel a 1000 miles to see family on the East Coast
family in Chicago.
Girlfriends fam in SoCal
maybe a vaca to somewhere the relatives ain't
add in a rally, maybe two.
still gotta mow the lawn and get a load of laundry done once in a while.
I like having a dog...that's a wrench right there.

If I was retired it would be a world of difference. My weeks are 3 days long. M-F(1), Sat, and Su. That first day I'm lucky to get three squares in let alone accomplish anything personal, it's all about the weekend.

Pre-kids and post work life, I'd be (hope to be) all about it.

[blu guzz]

OK.  I started riding in 1981.  It was when I started my first grown-up job and I was 22 at the time.  I read some of the magazines and the idea of travel on a bike seemed very interesting to me.  I did not have a bike capable of doing so until the kids started to come along in 1985.  No possibility of going with 3 under 5 years old.  I changed careers in the mid 90s and my kids continued to grow.  In 1997,  age 39, I got a BMW R100RS, a proper sport touring bike with luggage.  As the kids were older, I went to my first rally that year about 60 miles from home and took my 10 year old son, and have been doing rallys ever since.  In fact, my now 32 year old son who rides a multistrada comes to a few with me. He is single, but works a lot.
The child rearing years knocks a bunch of guys out for a while.