Author Topic: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders  (Read 2960 times)

Offline willowstreetguzziguy

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Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« on: February 10, 2019, 01:17:16 PM »
Every once in a while a log onto the motorcycle section of Craigslist and find out what bikes are be "unloaded" by their owners. Of the 110 listings currently on page one in south central PA...

31%  Harleys
10%   Harley look-a-likes
16%  Off-road

Of the remaining 45%, a mishmash of modifiers, scooters, and other types. I realize motorcycling is not a practical means of transportation but the more practical in my mind the better. Having said that, not many of the bikes I see are practical options for my kind of riding. and that's just me talking. I think in order to get "hooked" on cycling, it takes a decent amount of riding to fallen love with riding. And maybe people aren't riding enough these days to get hooked in the sport. So the question is... "Does the level of "impracticality" have much to do with the types of motorcycles for sale on craigslist???
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Offline JACoH

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2019, 02:21:15 PM »
It's funny to peruse the CL listings here, too.  Lots of "cafe racers, bobbers, and projects" of bikes that they can't even spell, with outrageous prices. They rarely even clean them up, "just needs battery", or "carbs need cleaning" to ride. "Ran fine when I parked it" 6 years ago in the berry vines!

Offline slopokes

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2019, 02:55:59 PM »
That is my favorite—ran when parked—-🙏🤗

Offline JJ

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2019, 03:08:04 PM »
In the USA it's "Recreational" vs. "Utilitarian"...as it is in many countries...might have a lot to do with this as well... :rolleyes: :shocked: :huh:
« Last Edit: February 10, 2019, 04:38:48 PM by JJ »
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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2019, 03:08:04 PM »

Offline giusto

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2019, 04:11:56 PM »
Every once in a while a log onto the motorcycle section of Craigslist and find out what bikes are be "unloaded" by their owners. Of the 110 listings currently on page one in south central PA...

31%  Harleys
10%   Harley look-a-likes
16%  Off-road

Of the remaining 45%, a mishmash of modifiers, scooters, and other types. I realize motorcycling is not a practical means of transportation but the more practical in my mind the better. Having said that, not many of the bikes I see are practical options for my kind of riding. and that's just me talking. I think in order to get "hooked" on cycling, it takes a decent amount of riding to fallen love with riding. And maybe people aren't riding enough these days to get hooked in the sport. So the question is... "Does the level of "impracticality" have much to do with the types of motorcycles for sale on craigslist???



It's practical for me :) and recreational....I ride my bikes the 10 or so miles to/from work in goodish weather...April to October...and they get better mileage then my car...that's practical...I also just ride nowhere and anywhere a few hundred miles a week, plus a tour when able...that's not so practical.   It sure seems that folks should be able to find something in a varied price range to suit what ever kind of riding interests them.
I'm having a difficult time with the term "practical" here.
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Offline willowstreetguzziguy

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2019, 08:43:47 PM »


It's practical for me :) and recreational....I ride my bikes the 10 or so miles to/from work in goodish weather...April to October...and they get better mileage then my car...that's practical...I also just ride nowhere and anywhere a few hundred miles a week, plus a tour when able...that's not so practical.   It sure seems that folks should be able to find something in a varied price range to suit what ever kind of riding interests them.
I'm having a difficult time with the term "practical" here.

In my mind, practical means versatility...

1.)  The ability to carry some stuff on the bike (more than a backpacks worth), say I have to run to the store for bread, milk, bananas, snacks, a can of beans, bologna, OJ, eggs, etc.
2.)  Being able to ride comfortably for 45 minutes without having to sit upright, place one hand on your hip and look cool while you give your achey hand and arm a rest.
3.)  Riding your bike to work know that there's a 50% chance of rain on the way home...because you have your rain gear stowed away with you on the bike.
4.)  On a minute's notice, fire it up and ride go for a ride with a riding buddy that just stopped by.
5.)  Go on vacation with it.

Riding as much as you can and you get addicted it.
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Offline kidsmoke

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2019, 10:59:26 AM »
maybe it's just that the practical bikes aren't for sale on craigslist...becaus e they're not for sale. They're being coveted by their owners and ridden, and it's the poseur's selling the bikes their buddies guilted them into buying to be part of the club that you see....
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Offline Toecutter

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2019, 11:05:54 AM »
Discussions like this are almost as common as oil threads on forums. And they always tickle me.

Bikes... aren't practical. We can customize them and add shit to them and modify them and make them as practical as possible, but they aren't practical. They carry a higher risk than driving, with more serious injuries. They're exposed to weather. They lack storage and carrying capacity. blahblahblah.

Further, let's be honest, in North American culture... we as a society are fed culture definitions from the first time we get plopped in front a TV screen. Harley is NOTHING if not a cultural phenomenon. Hell, I ask  you to draw me a pic of a guy riding a Harley through the American west, I can almost guarantee you where you'll draw the Mesas, and where the highway stretches off into the distance (you probably can see the image in your head, right now).


I don't think the sales on CL and Kijiji and the like are indicative of the practicality of bikes in general. We all know "cruiser" riders that have spent their lives riding nothing but their beloved Harley and have logged more miles than most can dream of.

I think the bikes for sales reflect society/culture & image more than any notion that the bike wasn't practical or "useful".

The rider that buys a KLR650, generally speaking... knows what he wants, knows what he will realistically use it for. The rider buying a dirt bike... is gonna ride in dirt. The Goldwing customer, is gonna put his wife on the back and be a two-wheeled snowbird, and probably has the disposable income to allow him to have a 2-wheeled Winnebago that gets ridden once in a while.

Cruisers are a big segment of sales, and cruisers come packaged with free spirit and riding with buddies on endless trips to nowhere... the reality being, we've got jobs to do, kids to raise, bills to pay and free time to budget. So, when that ride to Sturgis never happens, and the rides with buddies end up being solo rides up and down the strip on sunday morning, that bike begins to look like cash, locked up in the garage.

 
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twowings

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2019, 04:31:31 PM »
A "true" biker would not:

1. Let a good bike just sit without maintanence.
2. Muck up a generally-acknowledged classic bike and then try to dump it.
3. Let greedy sleaze get in the way of finding a good bike a home with another caring rider.
4. Never, ever use a phrase like "just needs an easy fix/few parts/a couple of things" to "be like new".
5. Risk the bad karma coming back around like a heat-seeking boomerang.

I have spoken.

Offline twowheeladdict

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2019, 06:11:36 PM »
Every once in a while a log onto the motorcycle section of Craigslist and find out what bikes are be "unloaded" by their owners. Of the 110 listings currently on page one in south central PA...

31%  Harleys
10%   Harley look-a-likes
16%  Off-road

Of the remaining 45%, a mishmash of modifiers, scooters, and other types. I realize motorcycling is not a practical means of transportation but the more practical in my mind the better. Having said that, not many of the bikes I see are practical options for my kind of riding. and that's just me talking. I think in order to get "hooked" on cycling, it takes a decent amount of riding to fallen love with riding. And maybe people aren't riding enough these days to get hooked in the sport. So the question is... "Does the level of "impracticality" have much to do with the types of motorcycles for sale on craigslist???

First, it only took one ride on a Rupp mini bike for me to be hooked. 

Second, what is impractical about any of the bikes you listed?  I'm not sure what you mean by impractical.  What is "your" kind of riding? 
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Offline Devildog

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2019, 07:50:36 AM »
It's a hobby. Some people get intensely involved in their hobby, some less so, some get bored with the hobby and sell on Craigslist. IMHO, There are a few nice bikes, but most are used hard and discarded.
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Offline kidsmoke

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2019, 09:27:23 AM »
It's a hobby. Some people get intensely involved in their hobby, some less so, some get bored with the hobby and sell on Craigslist. IMHO, There are a few nice bikes, but most are used hard and discarded.

I don't look at it that way. I feel like motorcycling is a way to take a necessity to another level. I have to get from A to B. Riding makes it more fun and cost effective much of the time. Cant do it all the time, but I do when I can. Does that make it a hobby?  Look, A full size pick up truck is the most common vehicle in America, but if you worked in downtown Chicago, you wouldn't make it your daily driver: nearly impossible to parallel park due to size, illegal on some streets, so you would HAVE to come up with an alternative. I look at the bike in the same way. It's my preferred mode of transportation, and I cage when I can't ride (which is way too much of the time) When I lived in Chicago, I could be on two wheels 98% of the time. My commutes were shorter, my parking options multiplied 10x over, the cost of travel was dramatically reduced.

I recall hearing a guy complaining about loud motorcycles in traffic 'on a weekday, that's for weekends!' I was stunned at that view. Seems like he's not alone.



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kirby1923

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2019, 11:01:56 AM »

plural hobbies 
   
 

Definition of hobby..Webster...

: a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation
//Writing is just a hobby of his.

//Her hobbies include gardening and bird-watching.

I don't consider motorcycling a hobby either, maybe to some. Its a life style of sorts..maybe.

Figures in to what ever my plan is.
Much investment in tools and gear, like skiing (another activity I like).

But for people that are natural born "tinkerers" mechanical artist sorta... its something that compels them to change and create something different or strange...maybe ego involved.

Not a trend or an indication of motorcycling as a whole...
             

Offline Rusnak_322

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2019, 01:23:37 PM »
Definition of lifestyle..Webster. ..

plural lifestyles

Learner's definition of LIFESTYLE

: a particular way of living : the way a person lives or a group of people live
She envied the lavish lifestyles of wealthy people.
Eating right and exercising are essential to having/leading/living a healthy lifestyle.

I love motorcycles, I love reading about them, working on and modifying them, riding them, talking about them...

They have nothing to do with my lifestyle. they are a complete hobby, a way to relax. in 39 years, there was only a single year I didn't own a bike and that was due to a family tragedy. I ride, my wife rides, my kids are learning to ride. Currently own six motorcycles, it is not a lifestyle. I ride when I want and only for fun. Riding, knowing it is going to rain all day, isn't fun anymore, so I don't. 

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kirby1923

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2019, 06:34:31 PM »

life·​style  | \ ˈlīf-ˈstī(-ə)l   ,  -ˌstī(-ə)l\ 
     
 
Definition of lifestyle :
   

A typical way of life of an individual or group.....

I'm a motorcyclist and a professional aviator. I'm past raising a family so my way of living revolves around aircraft and motorcycles.


To ME..its my particular way of living..

I really have no Hobbies.

:-)
« Last Edit: February 12, 2019, 07:01:04 PM by kirby1923 »

britman

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Re: Craigslist and what it says about motorcycles / riders
« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2019, 06:20:45 AM »
I look at CL everyday, it is entertainment for me with some the prices being asked.  It is also a source for my hobby/part-time income.  I usually try to flip one or two bikes a year.  Mostly old Yamaha XS 650's or late sixties to mid seventies Honda's.  Sometimes, I must emphasize that "sometimes" is not always true, I make a buck or two.  Mainly I just enjoy spinning the wrenches, learning new techniques, and just bringing them back to life.  Projects are getting harder to find, with the value of old Honda's going up, but occasionally you do find one worth saving.  I picked up this 1971 CL350 a couple of days ago, 21K on the clock, a couple of oil leaks, but great compression and runs fairly decent.  I will make it somewhat pretty, get int dialed in mechanically, and put it up for sale in warmer weather.  Original cost, 600 bucks, sale price, what the market can bear.......




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