The motorcycle community....

[71243]

I it just me?....or does it seem to be 'shrinking'?....I'm sure it's aging, but.

I follow here & some other M/C forums and it just appears that participation has really slowed. And locally, about all I see on the road is H/D. Granted they have always been most numerous , but now....almost exclusive.

Two H/D dealers...and AFAIK only one "multi-brand" dealer in the whole region?. About 50 miles to the next one. Used to be some choices, which are just gone. No BMW dealer in several years now.

Ooops I forgot one...A Guzzi dealer whose franchise is fairly new..... used to be used bikes only.

 

[rwl1955]

I it just me?....or does it seem to be 'shrinking'?....I'm sure it's aging, but.

I follow here & some other M/C forums and it just appears that participation has really slowed. And locally, about all I see on the road is H/D. Granted they have always been most numerous , but now....almost exclusive.

Two H/D dealers...and AFAIK only one "multi-brand" dealer in the whole region?. About 50 miles to the next one. Used to be some choices, which are just gone. No BMW dealer in several years now.

Ooops I forgot one...A Guzzi dealer whose franchise is fairly new..... used to be used bikes only.

*****
yes young people are not buying motorcycles or even cars like they used to. The educated ones want to live in urban areas where the jobs and action are. I read a recent article detailing how many teenagers could care less about driving and obtaining a license, social media allows them to communicate on line w/their friends.

 

[pglaves]

College loan debt is revoking many of their options - including motorcycles, cars, and housing.

 

[PoorUB]

2007 Harley sold roughly 350,000 motorcycles, lately they are lucky to sell 200,000 motorcycles a year. Do the math!

Some lines, BMW for example keeps creeping up, but when they sell 15,000 motorcycles in the USA, it is a drop in the bucket compared to Honda or HD, both are having slumping sales.

 

[speck.wisc]

It’s sad the direction this is going. I’m sure the members here all share a love of biking, for sport, recreation, travel, what have you. I feel for the younger people who may have an interest but will be faced with diminishing resources as dealerships may close, manufacturers may go out of business, and information sources dry up because of flagging demand. I fear it may be an irreversible trend as younger people find new avenues for their interests.
Hopefully, the strategy that some manufacturers are taking with producing new smaller, less expensive bikes that will make taking up the sport less intimidating will bring more people to this world we like so much.

 

[rwl1955]

It’s sad the direction this is going. I’m sure the members here all share a love of biking, for sport, recreation, travel, what have you. I feel for the younger people who may have an interest but will be faced with diminishing resources as dealerships may close, manufacturers may go out of business, and information sources dry up because of flagging demand. I fear it may be an irreversible trend as younger people find new avenues for their interests.
Hopefully, the strategy that some manufacturers are taking with producing new smaller, less expensive bikes that will make taking up the sport less intimidating will bring more people to this world we like so much.

also the Greenies have demonized the internal combustion engine as the root of all environmental problems, which is BS. They are brainwashed in college by the Pruis driving academic elites. Remember the world will end in 12 yrs according to Bernie and AOC unless we stop using fossil fuels and many of the youts believe this hysterical nonsense. It's not COOL to be into cars and motorcycles anymore.

 

[scqtt]

I have made my living in the MC industry for 32 years. The motorcycle industry's health in the last 50 years can be directly linked to the lifecycle of the Baby Boomer. FYI Cincy has a brand new BMW dealer. Ohio is only behind CA and FL for motorcycle registrations, not per capita, overall. If you lived in MS you would really see how rare motorcycle riding is. Only about 3% of the public ride motorcycles and it is declining quickly. There are many, many factors at play, and I will not go into them, but the future is not bright.

 

[pappy35]

I ride to work almost every day in Memphis (from out east to the airport and back) and I'm pretty much the only bike I see on the road regularly. I see a Harley once a month or so and there was one guy on a BMW 4-banger ADV bike (I forget what those are called) but I never even see him anymore. Keeping in mind that my company is THE largest employer here by far, I can think of 11 bikes I see regularly (3 beemers, one is mine, about 6 HDs, one cool old Honda CX500, and one Victory), that's it. I see a few more randomly pleasure riding (mostly HDs) but there's an obvious lack of any other riders out here compared to how it was.

 

[scqtt]

I ride to work almost every day in Memphis (from out east to the airport and back) and I'm pretty much the only bike I see on the road regularly. I see a Harley once a month or so and there was one guy on a BMW 4-banger ADV bike (I forget what those are called) but I never even see him anymore. Keeping in mind that my company is THE largest employer here by far, I can think of 11 bikes I see regularly (3 beemers, one is mine, about 6 HDs, one cool old Honda CX500, and one Victory), that's it. I see a few more randomly pleasure riding (mostly HDs) but there's an obvious lack of any other riders out here compared to how it was.

I lived in Memphis for 10 years, it is a motorcycle wasteland. It is a very polarized city. You have money or you don't. Wealthy people typically do not ride and neither do poor people. You have a bunch of both in Memphis and not a lot of in between. The rest of TN balances out the state a little, but just south in MS you have the lowest per capita motorcycle riding of any state. Again, rich folks and poor folks and not a lot of in between.

 

[71243]

"FYI Cincy has a brand new BMW dealer."

Are you referring to the one just opened in Middletown? That's actually about 40 miles from Cincy...But hey it is better than what we have had for 10? years or longer since the last one closed up.

"Only about 3% of the public ride motorcycles and it is declining quickly. There are many, many factors at play, and I will not go into them, but the future is not bright."

Why not ? If you have inside info...I think many/most of us here are interested.

Where I live [bout 10 east of Cincy] is deep H/D country . If ya see anything? ... it will likely be an H/D.

 

[flyhi2cfar]

Actually the new southwest Ohio and Cincinnati Metro AREA...

...BMW Dealership; is 31.5 miles from downtown Milford... without getting on the the interstate.

And it's even closer to all the Cincinnati suburbs from the westside ( including our Indiana neighbors ) ...clockwise through about your neck of the woods Ron.

The folks outside of the south outer-belt in Kentucky; they get the 50 mile ride! But we'll take it over a ride to Louisville, Indianapolis, or a trek to Columbus Ohio.

"travel'n" John

 

[BlueWaterCooled]

also the Greenies have demonized the internal combustion engine as the root of all environmental problems, which is BS. They are brainwashed in college by the Pruis driving academic elites. Remember the world will end in 12 yrs according to Bernie and AOC unless we stop using fossil fuels and many of the youts believe this hysterical nonsense. It's not COOL to be into cars and motorcycles anymore.

Seems like this falls under: "Trolling and Baiting".

 

[pglaves]

Seems like this falls under: "Trolling and Baiting".

And of course politics which is a banned topic. There are plenty of forae where this is welcome but this is not one of them.

 

[henzilla]

Geez guys, is it possible to have any thread lately that some folks seem the need to throw the political monkey wrench in?

As mentioned in a few threads that I am catching up on since getting back from a no news three week rally and beyond trip, leave the politics out of this please. Warnings seem to be pretty much ignored and it's getting old.

On the thread topic, I see the same numbers of folks riding, from the cruiser crowd to the sport bikes and the group we seem to fall in. The young folks who are interested in riding will figure it out just like I and others did when we were the young ones. Bikes have peaked and valleyed for years, just another dip in my view.

 

[71243]

How is it even possible to do that ? when politics do directly effect the internal combustion vehicles that we all embrace? Can we not have an honest / thorough discussion on a topic just because it hints of a taboo component ?

This is ridiculous , politics are the only thing that effects each & every one of us, each & every day....and yet we must tip-toe around it ? Be afraid of the mere mention ?

If a person cannot take the mention of anything in a thread ? Then they should remove themselves from that thread...as opposed to telling others what they are permitted to say.

I know we ride & covet motorcycles from the land of the Nazi's.....does that mean that the admin's / some of the admin's must act like them ?

I left here for a while...due to , in large part this kind of crap. Fifty bucks p/yr to read a discussion group where I'm told what I can say...yeah I know ... don't let the door hit me ...... etc,etc. Well, I just might once again . I don't think I was alone the first time, I may not be alone this time either.

How many exits can one group take, and still exist?

 

[daboo]

When a new, or slightly used BMW, costs as much as a new car...what do you expect?

 

[pglaves]

Guns, Politics, Religion. Banned. If this is not OK with any poster, good bye. We don't need the pollution here. "Wing nuts" or "Libtards". I am a licensed handgun owner. Able to carry concealed in 37 or more states. Voter. Registered with a party. Vote every chance I get. Even serve as an Election Judge. Have religious views. But not here. This is not the place. And besides. Rules are rules. If you can't follow rules, bye bye is what I say. And if you can't follow the rules or go bye bye on your own then it is the Moderators job to enforce the rules. And they generally do an excellent job despite member's ability to try their patience. Go mods!

 

[stevenrankin]

Kudos to the Moderators

I must say in defense of the BMWMOA forum, the moderators do an exceptional job.

Unlike other forums I will not mention here, I have not been insulted or abused.

I am like Paul here, He could have written my script. So I am not a whiny cry baby. St.

Personally, I think lack of money is the biggest problem.
We who are of the baby boomer generation grew up in a time of plentiful, good paying jobs.
We had the money to spend on toys back when we were young and we had the ability to increase wealth as we got older.
We started out with cheap toys when we were young and could afford bigger better toys as we got older.

I look at my nieces and nephews lives now and I don't see this happening. NOT because they are lazy or ill prepared, but because there are fewer and fewer GOOD jobs available.
We baby boomers grew up in an almost golden era. We reaped the rewards. St.

 

[71243]

"College loan debt is revoking many of their options - including motorcycles, cars, and housing."

Well since we are trolling for reasons....Is the above not political? I mean the mere mention of college loans surely is. Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren both want free college , their campaign is largely based on it.

It is a quote from you Paul.....own it. How is this any different than the mention by another that the "greenies" are effecting the sale ,etc. of motorcycles?

Politics affects everything, and has for years affected motorcycles . Should the AMA have ignored the ban on motorcycles from some major parks back in the day? Should they have ignored the banning of motorcycles from Gov land by off-roader's?
No....and they did go after these bans through politics / lobbying in DC, sometimes at the state level ..... They won back some of our very rights ....... through politics.

Personal attacks pertaining to your politics or mine? No. But politics in general cannot be ignored in modern day America ...as the quote by you above proves.

 

[pappy35]

Unlike other forums I will not mention here, I have not been insulted or abused.

Well, we'll just have to do something about that!

You are ugly (insulted, check) and you better not let me catch you sneaking around riding another make of motorcycle or there WILL be hell to pay (abused - check)!