Is Interest in Motorcycles Waning?

[Agent Orange]

I bought my first bike when I was 18, my 93 ZX-7 as pictured in my avatar. Got out of riding for several years and got back into it and bought 2000 R1, 03 R6, 05 SV 650s, an old beater 87 250. Sold all that and got out of riding again. When the pandemic hit, I decided to swear off BART and started commuting in by car. I thought, 'well what about when traffic comes back, maybe I should look into getting another bike?'. I was really, really close on pulling the trigger for a Ninja 400 until I ran into a few dealers who wanted way too much for what they were asking for. Then I thought long and hard if the money I was spending would be worth the ROI.

And the answer was a flat no. Theres a huge cost in keeping a motorcycle. For one thing, all my gear was really old or missing. So I'd have to get new gear. Then there's the cost of insurance and maintenance. And then I thought about all the close calls I've had in my car with uber drivers. Now that I have mortgage, do I really want to risk getting creamed to end up at a hospital an no longer be able to go hiking with my friends, do indoor rock climbing, do jiu jitsu? And the answer was a flat out fuck no. So its a matter of cost / reward ratio. Its just not there for me anymore.

 

[GilesD]

I bought my first bike when I was 18, my 93 ZX-7 as pictured in my avatar. Got out of riding for several years and got back into it and bought 2000 R1, 03 R6, 05 SV 650s, an old beater 87 250. Sold all that and got out of riding again. When the pandemic hit, I decided to swear off BART and started commuting in by car. I thought, 'well what about when traffic comes back, maybe I should look into getting another bike?'. I was really, really close on pulling the trigger for a Ninja 400 until I ran into a few dealers who wanted way too much for what they were asking for. Then I thought long and hard if the money I was spending would be worth the ROI.

And the answer was a flat no. Theres a huge cost in keeping a motorcycle. For one thing, all my gear was really old or missing. So I'd have to get new gear. Then there's the cost of insurance and maintenance. And then I thought about all the close calls I've had in my car with uber drivers. Now that I have mortgage, do I really want to risk getting creamed to end up at a hospital an no longer be able to go hiking with my friends, do indoor rock climbing, do jiu jitsu? And the answer was a flat out fuck no. So its a matter of cost / reward ratio. Its just not there for me anymore.

I understand perfectly well all your reasons for saying no to commuting by motorcycle. However that is not the only way one can enjoy two wheels. In fact motorcycle commuting for me has the worst ration for fun vs danger possible. At the other end of the spectrum [again for me] is dirtbike riding at the local OHV parks. Maximum fun for very low real danger. In between there are all sorts of ways one can enjoy riding while keeping risk far lower than in a daily commuter.
A recent ride on a borrowed KLR650 around Lake Berryessa has me seriously considering adding a dual sport of some sorts to my garage. It was a lot of fun and the risk, as long as you don't ride by yourself seems minimal.

 

[JHicks]

It's a somewhat expensive hobby and most young people can barely afford to move out of their parents house let alone have a luxury item

 

[greenmonster]

For me my bike is both a toy and a hobby that gets me out out the house and out on the road. I wouldn’t want to commute on a bike, no, my enjoyment comes from thinking all week while I’m working about where I’ll go on a Saturday or Sunday, what roads haven’t I explored yet? And then getting out there away from the news, work, people and just listening to the hum of the motor, the wind. I’ve felt this way since I was a kid on a mini bike and I’m 65 now. I watch motorcycle safety videos a few times a month which tends to keep safety in mind when I ride but I really just putt along.

 

[GAJ]

For me it's not cost or "risk" per se, started riding in 1972 and just 3 or so years ago, after starting to bicycle for exercise, lost a lot of interest.

Gave my DRZ to a good friend in Orlando in February and haven't ridden the F800ST since perhaps my only ride of 2019 when a fork seal blew; haven't been motivated to have it repaired yet.

In April I had the suspension massively improved on my MX5 and it is more fun to drive than ever so I may indeed be done with motos though I'll keep the F800ST and keep the insurance current as it doesn't take up too much space in the garage!

My maximum number of functioning motos in the garage at the same time was 4 in 2007, so about average for BARF.

 

[RWMaverick]

I'm a late Millennial ('93), AMA.

I got into motorcycling just after graduating college in Massachusetts and before moving to CA for grad school. There were two main reasons: I figured it was a relatively viable year-round transportation option for a single guy living in sunny California, and I thought it looked cool and fun.

In terms of finances, I'd say I'm luckier than probably about 90% of other Millennials I know (not to toot my own horn or anything). I went to a state university and graduated debt-free, so I didn't have that stormcloud hanging over my head, and I had accumulated some spending money from a few summer internships during undergrad. I also went to grad school on a fellowship as a research assistant, so that covered housing and saved me from racking up debt.

So basically for me, it was a perfect storm of preexisting curiosity, being in good shape financially, and living in California where it would be a viable alternative to a car (for personal transportation anyway, I rent a van if I need to transport anything). If any of those pieces of the puzzle weren't in place, I wouldn't own a motorcycle right now, I'd have just gotten a cheap used car.

Even taking all that into account, I've bought all three of my bikes used (though I'm down to 2 now), and I haven't paid over $2k for any of them.

I have a bunch of friends my age who are interested, but no one is pulling the trigger! Only one of about 5 interested friends has actually gotten his license, and he hasn't started shopping around for bikes yet.

 

[Lucytriple]

I'm a late Millennial ('93), AMA.

I have a bunch of friends my age who are interested, but no one is pulling the trigger! Only one of about 5 interested friends has actually gotten his license, and he hasn't started shopping around for bikes yet.

I think the best thing for those friends who are on the fence is to suggest that they take the rider course that helps you earn your license, or learn-to-ride classes like Monkey Moto who teach you well and let you use their bikes. It's liberating, exciting and addictive (preaching to the choir) and having the financially risk-free chance to use another's bike is a dream come true.

 

[JHicks]

+1 on taking the CMSP basic course

 

[The Smokester]

...Honestly I believe to ride motorcycles is the poorer man's version of owning a sail boat -- a big black hole of endless money being poured into something you love to do but is dangerous as heck...

I can attest to the cost of owning a sailboat (which for a well-maintained ocean-going 40 footer is outrageous), but not to the danger. Although many are afraid to sail beyond the Golden Gate, the risks to life are virtually zero.

In the years I analyzed, about 400 sailboats participated in trans-Pacific sailboat races of distances between 2000 and 2500 nautical miles and only a few were been lost over several million blue-water miles (including the return trip, since some boats are shipped home, about 600 Pacific crossings including return). These include the Transpac (from San Diego), the PacCup (San Francisco), and Singlehanded Transpac (San Francisco) and the Vic Maui (from Victoria BC) with destinations in Hawaii. Bear in mind that these boats are inspected prior to racing, have prescribed safety equipment and crew that has mandatory training wearing mandatory safety equipment.

The causes of boat loss range from impact with an object, less than robust design (they are race boats after all), lightning strikes (blew a valve out of the hull...boat was in port), stormy weather (scuttled near the Gulf of Alaska) and whale attack.

However, there has not been loss of life in the races. There have been rescues due to incapacitation (sickness) of the skipper or crew (often the boat is recovered) and due to heavy weather (the boat was scuttled). In the case of the lightning strike, the boat was anchored in port off Hawaii and was recovered to sail again. The crews in the whale strike and scuttling were rescued by merchant vessels, sometimes after bobbing around in a life raft for a day.

But, no loss of life in millions of miles of ocean sailboat racing. So, where's the danger?