... full of middle-aged white men. Why is that? When I started going to Box Hill in the Seventies, we would look on in amazement at the odd guy who arrived on a Guzzi S3 or a 900ss. They were invariably "old geezers" in their late thirties! Nowadays though they'd be considered youngsters by the hard core of 40-60-year-olds there. Why are teenagers and kids in their twenties not buying bikes? Price? High insurance costs? Not fashionable? Same goes for the continued very low female and ethnic-minority representation among bikers? What's that about? And does bike ownership follow the same pattern in other countries? I'm sure that I saw far more women and black bikers while riding in the States, for example.
The latest generation were not allowed to play outside in case they were kidnapped, sold into slavery, raped or all three so none of them do outdoor activities!
Younger people must be put off by the difficult and complex testing/qualification/licensing process, and the costs. When you and I went to Box Hill in the 70s, we'd only had to pay about £5 to take a test which consisted of driving round the block a couple of times and not mowing the tester down. And of course insurance costs were much lower then. I'm not sure whether small bikes are easy to maintain without paying dealer costs, but back then they certainly were, as were larger bikes if you were handy; I don't know how true it is, but some say that "the youth of today" are less inclined to attempt DIY.
Good points. I had to rebuild the top end of my first bike - a Honda CB250 with clip-ons and rear sets (great for learning on!) - in my dad's garage when I was still at school as I couldn't afford to pay a dealer to do it from my Saturday job pay because I'd just shelled out £5 for a new chain (which lasted about six months I seem to remember, pre o-ring versions). And mum and dad wouldn't bail me put because they wanted me to drive a car. I'd like to say they were happy days but it was winter and the garage was unheated! I also have not so happy memories if filing down ignition contacts and bending feeler gauges trying to adjust tappets. On balance I'm glad Snell's takes care of all that now - even if my next service is likely to cost me so many £££ - I don't even want to think about it!
Do you really need to make this a black/white point speedy I know of a fair few black/women riders only they don't all own Ducati Can we have a thread where we are not picking out colour and religion please Thanks
My son rides a push bike daily and everyday he comes home cross about the drivers who are texting/talking on mobiles who just pull out of a junction and don't look nearly knocking him off in the process He was looking at taking his motorbike test but has changed his mind as he doesn't want to end up being knocked off so he is looking at cars
Teenagers these days all ride step-through moped/scooter things. You can't acquire the biking gene from one of those. You need a proper bike-shaped moped like a Fizzy which you have to take apart and fix on Saturdays and have rebored and buy trick bits for to make it go faster. A real moped leads to real bikes. Scooters are the work of Satan. That way lies a Nissan Micra.
For gawd's sake! I'm just starting a discussion thread - not making a value judgement. Others seem to have got this. If you disagree and think that there are as many ethnic minority, young and women bikers out there (nowhere did I say Ducati-owners) just make your point. You are the only person who failed to pick up on the purpose of the exercise, which was emphatically NOT to pick on anyone. I despair!!! Leave your PC hat at home sometimes and replace it with a bikers' helmet
Hey I don't have a problem with the thread but you made a statement and you included colour groups What's wrong with just middle aged men then that can include everyone Surely we can have a thread that's neutral just for once speedy
Stereotypical bikers are stereotypes for a reason. The majority (but not all) of them do indeed seem to fall into a single demographic type. I am reminded of a time, a few years ago, when I saw something that astonished me. When I thought about further, I realised something I wasn't even aware of, hitherto. I was in Loomies car park when four "power rangers" arrived - the usual modern sports bikes, the usual colourful leathers, all as expected. They all took off their helmets at the same time - and all four were young, black men. My first thought was, I don't often see non-white guys on sports bikes. To see four, all together, at the same time was, for me, unprecedented. Nothing racist is implied here nor should any racism be inferred. I am simply remarking that in all my years of biking, most of the non-whites that I have encountered riding large motorbikes were all seen all at once, there, on that one occasion. I have no explanation as to why I see so few non-Caucasians but I hadn't even considered the matter before that day.
Fixed the title for you "Biking Is Like My Perception of The BBC These Days ..." I just counted in the studio here for you.There are 3 men including me and 11 ladies. Multiple ethnicity too. With regards to the other thing about youngsters i'll post a pic of my driveway on saturday when my nephew and his gagle of KTM and Yamaha riding mates came round to do some spannering. Maybe it's the biking press that are full of middle aged white men? Maybe youngsters get there biking news and kicks away from where we do. Oh hang on another lady just walked in the studio...
There was another Duke and some chinese thing behind me when took that. There are loads of kids up here on bikes.
this is the thing. first time i have witnessed you say it. not every other post. but to fair, i aint convinced it's racial just yet. i think it's more argumentative behavior.
fin, could you explain what you mean? I related to you my experience - I haven't expressed feelings about it, just what I've seen and just what I saw. Are you saying I am trying to pick an argument?
