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Location
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US
Long read but the dirt side of motorcycling is at 80% of pre covid numbers.
The writer sure did not like street bike riding to endeavor a long 3 week street bike coaster to coast ride.
I know long time HD shops have been closing down and with the high $$$$ street bikes costs on floorings monthly interest payments that has to be killing all the MC shop’s everywhere.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-08/why-us-motorcycle-sa…
Unfortunately the newer gen’s care more about flipping through their phones than feeling the freedom of the open road or woods. Hell fewer even want to drive a car these days let alone risk their lives ( product of over protective parents that keep saying “it’s different now”). - Rec motorcycles have peaked.
I agree with the writer. Long road trips on a motorcycle are not fun for me. I like to go real fast for about 20 minutes and then take a rest. I do this over and over till worn out and then I go home. It is super fun.
I read that article when it came out and all I could do was shake my head, the author just doesn't get it so he wrote the anti Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Monetization culture has killed art and exploration for the sake of self fulfillment.
You need to come on out and we’ll take a long weekend on my KLRs…we’ll head to the Eastern Sierra or Baja and I’ll have you “Choose a Direction”. 🤣
It’s a Zen as life gets.
Manny
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Haven't been out there in a while, the last time I was my wife and I were watching the sunset over the Sierra's from one of the East side hot springs on our honeymoon.
Reminder: 60% of PMG sales are streetbikes.
https://www.motorcycle.com/features/interview-with-ktms-stefan-pierer-p…
It would be worth studying where the covid boom in bike sales came from. Because if it was all ages then that tells us it's just $. Hard to believe an extra $900 a person could make such a shift but we're seeing it in so many markets it's hard to think it's not the money. On the other hand if it was all Gen X and Boomers spending that money, then we have a real problem moving forward.
It was not the $800. It was ZIRP and all the handouts from the governments besides the $800
You don't think they wanted the peasants to revolt do you? Can you imagine if they gave all those trillions to their buddies and nothing to us.
You got a lot of downvotes but I agree with you. The industry shouldn't be waiting for a magical turn around regardless of what the interest rate is on a new bike. The lockdowns were a once in a generation event that forced people and families outside and concentrated huge amounts of spending into areas that facilitated it. I also believe injury risks and the "soft generation" trump economic conditions.
Families were looking for things to do together, fathers started doing stuff with their sons, and people re-discovered the great outdoors.
I keep hearing about all this money for covid, where the hell is mine! I got like $1400 for my family, it was enough to cover several months of groceries. What is ZIRP and do they owe me money? I think most of it went to people who where all ready well off with the PPP program.
It was the extra money that the various state governments handed out for unemployment too…a large chunk of people made more money sitting home on unemployment than if they were to go to work, not even considering their reduced daily cost on account for them sitting home instead of commuting.
People couldn’t go on their regular out of country vacations and had money burning a hole in their pockets. Had to spend that money on something…dirtbikes and RV’s come to mind.
Yes they do. Send the bill to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_interest-rate_policy
Not worried - anybody with kind of common sense can look around and see what young folks are focused on 75% of their day… it sucks and I hate it but here we are
strange article..."Biking is pointless, perilous and impractical"...what is this guy afraid of?
So he brought the wrong bike for the ride and wasn't prepared (apparently has a cheap helmet...I've never had much wind noise in a good helmet...and didn't have a proper set up for music/podcasts)...no wonder he didn't like it.
He’s more of a slingshot kind of guy
Pit Row
Author is a huge puss. All of the described “discomforts” are what make the motorcycle trip a unique and fun experience. Get that guy in a car with heated seats asap!
Didnt like the article it was a very weak way to get his point across, that being that the US motorcycle industry has not recovered from the great recession. The 2000s were a golden age for the motorcycle industry in America, Supercross was regularly highlighted on Sportcenter, the top TV shows on cable were about building choppers, multiple Americas were in the MotoGP championship, and motorcycle sales were booming. And just about everyone who walked into a dealership could be approved for a motorcycle, and that is probably the biggest difference between then and now, the financial qualifications.
It looks like a lot of folks dont care for your take on this situation. Maybe those down votes are from younger people who are tired of hearing how lame the younger generation is? Nobody likes to have their noses rubbed in someone else's mess.
I do, however, agree with you as a general trend. Very few of the 30 and under crowd that I have watched come up have any interest in anything other than entertainment, social media, drinking/relaxing etc. This is the general trend- not to say young people are all lazy loads- it just seems to be the direction they are heading.
It seems it will be easy for motorcycling to slip through the cracks when very few young people can relate to it at all, and people increasingly live in and around large cities. This is the trend. There are very few places to ride, much, much more traffic on the roads now, (both stoned and sober drivers) and very little opportunity to enjoy what I loved about bikes in my youth.
No helmet is as quiet as driving down the road or suspension as plush as any modern non modified car or truck.
3.5 weeks or 25 days would only be riding 200 miles a day towhat he claimed 5000 miles coast to coast from New York City to San Francisco. But Then again it is not 5000 miles it is just under or just over 3000 miles depending on the route you take and would only be 120 miles a day.
Hell Manny there are ways to dual sport on dirt roads and trails that would be a BLAST!!!
Scrolled down that article and did not see the KTM/HUS/GAS 60% street bikes that you claimed can you post where it said it incase I missed it.
Manny, I wanna hit Utah, etc adventure riding. lets goo
Well I’m trying my damnest to keep my 9 yo kid out of the technology trance. Confidence and real life lessons come from scabby knees and elbows. 😎
Like anything else, there's more exposure to motorcycles and extreme sports than there ever was before (not through traditional TV, which is arguably shrinking). You guys can blame whatever generation you want, but this is 100% a money thing. It's even pricing out us folks on the older side with money. Hell even things like working on older vehicles has almost become impractical.
Guys, it's money. If the gigantic surge in cheap electric bikes doesn't tell you anything than you aren't paying attention. Money
Very true, all the rv's, campers, pop-ups, hell even all the tents were gone. lol. We know every thing with a motor got sold. It wasn't a bad thing though! Today's kids needed some outdoors but as we see, it came with a price
During the Pandemic many people wanted to live life to the fullest as they thought their life may end any day. Fulling dreams, camping, biking, cycling, all items many people would love to do more of but life/work will not support. Once the pandemic ended the money tighten up, interested rates and massive inflation had many of the people who purchased outdoor items trying to sell them as it was back to work and normal life.
During covid lock down, my crack head buddy signed up mid month. He got 3 grand for the prior month, 3 grand for the current month and then a couple of weeks later he got 3 grand for the next month. WTF? He then went out and bought a new kx450. I was shocked at the whole deal , to say the least.
Post a reply to: But off road is doing very well !!!