Perhaps there is hope...

[mikesim]

I've been noticing in my area lately that there is an increasing number of young people riding small <250cc motorcycles. We've talked about the dearth of new young riders here in the forum as it appeared that once us olde fartze die off, motorcycling will die with it. Perhaps not! In my case, it was a 50cc Honda Cub that got me hooked on motorcycling. I'm hopeful that these young folks also get infected with the motorcycle bug and continue to ride as they get older. The young'uns that I have seen have all been respectful and waved and have been equipped with helmets which is a good sign. There is still the occasional squid in shorts and a tank top with his near naked girlfriend on pillion on the loud sportbike but they are becoming fewer in number. Has anyone else noticed this or is this just a local anomaly?

Mike

 

[ST1100Y]

Has anyone else noticed this or is this just a local anomaly?

During the summer months you'd see a good number of young folks either on scoots or on small, naked bikes over here; (still) affordable, small, quirky enough to dart through dense city traffic and find a parking spot... (currently scoots and motorcycles still park FOC here...)
Can't tell if this is going to stick, as most don't invest much in proper riding gear though... more a bit of skater-fashion to observe...

Real, grown motorcycles have gone painstakingly expensive (much owned to mandatory gadgets, data collecting ECUs and emission regs)... the crux is that you'll get a decent car for those amounts...
So when you leave town, into the hills, on roads where the big bikes live, you'll see the usual mix of mid-aged and salt'n'pepper haired fellas and gals on the typical cruisers, ADV bikes or exquisite supersport things like Duc, MV Augusta or the KTM range...

The means to keep and maintain a motorcycle would require having a job, with steady income and responsibilities... things the young don't value anymore...
(they rather lament that they will never be able to afford/finance living space with a decent vehicle in the garage anyway, so they won't bother with any employments or obligations to begin with...)