CN
III VOICES
W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G
"Keep plugging along and always keep the door open.
You can get that new bike one day."
Archives: Trends In
Motorcycling
I read the article about Trends in
Motorcycling and wanted to throw
in my two cents on the perceived
results.
I think to say that motorcycle
racing is waning in popularity
might be misinterpreting the data
you reference via Google search-
es. Additionally, I feel most people
have become much more web-
savvy than we were in 2004, and
have learned to bookmark pages
once we find what we're looking
for. Simply typing in the first few
letters of a website usually auto-
fills with links from your browser
history. Also, with as many apps
as are available these days, it's
possible Google search is really
only going to show you how many
new people are looking for info on
the sport, and not really an indica-
tion of the overall interest.
Most of us seasoned racing
fans know exactly where to go
without searching. The world has
changed a lot in the last 15 years,
and I think what you see in Google
search results is simply fewer
people needing to search for the
categories you cite.
Shannon Churchill
Very interesting, indeed.
What does it predict for the
future though?
Shawn McDonald
Thanks for the nod to Give A
Shift, Larry. Readers can see the
free report at www.motogiveashift.
com.
Robert Pandya
Lowside: The
Changing Face of
Motorcycle Riding
Rennie, you nailed it. The average
person is struggling (greatly) finan-
cially. The recovery story, from the
Great Depression, errr, Recession
of 2008-present, isn't accurate.
Combination of stagnant wages,
increasing cost of living expenses;
housing, food, health care, etc., is
sinking people.
I'm now 62, diagnosed at 55
with Parkinson's. Sole income:
SSI Disability. Forty-seven-year
addiction to motorcycles. Neurolo-
gist: never ride again (oh really?).
Solution: I never stopped riding.
I purchased used 2015 Yamaha
FJ-09. Bike plus old (10 years) car
equals no payments. Hard times
for motorcyclists and the motor-
cycle industry, indeed.
Mitch Williams
You can buy an Oilhead Boxer
with 30-40k miles for under $4k
any day you choose to. Less than
30K for $3500 or less is not terri-
bly unusual—[there are] thousands
of fine motorcycles out there for
very little money.
New bike sales are what new
bikes have always been—high
price, easy credit terms and a
warranty. Tires are expensive, but
the inroads some of the "cheap"
tire makers have made over the
last few years make that less and
less true by the day. Buying a non-
running parts bike of your make
and model is another way to keep
costs down.
Of course, the number-one
way to make bikes cheap is to
do as much work yourself as you
can. Get a basic set of tools and
a Haynes Manual and access to
YouTube, and you can do a great
deal while not knowing a whole lot.
Only in the U.S are motorcycles
looked at and treated as luxury
items by the general public and
much of the riding community.
However, for many here, as in so
many other places, they are a way
of life, an absolute necessity and
there is no thought of doing with-
out one. Leave the new bikes and
payment schemes to those with
money to burn. Leave the used to
those who have other things to do
with their money, like buying tires
and go as far and as fast as their
paycheck will take them.
Stuart Bogue
It seems you were in a bad
mood when you wrote this. Too
bad, could be a great article.
This is the only country you can
go out and fix your woes instead
of whining. Sink or swim is often
true, but everybody makes choic-
es, sacrifices and would probably
like more money for less work. I
would! Keep plugging along and
always keep the door open. You
can get that new bike one day.
Lance Gorton
P6
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