Team Hammer replacing Yoshimura

Not to get sidetracked, but at my local beer and wing joint that has a bike night every wednesday, about 200 bikes show up weekly. Of that 200, 90% are Harleys with a few metric cruisers sprinkled in and the majority of the sport bikes are urban assault vehicles with stretched swing arms and custom paint jobs. Hardly a snapshot of a demographic that would give a rats ass about sportbike road racing.
Wondering if my local experience is unique or if that's what others witness in other parts of the country.

 

while i won't discount any of the psychology or sociology of this completely... i love that this is a deep dive that seems to dance around the core jist which is most young people don't have money for motorbikes. its been said here 50,000 times. nobody with student loans trying to make ends meet with barely a running car, is trying to spend thousands on a bike, thousands on gear, figuring out transportation, paying for track entry and consumables and tires all year when there's activities that are cheaper to enjoy yourself with unless they're just so desperately in love with bikes (goes back to your post). its money, at the end of the day, that's it. i just eeek into the millenial category and have a good ass job and i can't picture a situation right now where i get talked into shelling out for a new sportbike. its just laughable. sure, racing CAN be done for a bunch cheaper. used ninja 250 or R3, used gear, they're cheaper on tires, etc... but you gotta REALLY want it bad to fall into that category as a 20-35 year old.

transporting is the biggest hurdle. nobody in a city and MOST people in suburbs of a big city that are young drives a pickup truck. without a pickup or a van, that means you need a trailer... if you live in an apartment in a big city (where lots of jobs are that pay well enough to have hobbies like motorbike racing), then you gotta store your bike and trailer. if you live in an apartment, that's a non-starter. some apartments don't even have parking, and there's not even street parking that's reasonable for even a normal car. where are you putting all this stuff? and how are you getting it and yourself to the track? or you're renting a uhaul trailer each time? so you gotta drive to uhaul, fill out that paperwork, take the time to drive back, load up your shit, blah blah blah blah... its a lot of tedium for somebody not desperate to be out there. definitely more than its worth for somebody trying to dabble or dip their toe in. i have a mtb that costs what a used R3 would cost. except i can throw it in the back of my car and drive off to the trails, any car, no fuss no muss. that is a bigger hindrance than a lot of people realize. you work construction or something, you already have a pickup or a van, you live in a more rural place with garage space... you're already half way there compared to a city kid. without city kids you're cutting a huge portion of the demographic out of the running though. same reason i never had dirtbikes as a kid... i was a city kid, there was nowhere to go. it wasn't even a feasible thought to ask for one. we played in the woods between subdivisions though, and we skated thru DC every weekend... for that kind of activity, its a concrete wonderland. just sayin man... its less about the generational differences, and more about the economics of the thing.

 

This.

 

As another 29'er I fully agree with what JBowen and Marcos415 said. And while I agree with redtail that you don't need college to be successful as someone not in our age group you have no idea what a machine the school system is these days. I am pretty independent thinking compared to most my age but even I ended up getting pushed into college at 18 because "it's just what you do". I was fortunate that I only wasted 40k in school on a degree I'm not using.

This sport's days are numbered. My age range will keep it on life support for awhile but it's not going to last much more than another 10-15 years once all of you hang up the helmets. I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts and then look back on the memories and tell my kids what a badass I was back in the day

 

"gist".

FESMBO, or something like that.

 

Kenny Roberts, in a magazine interview years ago, was asked why the US had no more world champions.

His reply; "We`re raising a nation of pussies".

 

Yeah, those baby boomers are really killing it on those downhill mountain bikes and setting records climbing big dome. What’s the average age of a pro race car driver / motorcycle rider? It’s not 50+. I respect what Kenny has done, but he is always a bit of a cantankerous ass.

Sorry to say guys, but millennials are not pussies and are not lazy. Just because they aren’t doing the things other generations do, or are into the things you are, doesn’t mean that. I know that doesn’t support the narrative espoused by certain circles in the media and parroted by grey haired politicians.

Things millennials are doing that compete against motorsports:
Mountain biking
Hiking
Rock climbing / climbing gyms
Other bicycle things
Running marathons
Participating in triathlons and iron mans
Snowboarding / skiing
Skydiving
Scuba / deep diving
Etc.

Yes you can spend a lot in all those sports, but you can also do them for less than racing motorcycles and cars will ever be.

Auto racing is at the same crossroads with factories pulling or cutting support entirely.

 

Pretty much spot on from most of the bike nights in my area. Probably more Harley’s. I will also say that bike nights are dying out. You also have the local random bar or restaurant having a bike night in name only. They don’t do anything special or different other than saying they are having a bike night trying to capture a few riders to come by. LOL. Bike nights have been played out.

 

People throwing shade at millennials are killing the WERA bbs.

 

I'm 30 years old...

I do get it. I was pushed into college myself. And I even danced around for a few years doing very little to contribute to my future early on. Luckily, I was smart enough to hate ever owing anyone money early on so I worked the first couple years of school to pay for as much up front as I could and was fortunate enough to have help in the way of small scholarships. Dropped out after a couple of years with a few thousand in student debt still and no degree to help pay it off. Around 22 I finally got my head on straight and made some goals for myself. Got hooked up with a good employer, paid off my student loans, used my employer's tuition assistance to go back to school while working full time, paid for the remainder up front (tuition assistance still didn't cover 100%), as well as worked my way up the company ladder. Swapped companies a couple times. I actually haven't finished my degree yet. Pretty damn close though. But even without it, I make damn near 6 figures in a part of the country with relatively low cost of living. My only debt is my mortgage and I have plenty to play with. And I got started behind the ball by fucking off for 4 years and accumulating debt up front so I had to play recovery first. Someone who does it right the first time (such as my wife) shouldn't have anything to worry about. The problem is our generation has no patience and wants all the newest coolest shit right now. Combine that with a lower work ethic than previous generations and yeah, its a recipe for a generation with no money. On the other hand, I worked my ass off getting where I am and didn't waste money on useless shit along the way. My wife and I live in a 16 sq. ft. 3 bed/2 bath house that cost half of what we were approved to borrow. Why? Because its all we needed and we are perfectly happy not living paycheck to paycheck in a small mansion. My vehicle is worth about $15k and is completely paid off. Before that, I drove a $2k beater truck until I could pay cash for something nicer. When I was ready I financed the minimum to build some credit, paid cash for the rest, then paid off the loan in roughly a year with money that had already been set aside just for making those payments. Sure I could afford a brand new $60k dollar truck. But I'm not gonna enjoy it much if that payment sucks up all my money every month. Same goes for my phone, TV, and most everything else we own. So when I decide I want a new mountain bike, rifle, motorcycle, any other toy I may want, I can usually just go buy it. Because 50% of my take home pay is free and clear every month for me to do with as I please. Meanwhile, most others I see in our generation are broke all the time, with all their money going to debt payments for a lot of shit they dont need, much of which depreciated to less than the loan value the instant they bought it.

At the end of the day, if the OEMs want to sell bikes to our generation, they're going to have to convince them that a new Gixxer is cooler than a new iphone or Mustang or whatever other dumb shit they might go in debt for. The fact that they don't have the money to purchase it intelligently doesn't mean shit. They will go into debt regardless. It's just a matter of where the debt came from.

 

This one is pretty good. They have a guy outside grillling burgers, a couple of cute girls working beer tubs, music and local dealers and clubs set up EZ-UPs and bring demos, etc. They even have the local animal shelter there with dogs for adoption for the Broomes in the crowd.

I mostly go to people watch and almost every week some eccentric old dude shows up with a pristine two stroke or enduro bike that is interesting.

Getting back on track, the crowd seems far more likely to attend an AFT race than MA. The sportbike contingent more likely a stunt show.

 

this convo has been had ad nauseum in the auto racing community and still people don't get it. they keep looking for other angles or reasonings. this shit is fucking expensive and interests change with time. that's all there is to it. in the same vein of his old man rant... Kenny Roberts is a ho, and hung up his spurs well before Joey Dunlop or McGunniess have, and in a type of racing far less dangerous. why isn't he racing IoMTT like a real man's man? how about that? same bullshit garbage psshhhh...

everything that comes out that guy's mouth is sour. he seems insufferable. i respect his racecraft and like the neato bikes he rode, but beyond that who cares?

 

Mention bike night around here and you get a bunch of people talking shit about how bike night is the "poser" "wannabe" blah blah "stickers on their bike" bike night crowd. Ace Cafe Orlando breaks 1,000 bikes some nights with tons of sport bikes old and new. Nearly every Cycle Gear has a bike night. But racers would rather sit around at home and talk about how they are too fast and too cool to go.

 

Mine is only a few miles from the house. Cold beer, good burgers and bike culture is a good way to kill an couple hours of a summer week night.

 

My post is more focused on overall interest in and ownership of motorcycles. It takes a lot less money and effort to ride on the street than it does to go racing. If you look at a chart for US Motorcycle Sales I would bet a chart for US Roadracing Participation has a very similar curve to it. End of the day stronger motorcycle sales (specifically sport bikes where racing is concerned) will organically improve racing participation.

While it would be fair to say there are economic factors that have impacted motorcycle sales the reality is there is a metric shit ton of money being spent every year in the US. What our industry needs is to motivate consumers to divert a percentage of their interest and spending towards motorcycling. How we get there is a whole other conversation.

When it comes to personal economics there has always been and will always be people that have money to spend and those who do not. End of the day motivated people will find a way to make shit happen.

 

As an employer of 36Yrs, I`ll agree to disagree.
Ask some teachers and coaches..

Lots more pussies today than 40 yrs ago.

Not saying ALL, but way more.

Not even close.

 

So you know Kenny personally?

Think he might have a little more insight than us?

How much have you achieved at the world level?

If you read much, you would see he is hardly always sour, he`s a great advocate that has done a ton for American roadracing.

He has also worked with many world level racers; he might just know what it takes.

 

So you and your buddies your age are the toughest? Right...

A lot of the older generation I have been around like to talk about how tough they were, yet most of their stories usually involve goofing off on the job or drinking on the job.

Certainly have worked with a lot of people who thought the world was going to stop when they retired. Well it hasn’t, and a few weeks after they were gone, they were pretty much forgotten about. Just the way it is...

 

I knew that was coming from you...

Where did I say that?

I did not mention myself once...

And I sure did`nt say the world is ending. But very different.

Maybe you should work on reading comprehension.
This is not about me.
My knowledge is based on hiring, coaches, teachers, my mom the 30 year social worker, and every other business owner I know.

Tell me about yours.