A picture a day... biker banter (Vol 6)
Discussion
moanthebairns said:
Went to a new biker cafe thing up in Fife tonight. The highlight was a cuppa tea and a millionaires shortcake for £1:50.
One thing I did notice, at 34 I felt one of the youngest there by a fair bit still and hardly no one rides sports bikes these days.
At 34 you are 'young' in most bike crowds.
Rising costs and tougher finance acceptances are driving the increase from what we see.
Sports bikes are a tiny sector now. Drom dominating the industry to nearly inconsequential in 15 years.
That said, the performance of some nakeds more than fills the gap.
I was at Kirby Lonsdale yesterday and everyone was of retirement age on 1250GS, similar huge adventure bikes, new R1200RTs and one Honda 1800 bike. Nothing seemingly lower than 1200cc.
Wheres the fun stuff? Everything appeared to be intercontinental machinery but not one bike had lots of backpacking stuff on.
Is it people following trends, I.e. what's perceived to be the look now?
My plan is to have two bikes, a winter and all year round commuter and rides within 100miles and something big, for bigger journeys.
Wheres the fun stuff? Everything appeared to be intercontinental machinery but not one bike had lots of backpacking stuff on.
Is it people following trends, I.e. what's perceived to be the look now?
My plan is to have two bikes, a winter and all year round commuter and rides within 100miles and something big, for bigger journeys.
I'm not sure why GS's are so popular, I'm guessing after the initial "Ewan & Charlie" surge people found they're actually really good for road riding, but I've never been convinced that I should buy a bike with off road capabilities that I have no intention of using, so I have never ridden one. If you have one bike (or one main bike) you need something that will do everything you want, so that will limit the choices for many people.
moanthebairns said:
One thing I did notice, at 34 I felt one of the youngest there by a fair bit still and hardly no one rides sports bikes these days. hiccy18 said:
I'm not sure why GS's are so popular, I'm guessing after the initial "Ewan & Charlie" surge people found they're actually really good for road riding, but I've never been convinced that I should buy a bike with off road capabilities that I have no intention of using, so I have never ridden one. If you have one bike (or one main bike) you need something that will do everything you want, so that will limit the choices for many people.
I bought one, mostly with the intention to sell on but I thought I'd give it a try - I fuelled it up for a big day outAnd turned around within 30 mins as it was such a joyless experience
The local bike shop owner rides one and says that I need to ride it for ages and then it grows on you, f
k that,I loved my 450, 690, 990 instantly and find weight is the enemy in cars let alone bikes but I don't do motorways or 500 mile daysAs for one bike to do everything - I think to the vast majority "everything" means very occassional riding, commuters (mostly in London) are the exception but the average bike I see covers less than 1500 a year (has anyone got any stats ?)
KTMsm said:
I bought one, mostly with the intention to sell on but I thought I'd give it a try - I fuelled it up for a big day out
And turned around within 30 mins as it was such a joyless experience
The local bike shop owner rides one and says that I need to ride it for ages and then it grows on you, fk that,I loved my 450, 690, 990 instantly and find weight is the enemy in cars let alone bikes but I don't do motorways or 500 mile days
As for one bike to do everything - I think to the vast majority "everything" means very occassional riding, commuters (mostly in London) are the exception but the average bike I see covers less than 1500 a year (has anyone got any stats ?)
You don't buy a GS because you want instant excitement, so it's not surprising that not everyone likes them. I'm 6ft4 with slightly dodgy knees, and I just want a bike that can do everything well enough. So it's a no brainer for me to own one. I have a lot of fun on it though And turned around within 30 mins as it was such a joyless experience
The local bike shop owner rides one and says that I need to ride it for ages and then it grows on you, f
k that,I loved my 450, 690, 990 instantly and find weight is the enemy in cars let alone bikes but I don't do motorways or 500 mile daysAs for one bike to do everything - I think to the vast majority "everything" means very occassional riding, commuters (mostly in London) are the exception but the average bike I see covers less than 1500 a year (has anyone got any stats ?)
Agree on the mileages... I'm an IAM observer, and one of the biggest problems people have is they just don't ride enough to actually practice and get good at the stuff we're trying to coach them on.
KTMsm said:
hiccy18 said:
I'm not sure why GS's are so popular, I'm guessing after the initial "Ewan & Charlie" surge people found they're actually really good for road riding, but I've never been convinced that I should buy a bike with off road capabilities that I have no intention of using, so I have never ridden one. If you have one bike (or one main bike) you need something that will do everything you want, so that will limit the choices for many people.
I bought one, mostly with the intention to sell on but I thought I'd give it a try - I fuelled it up for a big day outAnd turned around within 30 mins as it was such a joyless experience
The local bike shop owner rides one and says that I need to ride it for ages and then it grows on you, f
k that,I loved my 450, 690, 990 instantly and find weight is the enemy in cars let alone bikes but I don't do motorways or 500 mile daysAs for one bike to do everything - I think to the vast majority "everything" means very occassional riding, commuters (mostly in London) are the exception but the average bike I see covers less than 1500 a year (has anyone got any stats ?)
As for your assessement of the GS, I've not ridden the 1250 but have ridden a number of the 1200's and I couldn't agree more.
Gunk said:
moanthebairns said:
That’s because most of us are well in to our 50’s and cant take the riding position anymore, best thing I ever did was swap my Fireblade for a S1000R, now thinking of swapping again for an R Nine T. 
black-k1 said:
Your mileage estimate is a bit short. It appears that around 4,800 miles a year is the average
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...
There must be a few 200k bikes distorting those figureshttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...
I'm generally selling bikes 3-20 years old and mileage is 5k - 20k whilst I avoid buying high mileage bikes, I rarely see them for sale
30k is considered high mileage by many, which would be 7yr old bikes - and that just isn't true IME
KTMsm said:
black-k1 said:
Your mileage estimate is a bit short. It appears that around 4,800 miles a year is the average
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...
There must be a few 200k bikes distorting those figureshttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...
I'm generally selling bikes 3-20 years old and mileage is 5k - 20k whilst I avoid buying high mileage bikes, I rarely see them for sale
30k is considered high mileage by many, which would be 7yr old bikes - and that just isn't true IME
The advantage of surveys like the one linked to is that it generally cross a number of different groups who each tend to have a limited, focused experience.
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