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Secret motorcycle industry panel looks for ways to reverse sagging sales

Judging by my coworkers, Scoot is great gateway drug for motorcycles.
 
but how to do you sell the idea of riding to a generation that is scared of danger?

By having access to dirt riding is one way. The E bike urban bike park should be chased hard by the industry.. not left to advocates with little resources to do.

Small E bikes meant for playing in the dirt would have a chance to flourish and a new generation of motion lovers engaged. I don't have the statistics or kids who started on dirt bikes continuing on to riding on the street, but I bet it is way higher than kids that never rode minibikes.

My bud has his son riding now. The kid was a video game kiddo devoting ungodly amounts of free time doing that. After getting him slowly up to speed this was a break out year for them. He is 11 and Dad just over 50.

Now the kid looks forward to going riding and is scooting along on his 110 just fine. They end up at Carnegie because it is the one park that has a good track for kids. He will likely need to transition to Hollister soon so they can hit trails together. He is asking to go for rides on the back of Dad's street bike now too.

Good to see that the industry is caballing about this. They need too.
 
I think most people's cell phone bill is the same money as a new motorcycle. Ain't nobody buying cheap phones so the money is just not there, AMIRITE?
 
By having access to dirt riding is one way. The E bike urban bike park should be chased hard by the industry.. not left to advocates with little resources to do.

Small E bikes meant for playing in the dirt would have a chance to flourish and a new generation of motion lovers engaged. I don't have the statistics or kids who started on dirt bikes continuing on to riding on the street, but I bet it is way higher than kids that never rode minibikes.

Such a good idea. A small park with its own fleet of electric mx bikes would be just awesome. There must be a way to make this happen on one of the innumerable landfills / superfund sites of the south bay.
 
it's interesting that no one really commented on the cost of ownership or need to work on your own bike.

Before getting into motorcycles i was a mechanical idiot - i still am but i've learned quite a bit through people helping me and trial and error. I've been lucky to have the means to pay for my screw ups and if i really screwed up - i could take it to a friend for help.

You here so many horror stories about dealerships either doing a shit job or completely not giving a crap about helping.

You get that with cars too but i think less so - and the warranty coverage period is significantly longer.

I wonder how many people don't get into bikes because they're intimidated by the maintenance and don't trust simply taking it to a dealer as most of them don't have a great reputation.
 
I think most people's cell phone bill is the same money as a new motorcycle. Ain't nobody buying cheap phones so the money is just not there, AMIRITE?

Cell plus Cable adds up to a very nice bike payment.
 
Whether we wanted it or not, we've stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars. So let's get to taking out their command, one by one. Valus Ta'aurc. From what I can gather he commands the Siege Dancers from an Imperial Land Tank outside of Rubicon. He's well protected, but with the right team, we can punch through those defenses, take this beast out, and break their grip on Freehold.
 
The economic condition of the population in general, and young people in particular, is in decline, and non-essentials such as motorcycles (to most everyone) suffer accordingly.

Good luck with that messaging/outreach, trying to sell to those who can’t afford to leave their parents basements.

And good luck to us all, frankly, as the next, more destructive iteration of the economic crisis seems fast approaching.

This, so much. You know who's doing well? The rich. Everyone else is pretty much drowning in debt. Having to pump over half your income into housing and utilities doesn't leave very much discretionary income left. And if you're just living from paycheck to paycheck and have a family? You aren't buying a motorcycle.

I think most people's cell phone bill is the same money as a new motorcycle. Ain't nobody buying cheap phones so the money is just not there, AMIRITE?

Cellphones have taken over a fat % of income, along with internet access (which if the FCC has it's way will just go up).
 
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but how to do you sell the idea of riding to a generation that is scared of danger?

This. The vast majority of Generation Veal is physically and mentally unfit for riding or any other demanding or dangerous activity.
 
This is not a new problem, the US has always been behind the rest of the world as far as motorcycle consumption is concerned.

We often forget here in California that a good portion of the US is frozen solid during the winter, eliminating a good portion of the potential riding population. Pair that with the fact that those folks in the frozen wasteland often do not have disposable income for something they can only enjoy for a portion of the year.

It's hard to boost sales and get new riders when most people only would ride for 2-4 months a year. Compare this to Taiwan, everyone rides, year round. I'm talking 9 years old to 90 years old, it's part of their culture and way of life. We will never have that here.

I don't care what you say about all the two-stroke riders in the 70's ripping up Redwood road. That is nothing in comparison to the asian market.
 
quite honestly - i'm fine with a bit of exclusivity with the trade off of less choice - I may have mentioned this before but when China brands got involved in the surfing scene it became easier for a ton of people to take up surfing. Breaks were crowded to all hell with people that didn't know etiquette or what they were doing. In many cases it was dangerous, particularly on heavy days.

I got out of surfing not largely because of that reason but it was part of it - people got generally more irritable and you were less 'accepted' at breaks where you didnt frequent often (this was back east in RI - not sure about elsewhere).

I like the comradery of motorcycles and the fact that not everyone does it. I like that i can get a decent open stretch of road that is congestion free. I like going to the track and not having to maneuver through herds of riders all the time.

Add a few thousand more noobs to the scene and all of that potentially becomes a shit show.

If these companies want to succeed- maybe they should do some research here as many companies do to understand the market better instead of figuring out a one size fits all approach to europe, asia and the U.S.

The easiest thing they can do is maybe cut back on the number of variants they have for any given motorcycle - is it really necessary to have 3 versions of the H2?
 
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but how to do you sell the idea of riding to a generation that is scared of danger?

Make it less dangerous? Create moto only corridors along the main freeways would be just one idea. Not unlike what is happening for bicycles in SF.

Another thought is for moto manufacturers to work with moto rental companies to make renting the latest bikes for short durations cheap and easy. How many times have you had to spend months trying to get a test ride on a new model bike?
 
These manufs all need to get back to basics, selling fun, cheap transportation to normal people. This is the ad that made Honda America a success. Normal people on a motorcycle having a nice time.
.......
Not-normal people, not really having fun, with an astronomical price of entry. What the industry needs is kids on 50cc machines, not weirdos perched on a racing machine out of its element.
The "Nice people" campaign involved my father AND step-father. Imagine (I have posted about it). We have discussed this before. The industry has been way behind the curve, but it takes vision and money to do something besides compete with the same ol' stuff against the same ol' stuff. Many of the things done in the sixties might work again, with adjustments for the times. You need to get people on little bikes for the first time, which will take creativity to get it done without insurance and regulatory nightmares. Anything is possible. Perhaps millennials might find they like rebelling on "dangerous motorbikes". Hell, they have tattoos everywhere, and that hurts more than most accidents.
Such a good idea. A small park with its own fleet of electric mx bikes would be just awesome. There must be a way to make this happen on one of the innumerable landfills / superfund sites of the south bay.
Do a search. A nice gentleman was trying to get San Jose land designated as a motorbike park. Bump the thread. He had some good ideas. :thumbup
 
A brand new iPhone8 with an Unlimited plan at Verizon is $100/mo.

$5,000 at 4.5% for 60 months is ~$100/mo. But that doesn't include gas/maintenance/insurance.

A CB500F is $6100 list + tax/title/prep. Then toss in another $500-1000 for gear.

As much fun as I find motorcycles, my first two were not purchased for fun. They were sole transportation. My 180 Scooter was a perfectly capable, short range urban commuter in So Cal back when the freeways were 55. it would top out at around 70ish, so it was mostly able to keep up and stay out of the way on the freeway. But, honestly, I didn't run it much there -- favoring surface streets. Knowing how much safer the freeway is than surface streets, in hindsight that was not necessarily a good idea.

But with todays freeway speeds, I do not consider the 180 safe.

When I got a new job that took my commute deep in the heart of LA, I traded in the scoot for a 600 UJM. Something a little more substantial for the longer freeway rides, something a little more responsive. It had 56HP, comparable to the CB500s today. More than adequate.

That bike was never a "fun bike", it was just transportation. I rode it to get places. Honestly, save for 1 trip up the coast to SB, where in fact I just wanted to go to SB, I never rode it just to ride it. Never got up on the weekend, took it out, rode out to nowhere, and came back. No "quick runs through the canyons" (which I lived at the base of) or anything.

Why was that? It never occurred to me, frankly. I wasn't an "enthusiast", I wasn't a "motorcyclist", I wasn't anything. I was me. It wasn't a lifestyle, it was a tool. Me here, friends there, bike gets me to friends.

I didn't start doing any of that really until I got my third bike. A bike I picked after reading magazines. Magazines that were telling all these stories of what people did and such.

I got my 2nd bike because it was a practical bike, cost $1995 on the floor sticker. I put 1/2 down and got a delightful 18% loan on the other half.

Still cheaper than a car.

After I got the second bike, I worked on trading in my ski gloves, ski goggles, $29, ill-fitting KMart White helmet (that saved me -- twice), and whatever random overjacket I was wearing at the time to keep me warm.

Bike gloves, boots, synthetic jacket with leather patches, SHOEI helmet.

On my 3rd bike, I took an MSF course.

"Don't do what I do."

What I never bought, was a lifestyle. An identity.

I know that's what they sell, or try to, I think. I don't even know nowadays.

But I think it would behoove them to sell motorcycles and scooters. To sell on the practical nature of them. Don't downplay the danger, they're certainly dangerous, but if you get licensed, get some training, and don't drink, and, heck, SLOW DOWN (these are not insurmountable requirements) the numbers swing wildly.

In recent numbers (quick google), showed California had ~12,000 injuries, 480 deaths. Not to downplay the numbers, every "Uncle Fred" story is a tragedy. Left turn take outs are the worst of the worst. But it's not the Spanish Flu either. But those numbers are over countless population and millions of miles ridden. Riders alone are responsible for what happens to them much of the time. That suggests that they don't have to do that.

I wonder how many accidents are on scooters (I'll note, that I had 3 myself -- yay first year riding in the wild) and 300's or 500s.

Motorcycles are practical and economical. They have tangible benefits in terms of moving people efficiently. It would be nice for the industry to work on that angle.
 
This. The vast majority of Generation Veal is physically and mentally unfit for riding or any other demanding or dangerous activity.

Can we kill this myth, almost every adventure sport is booming. Honestly, among my friends a lot don't ride motorcycles because sitting on a bike getting no excersize is pretty lame compared to rock climbing, snowboarding, paragliding, surfing or mountain biking.

Moto riding on the street isn't really that hard and requires zero physical fitness, so as much as we all like to feel like tough guys for riding it's really not the case.

Even alpinism and ice climbing are growing, two sports that are way gnarlier than anything you can do on a moto.

It's not that riding is too scary or hard for a lot of young people, it's that it is too easy and boring.
 
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The reluctant demographic sees a motorcycle as complicated, expensive and dangerous.

The cabal is blind and numb to the culture they would desire to sell into.

No more plastic cladding, no more thousand dollar tip-overs, DIY simple maintenance, robust and reliable drive train and the sales will be made despite the clumsy advertising and toy store styling.

But what do I know?
 
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