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Motorcycle riders age. Is it increasing?

How old are you?

  • Under 30.

    Votes: 2 3.9%

  • 31-40

    Votes: 6 11.8%

  • 41-50

    Votes: 4 7.8%

  • 51-60

    Votes: 12 23.5%

  • 61-70

    Votes: 25 49.0%

  • Over 71

    Votes: 2 3.9%
  • Total voters
    51
Amos Malone

Amos Malone

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 15, 2022
Member Number
1073
Posts
230
Location
Europe
How old are advbikes.com members? Please vote.

Edit. I decided to post this question due to discussions on the interweb saying that motorcycle riders are getting older.
As I edit this we have 10 votes. All over 41, and half over 61. The example is small and could be skewed by low number of votes, so far. It could also be due to the forum visitors average age, not riders average age.
It is still interesting. I was not expecting it to be this high. Maybe it will change.
 
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I'm sure I'll be among the oldest at the eighth mile drag strip this fall when I take my 450 project out for the first time. A few years ago while at Gainesville (quarter mile) running my 450 street bike there were a couple of guys in their early 70s participating.
 
I checked the 41-50 but soon it'll be the next choice.

We have seen the average age of HD purchasers go up over the years and pointed at their long-in-the-tooth designs for not attracting new buyers. But I think we're seeing it across most of the motorcycle industry now (at least in the U.S.), but I'd welcome being wrong.

I work for a small college and it gives me opportunity to observe and ask questions. Back in 2005 when I started teaching, we designated about 6 parking slots in our building's parking area for motos. We often had those and other spots filled with a variety of bikes on nice days. The number of bikes dwindled from 2008-2013 (that's a rough guess on the time frame) and now we have moved our shop into a bigger building that also houses a diesel tech program as well as several general purpose classrooms, so there's a fair bit more people in and out. One of the diesel instructors and I are the only two bikes I have seen on the entire campus in the past two years, although I have seen one scooter recently, so three.

About 3 years ago I started asking my students if they've ever thought about riding/buying a motorcycle and the response has been mostly "no". Most say that bikes are too expensive for a vehicle they can't use year around while some have admitted a fear of not travelling in a cage, still others don't see how they can carry their daily crap with them on a bike. I can see the prices keeping people away, the price of the UJM has gone up considerably for a group of people that have no idea how to work on them when they need repairs. I'm not blaming the kids, they've grown up with cars that just work (for the most part) and just call someone when it doesn't. I could go on about the death of shop class in high schools and all that but I'm sure we've all heard it before.
 
EuroMoto said:
About 3 years ago I started asking my students if they've ever thought about riding/buying a motorcycle and the response has been mostly "no". Most say that bikes are too expensive for a vehicle they can't use year around while some have admitted a fear of not travelling in a cage, still others don't see how they can carry their daily crap with them on a bike. I can see the prices keeping people away, the price of the UJM has gone up considerably for a group of people that have no idea how to work on them when they need repairs. I'm not blaming the kids, they've grown up with cars that just work (for the most part) and just call someone when it doesn't. I could go on about the death of shop class in high schools and all that but I'm sure we've all heard it before.
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Prices are surely a large part. I'm sure that the declining knowledge on mechanical repairs also plays a part. I remember reading somewhere that half of MIT students don't know in which direction to turn, to loosen a screw. I remember feeling a bit uneasy about the thought that this will be the people designing our future mechanical devices.
 
It's got more to do with things besides motorcycles or riding/driving itself.

13 year olds aren't chomping at the bit to get their drivers license anymore. Lots of people up in their 20's nowadays that don't give a hoot about getting a driver's license. It's something you do if you NEED to get somewhere, nothing else.

Pick up your phone and your friends are there. You can have everything you want delivered, including 3 meals a day.

Personal transportation's place in society just isn't what it used to be.

The pussy's 😁
 
By the way guys, we are in trouble. There is not one person under the age of 40. I had started a thread called "the death of motorcycle forums":
advbikes.com

The Death of Motorcycle Forums

Very interesting article from Common Tread (Revzilla): https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/why-are-online-motorcycle-forums-drying-up-and-dying They definitely are on point. I never realized how much damage Photobucket did when they started charging. But I sure remember being outraged when I...
advbikes.com advbikes.com

We gotta start doing some recruiting...
 
Punkinhead said:
My kids don't have the disposable income that my wife and I did at the same age. I think that's true for big parts of the middle class. In the US motorcycles are more hobby than transportation so it's not shocking to me that younger people aren't buying them.
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I think you nailed it. I’m 43, and see that everything was easier for me financially than the kids 20 years younger than me. College was far cheaper, housing was far cheaper. Starting incomes are maybe 40% higher than they were when I graduated, but everything costs at least twice as much. It’s a sad state of affairs.
 
To branch off on on a possible reason is being prohibited to access places. A 4 wheel vehicle, atv, sxs, ebike and bicycle are allowed to enjoy 25 miles of Cape Lookout National Seashores and free camping. But any type of motorcycle is prohibited. There are other places with the same bs. So who wants that. Young people are smart and will buy a jeep or ebike.

Kids here ride atv and sxs on the street without paying for registration, inspection, property taxes and insurance. So way under the driving age and no helmets in a helmet state flies on an atv or sxs. The "older" young adults here would flip out if they had to pay taxes every year on their high dollar atv or sxs. These machines are insane so it isn't a money thing. But there is a loss of freedom when going the motorcycle route. Having to wear a helmet and not being able to visit certain national parks isnt a great sale for a farm community.
 
Danno said:
To branch off on on a possible reason is being prohibited to access places. A 4 wheel vehicle, atv, sxs, ebike and bicycle are allowed to enjoy 25 miles of Cape Lookout National Seashores and free camping. But any type of motorcycle is prohibited. There are other places with the same bs. So who wants that. Young people are smart and will buy a jeep or ebike.

Kids here ride atv and sxs on the street without paying for registration, inspection, property taxes and insurance. So way under the driving age and no helmets in a helmet state flies on an atv or sxs. The "older" young adults here would flip out if they had to pay taxes every year on their high dollar atv or sxs. These machines are insane so it isn't a money thing. But there is a loss of freedom when going the motorcycle route. Having to wear a helmet and not being able to visit certain national parks isnt a great sale for a farm community.
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Interesting!! Here in the flatlands it’s the opposite. As in, the biggest reason I bought a dual sport is that it can go a ton of places that a sxs can’t (legally). I still feel like I’m getting away with something when I go straight from a trail to the street. Or where I’m riding where there’s 50 “no atv” signs, but I’m good because I pay a $75 annual tax to OK for a little piece of metal.
 
Danno said:
To branch off on on a possible reason is being prohibited to access places. A 4 wheel vehicle, atv, sxs, ebike and bicycle are allowed to enjoy 25 miles of Cape Lookout National Seashores and free camping. But any type of motorcycle is prohibited. There are other places with the same bs. So who wants that. Young people are smart and will buy a jeep or ebike.
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To piggy back on this, another one is cell phones while driving. More people are watching tv and texting while driving than not. My car will make a beeping noise when I'm about to rear end someone, so I'll just wait for the beep to pay attention. On top of that, its more normal (my family isn't normal) to promote "safer" activities; like video games, watching your phone, and avoiding anything that would give you a bug bite or scraped knees.
 
Sixty-seven here. First bike at 14 and have only been bikeless once (for about 6 months). My formerly rural area is now overdeveloped and full of speeding/inattentive/aggressive drivers. I don't enjoy riding here nearly as much as I once did. Our son always wanted a bike and rode plenty of his friends' bikes, but he was caught up in the HD mob mentality and refused to own anything else. The closest he ever got was the HD swag. Grandson #1 rode, but it was more a means of transportation and hooliganism. It lasted a couple of years and he stopped riding. Grandson #2 (now 28 y/o) lives in a more rural town and has fully embraced motorcycles. His life revolves around his bikes, motorcycle people and motorcycle events - all in a good way. I think kids like him are the future - if we can figure out a way to keep them safe.
 
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I sure is heck dont have any ideas. I witness logging trucks blowing through a 25mph town at 55mph all the time. My house has been beat to death. Also going to work or dropping the kids off at school justifies complete insane driving. Society has issues not motorcycles. Didnt Jay Leno point out the problem with air bags? My issue is the agressive driving with heavy vehicles around pedestrians, bicyclist and motorcycles. Maybe physics needs to be taught at an early age. Then the parents can hear from the backseat.." hey ya know that we are going 86ft per second with a 1ft crumple zone"

I used reference points on our road to time vehicles Fastests car was 90mph or 139ft per second. Asshat did this crap for 6 months straight. In a 25mph in a town of less than 200 people. I have to forget all this when I hop on that motorcycle.
 
I will be 61 in a month. I love riding as much now as I did when I rode the first mini bike at age 5. I have a sketchy back at times, but I ride around that as much as possible. I have seen with some of my older riding buddies their bikes get smaller as they age but their passion for riding has not diminished. With others not much has changed.

I eat lunch with a bunch of guys on Wednesdays that most of them are late 60's to almost 80. They all still ride including riding a BDR every year. I want to be like them in another 15 years.:D

Last weeks ride street ride:


www.twtex.com

2023 Grand Tour of Texas - Western Loop

Linda and I have participated in the Grand Tour of Texas the last three years hitting all 50 stops each year. This event has kind of become a right of Spring for us. https://motorcyclegrandtouroftexas.com/2023-tour-stops/ When I was still working, we did the tour in long weekends and around...
www.twtex.com www.twtex.com
 
Shinyribs said:
It's got more to do with things besides motorcycles or riding/driving itself.

13 year olds aren't chomping at the bit to get their drivers license anymore. Lots of people up in their 20's nowadays that don't give a hoot about getting a driver's license. It's something you do if you NEED to get somewhere, nothing else.

Pick up your phone and your friends are there. You can have everything you want delivered, including 3 meals a day.

Personal transportation's place in society just isn't what it used to be.

The pussy's 😁
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LOL!
 
I didn't realize the age of the motorcycling community was like the ham radio community. Most of you have 20-30 years on me and I'm not even young anymore. It's an interesting observation.

I started riding dirt bikes as a kid but never bothered to get a motorcycle license until I was 34 (in 2020), yet I was eager to get my farm permit at 14. Now that I think about it, I might have been the youngest student in the MSF course...
 
The aging of the motorcycle riding community is a well known fact and I have seen countless threads and articles discussing it. It has been a real big deal for companies like Harley as they try to attract young riders without alienating their established, loyal and aging base.

One positive thing i have seen is that the number of smaller and less expensive models keeps growing. Back in 97 I was selling Yamaha and Kawasaki motorcycles. We had very few small street legal bikes to offer new riders. Sure we had kids dirt bikes but if you wanted a street legal bike we might have one or two bikes bikes under 500cc in the showroom. Now there are plenty of 300cc and under bikes available. Honda best selling street bike has been the Grom since it has been introduced. One issue that I think is alienating new riders is that many of these small, inexpensive bikes are not really that inexpensive due to so many dealers adding a couple of thousand dollars in fees to what should have been an inexpensive bike. More experienced riders will likely know that they can shop around for a better deal. Many new riders may not realize this. The Honda Navi is a good example of this. $1807 MSRP yet many delaers asking 4K OTD. Honda should be pushing as many of these out the door in the hopes that it will attract new riders who will come back and buy bigger bikes. Honda totally dropped the ball on this opportunity.
 
How many hams posted on this thread? The two I know of haven't posted but I did. So at least 1.

Ya alot of lost knowledge in the generation cycles of time.
 
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