Where have all the bikers gone?
- Taipan
- Posts: 13794
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:48 pm
- Location: Essex Riviera!
- Has thanked: 15814 times
- Been thanked: 10170 times
Where have all the bikers gone?
Summer-ish is here and normally my commute is cluttered up with FWBs, but for the last couple of years the number have decreased dramatically. I hardly see any other bikes on my commute now and having just been out for a walk, I noticed many bike bays are empty now where you'd normally struggle to get parked? Weather, or just fallen out of fashion?
- Skub
- Posts: 12119
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:32 pm
- Location: Norn Iron
- Has thanked: 9774 times
- Been thanked: 10078 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Maybe just got old and the young aren't interested?
"Be kind to past versions of yourself that didn't know what you know now."
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955
- Yorick
- Posts: 16663
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:20 pm
- Location: Paradise
- Has thanked: 10206 times
- Been thanked: 6859 times
- weeksy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 23293
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:08 pm
- Has thanked: 5433 times
- Been thanked: 13018 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Is i think the gist of it mate. Biking was a 'freedom' thing for many when younger, now they don't seem to care about the freedom side of things nearly as much. I think they've had their time and are a dying breed.
- Count Steer
- Posts: 11743
- Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 4:59 pm
- Has thanked: 6345 times
- Been thanked: 4729 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Calls for some theory creation.
1. Bikers are more likely to be in 'can work from home' jobs.
2. It's 'that London', they've all been stolen.
3. (Unlikely) It's no longer advantageous cf car/public transport.
4. The weather's crap.
5. Being bikers they're all obvs brilliant, have got minted, retired at 36.
1. Bikers are more likely to be in 'can work from home' jobs.
2. It's 'that London', they've all been stolen.
3. (Unlikely) It's no longer advantageous cf car/public transport.
4. The weather's crap.
5. Being bikers they're all obvs brilliant, have got minted, retired at 36.
Doubt is not a pleasant condition.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Voltaire
But certainty is an absurd one.
Voltaire
- Horse
- Posts: 11469
- Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 11:30 am
- Location: Always sunny southern England
- Has thanked: 6121 times
- Been thanked: 5032 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
I never ever was a 'biker', always a motorcyclist.
Even bland can be a type of character
-
- Posts: 914
- Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:00 pm
- Location: East of West
- Has thanked: 721 times
- Been thanked: 694 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Insurance for new riders, even TP only, is beyond extortion.
My daughter and SIL were paying huge amounts for the pleasure of being on two wheels and living in London.
It's an expensive mode of transport under the circumstances.
My daughter and SIL were paying huge amounts for the pleasure of being on two wheels and living in London.
It's an expensive mode of transport under the circumstances.
- Skub
- Posts: 12119
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:32 pm
- Location: Norn Iron
- Has thanked: 9774 times
- Been thanked: 10078 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Meh,semantics.
"Be kind to past versions of yourself that didn't know what you know now."
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955
- KungFooBob
- Posts: 14081
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:04 pm
- Location: The content of this post is not AI generated.
- Has thanked: 537 times
- Been thanked: 7473 times
- Horse
- Posts: 11469
- Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 11:30 am
- Location: Always sunny southern England
- Has thanked: 6121 times
- Been thanked: 5032 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Going by the dealer scams, thems some antics
Even bland can be a type of character
- ChrisW
- Posts: 2687
- Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:46 pm
- Has thanked: 2873 times
- Been thanked: 2030 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
...and it's the last week of school term-time holiday prices.
Also - I was out today & saw plenty, albeit not during rush hour either side.
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
fair weather rider here.
the weathers so lousy down south, ive hardly been out on my bike this year.
just use the car.
the weathers so lousy down south, ive hardly been out on my bike this year.
just use the car.
- Skub
- Posts: 12119
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:32 pm
- Location: Norn Iron
- Has thanked: 9774 times
- Been thanked: 10078 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
GWS man,maybe it'll be a mild Winter
"Be kind to past versions of yourself that didn't know what you know now."
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955
-
- Posts: 577
- Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:41 pm
- Has thanked: 475 times
- Been thanked: 308 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
If you're talking specifically London commuting, I'd guess:
- user-unfriendly environment: parking charges, thefts, 20 limits, wide cycle lanes
- WFH
- cycling & e-cycles better provided for (see above).
If motorcycling generally, all the points already made, plus cost of getting a licence (if that hasn't been said).
- user-unfriendly environment: parking charges, thefts, 20 limits, wide cycle lanes
- WFH
- cycling & e-cycles better provided for (see above).
If motorcycling generally, all the points already made, plus cost of getting a licence (if that hasn't been said).
-
- Posts: 4966
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:39 pm
- Has thanked: 4320 times
- Been thanked: 2825 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
I'm only in the office once a week now and when I do go in I do 7-3. At those times, especially the morning I drive straight in with no traffic (Hertford to Harrow). I still used to take the bike occasionally, but especially recently I just don't enjoy the ride now. The back roads are typically poorly surfaced and the main roads a bit dull. Then on the way home whilst not a lot of traffic, enough for me to get frustrated doing 40 in a 60 in most places due to the 40 whether it's a national or a village brigade.
I decided to stop being a whinge bore and ride in the other week. And got a puncture.
So yeah, typically I keep my bike for weekend fun now.
I decided to stop being a whinge bore and ride in the other week. And got a puncture.
So yeah, typically I keep my bike for weekend fun now.
-
- Posts: 4093
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:17 pm
- Has thanked: 2632 times
- Been thanked: 1523 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Not just new riders. You don't want to know how much I'm paying now, because I don't have a brick garage (a Sold Secure bike shed doesn't count as 'secure' for the purposes of locking a motorcycle away at night.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Henry David Thoreau
www.ko-fi.com/survivalskills www.survivalskillsridertraining.co.uk www.facebook.com/survivalskills
www.ko-fi.com/survivalskills www.survivalskillsridertraining.co.uk www.facebook.com/survivalskills
- Skub
- Posts: 12119
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:32 pm
- Location: Norn Iron
- Has thanked: 9774 times
- Been thanked: 10078 times
Re: Where have all the bikers gone?
Yeahbutt,don't forget after age 80 insurance costs rise.The Spin Doctor wrote: ↑Mon Jul 29, 2024 9:19 pm You don't want to know how much I'm paying now, because I don't have a brick garage (a Sold Secure bike shed doesn't count as 'secure' for the purposes of locking a motorcycle away at night.
"Be kind to past versions of yourself that didn't know what you know now."
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955
Walt Whitman
https://soundcloud.com/skub1955