Is biking dying?

azazl187 · 25 Aug 2021 at 11:16

I think that there is an element of a nanny state here too. Parents tend to deter kids from getting on a bike these days as they are fearful they will get hurt. My parents encouraged me and that just wouldnt happen as much these days

Hades · 25 Aug 2021 at 11:23

azazl187 said:
I think that there is an element of a nanny state here too. Parents tend to deter kids from getting on a bike these days as they are fearful they will get hurt. My parents encouraged me and that just wouldnt happen as much these days

This is true. My daughter wants to learn to ride as she is 17 now. But my wife is dead set against it and won't hear any discussion about it.

Chuk_Chuk · 26 Aug 2021 at 11:02

tom_e said:
It's a bit of a strange situation at the moment though with used car prices through the roof. New prices of bikes have definitely increased even pre covid as there's a fair few getting into or near the £20k mark now whereas it wasn't that long ago you were looking at mid teens max for a top of the line production bike, ignoring the extra special homologation style models from some brands.

It's only £150 month on PCP

. Yeah it is strange to see those bikes pushing deep into 5 figure territory. But then again £20k doesn't get you much of a car either.

I did check before covid and prices were high.

Tefal · 27 Aug 2021 at 10:40

PsychoPigeon said:
What I see putting people off is the maintenance and the required learning involved in properly maintaining the bike. Some of the friends who got their CBT don't even tighten their chain, they just ride until it wears out, and at that point they see other parts of the bike start to deteriorate like the tires, brakes, and God forbid they don't grease the swing arm after 2 years and then the bolt gets seized, and they ask themselves why they have to spend all this money to get it back into shape. You definitely develop a passion for it or you don't and lose interest. You care how the bike sounds and feels and it becomes your responsibility to look after it which means spending hours reading and troubleshooting to develop a basic understanding of how the bike works.

Yeah you can either do a lot of work or throw a lot of money at it.

My little bikes get attention my H2 gets sent to the dealer (according to kawasaki a chain tightening is a dealer service)

Need to have a word with them when I back I went to get the rear needle bearing checked after seeing reports of it seizing around 15k (17k on my bike).

They had a look. Said it wa shot and replaced it.

This week I've had an email from kawasaki rear needle bearing recal poorly greased from factory replacement under warranty.

Hopping the garage will put a new bearing job on tick for me in another 15k miles

CREATIVE!11 · 2 Sep 2021 at 13:57

I've just gotten a CBT and my 125, but honestly looking at the fact i've got to do two tests (And their insane costs cause I need instructor and a bigger bike) and redo my theory when i've been driving a car for over a decade is ridiculous.

It's off putting, especially when you pass your car test at 18 you can get into 3000kg death machine of any engine size you like and go drive like an idiot.

But that's life in the nanny state of the UK + idiot bureaucrats that just make up rules as they go along....

Tests themselves alone aren't too bad, it's like 15 quid for mod one and 75 for mod 2 but then you need to have bigger bike and instructor and price shoots up. I'm probably just going to do it on my 125 because all I want is to be able to use motorways, i've driven far distances few times using A roads now and it's hell. Absolute hell.

A journey that should have taken me 4hours (usually in a car) instead taking me 9.

Hades · 2 Sep 2021 at 15:42

CREATIVE!11 said:
I've just gotten a CBT and my 125, but honestly looking at the fact i've got to do two tests (And their insane costs cause I need instructor and a bigger bike) and redo my theory when i've been driving a car for over a decade is ridiculous.

It's off putting, especially when you pass your car test at 18 you can get into 3000kg death machine of any engine size you like and go drive like an idiot.

But that's life in the nanny state of the UK + idiot bureaucrats that just make up rules as they go along....

Tests themselves alone aren't too bad, it's like 15 quid for mod one and 75 for mod 2 but then you need to have bigger bike and instructor and price shoots up. I'm probably just going to do it on my 125 because all I want is to be able to use motorways, i've driven far distances few times using A roads now and it's hell. Absolute hell.

A journey that should have taken me 4hours (usually in a car) instead taking me 9.

I occasionally rode my 125 on busy three lane dual carriageways which are not unlike motorways of course. It's do-able but a real effort. A bigger bike is so much better at motorway speeds, both in terms of power and just the size and presence. I know you're put off by the cost and inconvenience of the tests. But maybe consider doing it over a longer period to spread the cost and effort. I only needed one day training for Mod 1 and one day training for Mod 2 because of my experience in a car and on a 125 (plus the cost of the second day for each test as you have to hire the schools bike). It really is worth it if you can. I enjoyed riding the 125 a lot. But I love riding the bigger bike.

BUDFORCE · 3 Sep 2021 at 10:42

I used to live in London and 125 was fine around town, pretty good actually. But once you get out you need a bigger bike really, remember specifically once coming back from Cambridge south bound on the A10 the single carriage section not far down with several big hills and very strong headwind, struggling to get 50 and a whole mile of traffic behind me getting ****** off and making rushed overtaking, not ideal at all.

Infidelus · 3 Sep 2021 at 19:53

Many moons ago after I passed my bike test I was doing temp work and rode my Yamaha (RS?) 100 down the M27 to Southampton and back. It was a rather breezy day and I was getting knocked all over the place every time I hit an open section. Definitely glad I have something a little heavier, though I've never bothered upgrading from the GS500F I bought in 2007, albeit I am occasionally tempted to get a 600/650 for the unnecessary additional power

Diddums · 4 Sep 2021 at 10:04

Infidelus said:
Many moons ago after I passed my bike test I was doing temp work and rode my Yamaha (RS?) 100 down the M27 to Southampton and back. It was a rather breezy day and I was getting knocked all over the place every time I hit an open section. Definitely glad I have something a little heavier, though I've never bothered upgrading from the GS500F I bought in 2007, albeit I am occasionally tempted to get a 600/650 for the unnecessary additional power

My windiest memory was riding over Holland's Houtribdijk in very, very treacherous winds. I used to do this trip loads as my mum lived on one side of the dike, and my father on the other. Most days it'd be a nice calm day and a nice chilled out ride but occasionally the weather would turn whilst on the wrong side meaning I had to go back in winds that no sane person would ride in. Oh and the bike was a Piaggio NRG 50

Never came off, but I was blown about like a leaf, must've been hilarious to watch.

I think next time I do it I'll do it on something bigger

Infidelus · 4 Sep 2021 at 15:16

Nice looking long stretch of road in good weather.

Diddums said:
I think next time I do it I'll do it on something bigger

Good plan

bobbarley · 4 Sep 2021 at 20:16

I do feel like if you can drive a car, or are over a certain age, or have x amount of experience, or some mixture of them all, you should be allowed to ride on L plates with something a bit punchier, even if it's just 250cc. I've only used my 125cc a few times, but they just lack that little but of acceleration and top speed.

It also seems a bit harsh that you need to pass your test on a bike that you can't legally ride until you've done said test, if you want your full license!

Infidelus · 4 Sep 2021 at 21:32

Glad I passed my bike test before they changed the rules Could only ride up to a 125 on L plates back then anyway, but after passing could legally jump on a Honda Goldwing

Diddums · 4 Sep 2021 at 22:35

Infidelus said:
Nice looking long stretch of road in good weather.

Back in ye olde' days it was known as "daredevil stretch" (albeit in Dutch). People used to lock off both sides so no traffic could get on it, and max out their cars / bikes. This went on for a good 18 months or so before someone killed themselves and the place got camera'd up. You could go there at 3am on a Saturday morning and watch tuned up cars come past at ridiculous speeds, I think the record was something like 370kph in a fully race prepped RS6 :eek:

Legend has it that the next day that car was competing in the Dutch equivalent of the BTCC, absolute madness.

Lopéz · 5 Sep 2021 at 08:37

Rilot said:
I'm getting the feeling that motorcycle riding is dying. The guys riding seem to be getting older and older with very few new riders entering.
Take the school I work at as an example. We have 1400 students with around 300 of them being in the 16 - 18 age group. We have 0 bikes in the school car park.
Back when I was at school and of biking age (admittedly, this was 30+ years ago) there were 20+ bikes and mopeds for a school of similar size.

I was in a school of about 1600, and when I was in 6th form (1998 ish) there were only three of us with motorbikes.
I had a Suzuki GS125 that my parents wouldn't allow me to ride to school.
A mate in the year above had a Honda MTX125 but he lived walking distance from school.
Another mate had a ZXR-750 H2 with a Micron exhaust that he bought just before the licencing rules changed. Now THAT is what you want to see in the school car park!

bobbarley · 5 Sep 2021 at 21:14

I was in secondary school around the same time as you, give or take a year. 1000 boys and there wasn't one single moped or motorbike in the carpark. Just cars.

bloodiedathame · 7 Sep 2021 at 18:03

Lad near me got knocked off as a result of some appaling behavior, there's a GoFundMe to help him get back on his bike. https://www.gofundme.com/manage/godalming-biker-collision-fund

(Mods please remove link if not allowed)

Hades · 7 Sep 2021 at 21:05

bloodiedathame said:
Lad near me got knocked off as a result of some appaling behavior, there's a GoFundMe to help him get back on his bike. https://www.gofundme.com/manage/godalming-biker-collision-fund

(Mods please remove link if not allowed)

If that's the collision I think it was then it was terrible behaviour by the Land Rover driver. The video is shocking.

Omega_ · 10 Sep 2021 at 13:09

Hades said:
If that's the collision I think it was then it was terrible behaviour by the Land Rover driver. The video is shocking.

i saw this video on facebook recently. Gave me PTSD to my accident in July. Horrifying

breadturbo · 13 Oct 2021 at 17:13

Had two friends interested in learning earlier this year, they were interested in getting some experience on 125s commuting the 5-10 miles to work.
They loved the little yzf r125 BUT insurance was 800quid TPFT for 3000miles and a 1500 excess???? thats double what i pay for a 400bhp car and 3x the mileage!
anyways the insurance put them both off and they have remained in-car.

I should add ones 37 the other 33.

tom_e · 13 Oct 2021 at 17:18

breadturbo said:
Had two friends interested in learning earlier this year, they were interested in getting some experience on 125s commuting the 5-10 miles to work.
They loved the little yzf r125 BUT insurance was 800quid TPFT for 3000miles and a 1500 excess???? thats double what i pay for a 400bhp car and 3x the mileage!
anyways the insurance put them both off and they have remained in-car.

I should add ones 37 the other 33.

I bet if they'd looked at a ybr 125 or whatever the replacement is it would have been much more sensible, the yzf is going to be a scum magnet and ridden by the young lads who want speeeeeeed and to impress the ladies at the local mcds and therfore crashed a lot.