Very few bikers nowadays ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 61728
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Deleted member 61728

Deleted member 61728

Do you see many fellow bikers on roads where you live i see very very few during my morning commute even when its good weather and warm ?

Is it me or are there less bikers on the road today than there ever was or is it just a location thing ? Its like where have they all gone.
 
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I was thinking the same the other day. When I was learning back in 2008 there were loads of bikers everywhere.. commuters and also weekend hooligans. Now adays I hardly see any at all on a day-to-day basis, which is a real shame!
 
See loads when out and about in the car, tend to see fewer when I'm commuting on the bike though.
 
I'm sure Bike mentioned the number of people doing their tests had gone up recently... there'll be stats somewhere for sure that beat anecdotal evidence.
 
Quite a few in my area (west yorkshire), very rarely get a day in without giving and receiving the 'nod'. Also quite a few members of Satans Slaves were about not so long ago, they have some seriously cool custom looking bikes!
 
Same here in North Yorkshire, not a massive amount during the week, but a fair few, but if the weekends are nice enough and i am out, i feel like a nodding dog if i go for a run up into the dales proper lol.
 
Summers over, they are starting to put all their bikes a way till the next 'biking season', ie when it won't rain so much.

Meanwhile, those of us who brave it, continue on.
 
I think it depends on the weather. I ride in all conditions, even this morning with the mental rain and flooded roads.

I think there seems to be a certain trend on what bikes stay out, i.e. more BMW's in all weathers and mainly sportsbikes on nice days.
 
I personally haven't seen a rise or fall, down this way anyway, the weekend warriors are always out and I generally see the same commuters most mornings also, though this morning there were only a few other riders out in central Southampton and I didn't see another bike on the motorway at all, it was horrible out there this morning, dangerous in places for bikes, though I will continue to fly the flag that big 1000cc sportsbikes can be used for commuting and used in all conditions :)
 
Other than weather, time of year etc peoples individual circumstances can change. I know that previous to 2011 when our little fella was born I used to use the Mille a lot more often for transport as well as fun weekend rides with mates and commuting regularly. However now during the day if I'm on a day off I've got the little guy to look after so car it is - can't just nip down the shops on the bike anymore. In 2011 I did very little mileage on the thing, since around the time of its last MoT I've done less than 800 miles over a period of about 14 months, purely because of circumstances.

Also despite being cheaper to run fuel wise than cars are, the current financial situation must have had an influence on people using or indeed keeping a bike I would guess?. To me my Aprilia is a toy ( at least now it is ) and I still struggle to justify keeping it under my current circumstances. Others will be similar and quite possibly have sold up in order to save on tight monthly outgoings every month.

It's annoying not getting the time to ride the thing, it really is. But it's kinda out-with my control ATM. :(
 
tron said:
Is it me or are there less bikers on the road today than there ever was or is it just a location thing ? Its like where have they all gone.
Click to expand...

I first started riding in 1974 at the age of 16 (FS1E moped), past my test at 17 (RD250) and have been riding ever since. When i was a teenager, most other teenagers i knew then had either a moped or a motorbike. We rode in quite large groups together and often met up with other large groups of riders. Certainly, most teenage boys had motorbikes long before they had a car. Over the years this has changed. I think you'll find nowdays that most teenage boys would much rather have a car before even thinking about a motorbike. The cost and time involved in getting a full motorbike license must have an impact on the take up of youngsters riding motorbikes. The recent change in the law can only make this take up even lower.
Going back to when i first started riding, there was a good mix of age groups from teenagers to over 60's. When i go out on a ride today with my mates, most fellow bikers we meet at cafe's, bikers pubs or other well known bikers hang outs are my age (54) or older. On most rides i don't think i would need one hand to count the amount of youngsters on motorbikes.
So the answer to the question "where have they all gone", they have just got older and are not being replaced with younger riders moving onto bigger motorbikes.
 
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