Motorcycling is slowly dying

[Wacky Racer]

I'll start by saying I first passed my test in 1969, and have had around twenty five bikes since then,

It is quite obvious that if you go to any bike meet, Devil's Bridge, Matlock Bath, Rivington Barn, Squires cafe etc, that nearly all the bikers are in the age range 40-75.

In other words, young people are not coming into biking in numbers like they were in the 70s/80's, probably because it's not as easy to get a full licence as it used to be.

You see very few twenty/thirty year olds at these places, I'm not saying no new blood is coming through, but not enough to sustain motorbike shops in thirty years time.

Plus of course there's the introduction of electric bikes to come,

I really hope I am wrong, but am interested in others thoughts on the matter.

[Master Bean]

I think people just get into it at a later stage. Church Bell Ringing is the same. Average age is high. People learn when they're in their 50s. Motorcycling is now a middle aged/old person thing.

[Louis Balfour]

Master Bean said:

I think people just get into it at a later stage. Church Bell Ringing is the same. Average age is high. People learn when they're in their 50s. Motorcycling is now a middle aged/old person thing.

Ya think? I’d wager most elderly bikers have either been at it since youth or are born again. I would be surprised if many come to it late in life for the first time.

[PT1984]

I think younger people are passing their tests but they just don’t want to go to the meets. I’m 40 and passed last year, and I couldn’t think of anything worse. I live close to Matlock. It’s avoided like the plague. I’m a Chatsworth farm shop kind of guy. I ride to have time to myself. And maybe it’s just around here, but there are a disproportionate number of bikers who ride like dicks on the Sunday Matlock run.

[bogie]

I'm sure many people got into bikes as cheap transport, but these days cars are just as cheap and easier to get driving. A car driving license is almost a must these days for youngsters.

How big was the track day industry 30 years ago compared to now ? I have been on and more than half of the group I'm in didn't even have a road bike license.

Could it be that there are many thousands of riders who have shifted to track only ?

[grotty]

I've got into it at 30, now 32. I know two people from my highschool year who have recently got full licenses. And recently on my facebook noticed a few more distant friends who have started posting pictures with bike. I know it's a small sample size but shows you that for most people it's only something affordable after you get to a certain age.

I absolutely could not have had a bike any earlier in my life financially.

My dad says when he was younger you got a bike if you couldn't afford a car. It seems the opposite now where it's basically only a hobby in the UK. It's an expensivve hobby on top of a car and other commitments.

[alock]

PT1984 said:

I think younger people are passing their tests but they just don’t want to go to the meets. I’m 40 and passed last year, and I couldn’t think of anything worse. I live close to Matlock. It’s avoided like the plague. I’m a Chatsworth farm shop kind of guy. I ride to have time to myself. And maybe it’s just around here, but there are a disproportionate number of bikers who ride like dicks on the Sunday Matlock run.

Same here. Passed last year at 46. I have zero interest in going to any meets or riding as part of a group, in fact I actively avoid "biker" places. I ride past Loomies on my way to work and would never stop there.

I'm the same with cycling. Love cycling on my own, but avoid cycling hangouts and group rides.

[Crudeoink]

Probably a mix of things. I started riding when I was young. First road bike at 16 and had a bike and my parents house up until I went to university. Bikes get nicked and are bloody expensive to buy now, super bikes are 20k+ etc. I didn't have a bike at Uni as it knew it would get stolen if parked outside. So waited until I got a flat with a garage before I got another motorbike. With the cost of housing and the price of new bikes it's no surprises people wait until they're 30 before they get one!

[Biker9090]

I passed my A2 back in 2008 not long after I turned 17. Six months earlier there were at least 6 or 7 of us friends who were riding 50cc bikes/mopeds. When we got to 17 there were just two of us and the other didn't take his test. By 18 I was the only person in our sixth form (and others close by) that had a "full" licence.

Having said that, at least 4 or 5 others have since gotten their licence in their mid to late 20s or even 30s - albeit only two of those actually own bikes and even then they only use them for the odd sunny day out. Another did own one but only did under 100 miles per year....

The people to blame for this are the governing bodies that banned you from riding anything more than a restricted 125 until you are 19 and the insurance companies that make it almost impossible to afford/justify.

People don't have a whole lot of money in their 20s, so spending around a full bag just to GET the licence, several hundred at least on gear, and usually close to 2k in some cases for insurance isn't achieveable - and that's before you even buy the bike.

You also need to remember that for a lot of people it's purely a toy/hobby - yes, some of us use it as our main form of transport (myself included) - so the expenditure can't always be justified and parciuarly not earlier in life.

I went to the Cadnam bike meet last night and the average age must have been about 50 ish. There were a number of younger people there but only one or two younger than me.

I don't quite get the electric bike comment. If anything we should be embracing it. With all the emissions charging zones coming up it may be a saving grace for a lot of people and the industry as a whole....

[OutInTheShed]

'Motoring' as a hobby/pastime/obsession is not what it was.
The roads are not a playground any more.
The world has changed.

The accident/injury/death rates of my youth would not be tolerated today.


I read that the average UK motorcycle owner is about 60 years old?

[G321]

alock said:

Same here. Passed last year at 46. I have zero interest in going to any meets or riding as part of a group, in fact I actively avoid "biker" places. I ride past Loomies on my way to work and would never stop there.

I'm the same with cycling. Love cycling on my own, but avoid cycling hangouts and group rides.

I also passed my test last year at the age of 46, I also have no interest in going to bike meets. I enjoy the time out on my own when riding. Always been into cars but never bothered with car meets either.

There's also the factor that a lot of kids are brought up to be risk averse and are probably discouraged from doing things like riding bikes. My Mrs really wasn't happy when I got my bike, she's calmed down since I told her I'd upped my life insurance though!

[stang65]

Wacky Racer said:

I'll start by saying I first passed my test in 1969, and have had around twenty five bikes since then,

It is quite obvious that if you go to any bike meet, Devil's Bridge, Matlock Bath, Rivington Barn, Squires cafe etc, that nearly all the bikers are in the age range 40-75.

In other words, young people are not coming into biking in numbers like they were in the 70s/80's, probably because it's not as easy to get a full licence as it used to be.

You see very few twenty/thirty year olds at these places, I'm not saying no new blood is coming through, but not enough to sustain motorbike shops in thirty years time.

Plus of course there's the introduction of electric bikes to come,

I really hope I am wrong, but am interested in others thoughts on the matter.

Do you go to young people meeting places or just the same old ones? Do you look for active Insta groups etc.?

I'm in a local Facebook group and the spread is far more even on that than you're making out . I think the licencing laws put much younger people off (i.e. the under 21s), which I guess was the idea as it was a Euro law implemented by the UK in a different way to deter riding. Most biking activity is aimed at older people though, look at the bike shows on TV for example as I'd guess Henry Cole has limited appeal for a 20 year old, the NEC Bike show you'd only go out of habit as it's rubbish now, etc. The younger riders want to ride, as we did at their age. Why would they want to go to the established meeting places, to be intimidated idiots riding recklessly on the way there, risk Police unfavourable interaction, and be surrounded by people 50 years older who can afford to pay twice as much for a cup of coffee?

For the long term future the licencing is critical though in my opinion. There's plenty of younger people around here on 125s but they don't take tests and move up. Why be restricted to a 47hp bike when you can drive as fast a car as you can afford to insure?

[Drezza]

Motorcycling used to be the cheapest and easiest way to get on the road, sadly it's now the opposite when compared to getting on 4 wheels. The legislation has made it such a ball-ache it's just not worth it anymore if you're under 24 having to do CBT, theory test, A2 MOD1, A2 MOD2, A MOD1, A MOD2... That's 6 examinations compared to 2 to drive any car, and that's excluding the A1 test which is pretty pointless anyway.

[rodericb]

Motorbikes are an expression of freedom. When we were teenagers we got access to transport which would get us further than we could on pushies (or walk!), we could get up to some japes and it was financially achievable and at the age where we're asserting our independence. I'd heard the trope that us oldies (baby boomers and then generation X) were the last "free range" generation, which I'd thought was internet waffle but looking at the numbers of young people riding it makes me think there's some merit in it.

There'll be small exceptions here and there - I'm sure someone will reply saying that their local mini mx park is absolutely rammed at the weekend but generally speaking motorcycling seems to be slowly dying. The statistics on registrations would say otherwise: https://www.statista.com/statistics/312594/motorcy... Maybe it's just the same people but the average age is increasing over the years?

[Krikkit]

Part of the problem is that the licensing system and gear etc is all pretty expensive.

Most people under 30 are trapped renting and not much disposable income to waste on something they don't really need to get by with. The rates of younger folk doing their car licences are also at a record low for the same reason imho.

[croyde]

bogie said:

I'm sure many people got into bikes as cheap transport, but these days cars are just as cheap and easier to get driving. A car driving license is almost a must these days for youngsters.

How big was the track day industry 30 years ago compared to now ? I have been on and more than half of the group I'm in didn't even have a road bike license.

Could it be that there are many thousands of riders who have shifted to track only ?

Motorcycling is a bloody expensive hobby these days.

The gear, the bikes, services and then insurance, cost of fuel etc don't make it a cheap alternative to running a car.

Throw in British weather and you'll need to run a car as well.

Even at 61 and having ridden since I was 17, I find insurance almost, just almost, expensive enough to put me off.

Back in my 20s I often had 3 bikes and 2 cars at one time. Living in SE London, insurance wasn't a worry and non of my stuff got nicked despite living in a rough area and everything parked on the street.

Now any trip involving a stop means packing locks, chains and other means of disabling the bike. Then at the end of the day you need to be well off enough to have a garage.

I luckily have one as it seems I can't get cover if I didn't.

I don't really need a car or a bike anymore but I run them because I've always had cars and bikes since I was a kid. My biggest expense after my exorbitant rent (London)

My grown up kids have shown no interest whatsoever in motoring.

Odd times I stop at Boxhill or Newlands Corner it's all blokes same age or older than me

[GreaseNipple]

I'm in my thirties and passed 4 years ago. Like other posters I have zero interest in going to bike meets. I went to a triumph demo day that was taking place at loomies on my k1600 and an old bloke comes up to me and says he's had 6 of them; he proceeds to moan at me about mine not being clean and how he can't leave his house on a dirty bike and they're a great bike if you just look after them and how I didn't need foot boards on it. It confirmed my perceptions of meets if that's how people get their kicks at them.

[LimaDelta]

I don't believe this is limited to biking. Many hobbies which were relatively affordable and accessible a generation ago are struggling to attract new blood. Take a look at your local flying club, sailing club, shooting club, etc. The average age seems to be 60+, and it is fairly unusual to find any 20-30s. Are people just working harder today, with less free time?

Ironically, a lot of the youngsters I work with play golf, which I have always thought of as an old-man's game!

[HybridTheory]

I passed at 40 so I suppose not really young but I wouldn't go to a bike meet but motorcycle riding isn't really a UK thing. You can see that by the lack of top class racers we have in the dominating championships and parents I think push their kids into passing their driving licence at 17 but woild rarely push towards motorcycling

[gareth_r]

Drezza said:

Motorcycling used to be the cheapest and easiest way to get on the road, sadly it's now the opposite when compared to getting on 4 wheels. The legislation has made it such a ball-ache it's just not worth it anymore if you're under 24 having to do CBT, theory test, A2 MOD1, A2 MOD2, A MOD1, A MOD2... That's 6 examinations compared to 2 to drive any car, and that's excluding the A1 test which is pretty pointless anyway.

The licence regime was obviously designed to kill motorcycling in pursuit of Vision Zero.

It's had the desired effect.