Curious what people would want to get new people involved and excited about bikes again. Events local , Big events not so local like Sportbike West , kids programs like Yamaha has ? What would it take to get your neighbour or co worker riding ?
bosch is missing out on the real market... pigs need ABS too!! :laughingYeah, I know, pigs flying over frozen hell :laughing
aye aye, and goodbye... :thumbupSeriously though, there is nothing that can really make the bike industry sing with joy, other than a whole bunch of people, with a whole lot of money.
With the increases in putting a roof over your head over the past few years, toys are getting harder to own.
There is a direct corrilation between motorcycle sales and unemployment.
actually, you know i hadnt even considered that, as posted 'ive kept a pretty close eye on the used bike market over the past while,It would make a huge difference if we didn't have to pay 12% on top of our purchase price. It makes no sense to have to pay this every time you buy a new or used bike. Destroys the market.
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boy are you out to lunch, just how much was that little payout the gov't took a few years back as icbc found a surplus!!??The state is here to serve, not scam us of our wealth.
I have to agree with you there, I used to pay the same for full coverage in Alberta as I pay now for PLPD basic!For sport bikes its insurance cost. I'm considering not insuring my bike this summer because I can't afford the extra $1000 with two kids now.
agree - it's the idea of building motorcycling culture and at least with sport bikes moving away from the idea that a guy crusing the city on a 400cc rat bike or cafe racer is lame because he's not riding at mach 9 up the sea to sky.Why aren't there as many new riders now as there used to be a few years ago? No one thinks it's cool anymore. Other shit is cooler, like taking pics of your food, pics of a different city, pics of your dog etc etc. Just check Facebook. Everyone's lost sight that motorcycling can be pretty cool.
Why isn't it cool anymore? Because full on sport bikes are lame now. It's run its course and it's time for something new. Every kid that grew up in the 80s grew up with the sport bike image branded in their skulls. In mid 2000, those kids finally got some money to buy them. After a while, with a serious flood of super sports on the streets, sport biking has become a thing of the lame past.
I'm not really sure what can revive the biking industry, but I can tell you, that BCSB's "fuck any thing that's not a sport bike" attitude doesn't help, because in the public's eye, sport bikes are lame.
What's not lame? Raw nakeds and the retro cafe style. Why? the hipster movement. And why might it work today? Because everyone is into the urban exploration scene now. "Oh look, there's a new bistro in town" "oh, I've GOT to try this dessert place" "I'd LOVE to check out that book store across town" "Coffee at that new hole in the wall would be great this afternoon". And the retro motorcycle + open face + plaid shirt + skinny jeans is really the perfect way to conduct urban exploration. Nothing screams LAME louder than full color leathers and a neon plastic sport bike. It just doesn't fit the old styled antiques store you're visiting. I mean, what kind of a fucked up photo would that produce on Facebook?
So what do we need, we need to stop it with the hate on the retro cafe racers, and we need a big block buster movie some where that blends the acknowledgement of hipster movement and the retro motorcycle.
And who the fuck knows, we might just come full circle back to motorcycling's roots.
*drops mic*