New motorcycle sales dropping - dealers shutting.

[daleyd]

Started & test on the original Honda monkey bike, moved to a Velocette Venom then a MG Le Mans 850.
Then Had a Lucid moment and only rode other peoples bikes occasionally after that.
Tried a 2 stroke scrambler a few months ago 1/4 mile was enough

Those early Guzzi Lemons were nice looking bikes, esp the mk1.

 

[addjunkie]

Started & test on the original Honda monkey bike, moved to a Velocette Venom then a MG Le Mans 850.
Then Had a Lucid moment and only rode other peoples bikes occasionally after that.
Tried a 2 stroke scrambler a few months ago 1/4 mile was enough

I did my test on a 250 Bultaco trials bike, as my KH250 was shall we say bent and broken. I changed bikes regularly after that, and looking back Id say the most fun bike I owned was a DT175, but-was it the bike or the summer of fun.

As for two stroke scramblers, I raced a few seasons in my teens both a yz 250 and 465. Now the modern stuff scares the excreta out of me, just too dam fast for an old bloke.

 

[500e]

Was never a MC Man dad said no mc you can kill yourself fast enough in cars,, only got license after became garage man and we did car & Mc MOTs.
Bad enough with Velo and MG
brake / change being transposed

 

[Farside]

His theory in the 80s was, there's no British motorbike industry - ban them.

!

 

[julianthegypsy]

I started with an FS1E at sixteen. We lived in a small village and it meant I could get to town or visit mates whenever I wanted instead of relying on the bus, which was rare at best. It was life changing. When I got a job away from home in digs I drove it home fifty miles across Dartmoor every other weekend until I saved up and bought a late model bantam, which was also life changing because it went uphill as fast as the fizzy went down them. I later had dozens of bikes but I got into them because not only were they fun, but they were cheap transport and practical. Throw on a jacket and a lid, off you go and park anywhere. These days it's probably just as cheap to buy an old car. There has to be a market for a basic 25hp bike that keeps up with traffic, is repairable and does at least eighty to the gallon but is anybody building one? I don't think so, though very happy to be proved wrong!

 

[Farside]

modern bike now are just toys.

Been the case for at least 30 years in the UK and for far longer than that in the US. Hence the prices, hence the extortionate workshop rates, etc. Then there's all the extra fripperies and 'lifestyle' bs.

But classic bikes are a fortune now. When did they get like that? €22k for a Honda CBX. Like really? Or how about 9 grand for a Norton Commando 850? Or 8.5k for an old Matchless G80. The world's gone mad.

Nostalgia money that first drove up the prices of Fizzies, then YPVSs, now it's larger engined bikes. For example, clean specimens of the GS1000 were being snatched up by Japanese buyers for re-export to nostalgia buyers ten years ago.

The entire environment (& typical UK weather) for bikes created by our own govts is IMO what is strangling m/cycles

There has been an anti-motorcycling movement in the Civil Service in the UK for decades.

 

[julianthegypsy]

The anti motorcycle movement is probably at least partly because so many new bikes are so fast they could break every speed limit in first gear. They just keep getting quicker, when the roads are more and more congested. You just can't make an argument that bikes are an essential means of transport and save parking spaces when they are huge rocketships that do worse mpg than many small cars.

 

[Ruffian]

So the other end of the spectrum,

I work in the motorcycle trade and yes it is a little quiet but the 50cc and 125cc bikes are all pre ordered nearly 2 months in advance at the moment.

Struggling to supply them fast enough.

Do agree cbt does make it easy for people to get on the road, and much faster than awaiting tests (motorcycle tests in Devon are around 3 months away)

I dont disagree that manufacturers made too many variants of the same bike, which caused issues for dealers to have in the show rooms etc.

 

[Dozzer]

Thinking about the decline of bike sales, another element would be the change in employment
When i was young, just about everybody i knew worked in some sort of industry, mainly engineering, but even those that weren't in engineering, worked in factories where you looked after the machinery, be it printing presses or some other type of factory work, or building work, only knew of 2 people that worked in offices.
We all rode bikes, and we all worked on our own bikes and helped each other out, swapping engines, tuning etc, spent many a happy hour or 5 im mates workshop with 4 or 5 others swinging spanners, drinking tea, smoking whatever, and talking sh!te.
Modern youngster don't seem to have the same interest in working on/fixing stuff, would rather spend 5 hours on COD in a VR headset.
and modern bikes don't lend them selves to the average joe working on them any more. to much electronics for even the simple little 125;s and when you get to the bigger bikes with all the traction control, ABS,and even stupid canbus,. many things are dealer only now.
if Bike manufactures want to attract young new customers, try making bikes simple and fun, not a sh!te copy of a motoGp bike with 12Kg of plastic, and the performance of an asthmatic hamster.

 

[GRW]

Thinking about the decline of bike sales, another element would be the change in employment
When i was young, just about everybody i knew worked in some sort of industry, mainly engineering, but even those that weren't in engineering, worked in factories where you looked after the machinery, be it printing presses or some other type of factory work, or building work, only knew of 2 people that worked in offices.
We all rode bikes, and we all worked on our own bikes and helped each other out, swapping engines, tuning etc, spent many a happy hour or 5 im mates workshop with 4 or 5 others swinging spanners, drinking tea, smoking whatever, and talking sh!te.
Modern youngster don't seem to have the same interest in working on/fixing stuff, would rather spend 5 hours on COD in a VR headset.
and modern bikes don't lend them selves to the average joe working on them any more. to much electronics for even the simple little 125;s and when you get to the bigger bikes with all the traction control, ABS,and even stupid canbus,. many things are dealer only now.
if Bike manufactures want to attract young new customers, try making bikes simple and fun, not a sh!te copy of a motoGp bike with 12Kg of plastic, and the performance of an asthmatic hamster.

You have to look at places like India, where the work environment & wages of the "working class" have many similarities with post-war Britain - and so do so many of the motorcycles. The ubiquitous Royal Enfields & Honda Cubs etc - stuff the ordinary person without access to hordes of tools & diagnostic equipment can service & repair, & where every town has a garage / mechanic who will get you going for affordable money.
The motorcycle there is enjoyed with the passion that we used to have.... that steadily got eroded with the advent of more & more complexity, trinkets to dazzle, performance to tempt (that no-one this side of a Superbike Racer on track would be able to access anyway).
You can see why classic bikes (& cars) of say up to the late 80's, early 90's are gaining appeal (& not just with the old gits).

 

[dobbslc]

I work in the motorcycle trade and yes it is a little quiet but the 50cc and 125cc bikes are all pre ordered nearly 2 months in advance at the moment.

There are definitely lots of 125 bikes out in London and Hertfordshire and I've noticed that it's since the manufacturers started making the likes of the Honda CBR125, Yamaha R125 etc etc.
There was a giant time gap between the old school NS125, RD125, TZR125, Mito etc, ie bikes the youngsters wanted to ride and these newer four stroke 125's.
They weren't interested in the boring looking bikes like the CB, GS, YBR etc etc.
Maybe things will pick up when this lot come through and want a bigger bike and maybe the cost of even a **** second hand car is putting them off as they are stupid money.

 

[Robotstar5]

Thinking about the decline of bike sales, another element would be the change in employment
When i was young, just about everybody i knew worked in some sort of industry, mainly engineering, but even those that weren't in engineering, worked in factories where you looked after the machinery, be it printing presses or some other type of factory work, or building work, only knew of 2 people that worked in offices.
We all rode bikes, and we all worked on our own bikes and helped each other out, swapping engines, tuning etc, spent many a happy hour or 5 im mates workshop with 4 or 5 others swinging spanners, drinking tea, smoking whatever, and talking sh!te.
Modern youngster don't seem to have the same interest in working on/fixing stuff, would rather spend 5 hours on COD in a VR headset.
and modern bikes don't lend them selves to the average joe working on them any more. to much electronics for even the simple little 125;s and when you get to the bigger bikes with all the traction control, ABS,and even stupid canbus,. many things are dealer only now.
if Bike manufactures want to attract young new customers, try making bikes simple and fun, not a sh!te copy of a motoGp bike with 12Kg of plastic, and the performance of an asthmatic hamster.

The good old days, there would usually be a few of us working on someones bike in a garage/workshop/lock-up every weekend.

I did a rebuild in a council lock-up lit by a camping lamp running off a gas bottle up the corner no fancy roll cabs, just a little "barn door" toolbox.

 

[Mick Annick]

I bought a 1200 Sportster many years ago, on a whim. 4 speed, last of the solid mounted engines. The vibration was brutal, medieval, and I sold it fairly soon after. The only thing I liked about it was the exhaust tone, not too loud, but very Harleyesque.

Eldest had a Harley Nightster, it rusted like a 1970’s Fiat, now in a pile of bits in his garage…

 

[GRW]

Saw locally that someone is selling a very low miles, original & pretty tidy (in pics)......

1980 MZ250 Supa 5, for a grand.

I never owned one (nor ridden one) - I always wanted something cooler & faster (of course), but even as a Spotty I could appreciate its rugged simplicity.

I was (very briefly, just for a moment) - tempted.

 

[Dozzer]

Saw locally that someone is selling a very low miles, original & pretty tidy (in pics)......

1980 MZ250 Supa 5, for a grand.

I never owned one (nor ridden one) - I always wanted something cooler & faster (of course), but even as a Spotty I could appreciate its rugged simplicity.

I was (very briefly, just for a moment) - tempted.

Had a CZ Simson 50 as my first road bike, once i got an allspeed for it and did some fettling , p!$$ed all over the FZ1's

 

[GRW]

Had a CZ Simson 50 as my first bike, once i got a allspeed for it and did some fettling , p!$$ed all over the FZ1's

I'd forgotten about the Simson 50!
(Yup, I had a Fizzer as my first bike, a 1973 unrestricted purple one).

 

[Domdom]

(that no-one this side of a Superbike Racer on track would be able to access anyway).

you’re not wrong there. When my lad was at school, one of the kids in his class had a rather well known father. I won’t identify him as this isn’t the private forum, but let’s just say he rode superbikes for a major manufacturer’s racing team.

Anyway, I always thought I was OK on a bike, plenty of experience and also advanced rider trained. I’m reasonably handy, let’s put it that way.

So this guy organised a Dads day out at Mallory Park where we all got to ride Suzuki 600’s. So I’m going round the hairpin as fast as I dared, half hanging off the bike, knee pad scraping, back wheel twitching, giving it the beans so to speak. I felt grand! Right up to the point where the organiser rode round the outside of me, looking at me as if to ask, what’s all the fuss about then? In my defence, I was the fastest of the regular dads that day, but a good way off the pro rider’s time

Even when I tried the approach of “he can get round there at that speed, so I must be able to. It’s only physics”……yeah, it’s not only physics, it’s bloody voodoo, that’s what it is. Nearly came a cropper at over 90mph.

 

[Dozzer]

I'd forgotten about the Simson 50!
(Yup, I had a Fizzer as my first bike, a 1973 unrestricted purple one).

Mate whose dad owned paint shop had a bumper car purple FZ1, the metal flake in it was so large in the gloss coat it nearly didnt come out the gun, mine was an orange S50, bought it as none runner trade in from Searings in Braintree when they were the Yamaha dealer. had broken ignition switch, (was in stupid place on side panel) had to wait about 6 weeks for a replacement from Germany, (was hot wired until then) and swapped it for a Suzuki A100 that i painted bumper car blue

 

[Rannsachair]

The good old days, there would usually be a few of us working on someones bike in a garage/workshop/lock-up every weekend.

I did a rebuild in a council lock-up lit by a camping lamp running off a gas bottle up the corner no fancy roll cabs, just a little "barn door" toolbox.

View attachment 507535

I was lucky, a garage at home, circa 1980:

My wee brother and myself, can see the edge of my Tiger cub, number plate far left. My Speed twin frame in the background and Dad's Bonnie.
My cub:

Many friends used to call in, most on Japanese two strokes. Hours of fun in that garage.

A later shot:

 

[Robotstar5]

I was lucky, a garage at home, circa 1980:
View attachment 507547
My wee brother and myself, can see the edge of my Tiger cub, number plate far left. My Speed twin frame in the background and Dad's Bonnie.
My cub:
View attachment 507548
Many friends used to call in, most on Japanese two strokes. Hours of fun in that garage.

A later shot:
View attachment 507551

Luxury my first "garage" was a rickety shed at the bottom of my parents garden, I could just about fit a bike in diagonally.