A shot at motorcyclists ...

[misterprofessionality]

I'm assuming this sort of thinking is why motorcycle sales are down. The snowflakes are scared to do anything beside play video games and stare at their phones. There are inherent risks in everything we do including walking out the front door. The trick is to be aware of dangers and mitigate their consequences. Common sense really.

And as my dad always said, "If the left one don't get ya, the right one will." So I suppose we should all just have fun doing what we love while we are above ground.

got to chime on on this, as one of the only millennials on the forum. the fact is that, for most people, a motorcycle is a secondary means of transportation. if you buy one, it's a secondary vehicle. most millennials absolutely cannot afford that kind of recreational expenditure. it's simple economics. millennials by and large will not spend money on something they can't afford. it's got zero to do with danger/risk aversion. one of the only reasons i started riding in my 20's was because i broke the system by using my bike as my primary means of transportation and giving up cars. everybody else in my peer group won't touch motorcycles, because they can't justify the expense when they already have a car.

got to chime on on this, as one of the only millennials on the forum. the fact is that, for most people, a motorcycle is a secondary means of transportation. if you buy one, it's a secondary vehicle. most millennials absolutely cannot afford that kind of recreational expenditure. it's simple economics. millennials by and large will not spend money on something they can't afford. it's got zero to do with danger/risk aversion. one of the only reasons i started riding in my 20's was because i broke the system by using my bike as my primary means of transportation and giving up cars. everybody else in my peer group won't touch motorcycles, because they can't justify the expense when they already have a car.
I'm with you on that. My first bike was in '91 after i graduated HS because it was $800 and I could afford it. My car blew up so that's the route I went. You would think then that the millennials would shift TOWARD motorcycles for the $ savings?

There are two big barriers in place that prevent that from happening: 1) perception. the perception is, if you ask around, that motorcycles are, in fact, not cheaper than cars. it's objectively untrue, but it's the perception. people see motorcycles as if they're actually more expensive than owning a car. they think motorcyclists are changing their tires every 4000 miles and constantly having to do engine repairs. they think motorcycles can't handle 6 digit mileage. they think motorcycle gear costs thousands of dollars. they truly believe it's a pure luxury pursuit. people would have to be enlightened and educated about these misconceptions before folks can shift toward buying more motorcycles, and i believe it starts with the manufacturers. they've never really attempted to market their products as transportation solutions, only as fun machines. a shift in marketing toward more practical applications and safety training would make a huge difference.

2) social pressure. people are told all the time about how dangerous motorcycling is, and they're right, but not for the reasons you'd think. it's dangerous because of the lack of training and the culture of carelessness that surrounds it. more measures like mandatory training, mandatory protective gear, and more strict licensure practices would sharply reduce the number of traffic deaths related to motorcycles, and over time people would begin to develop a familiarity with them. the more motorcycles you see on the road, the more accepted it becomes as a mode of transportation, and the more people will be willing to give it a try.

if these two things make a 180 in the near future you could see a huge turnaround for the motorcycle industry, but it's going to take the manufacturers putting up big $$$ for political lobbying and advertising to accomplish them both. This is what my generation needs to be shown the advantages of motorcycles.

There are two big barriers in place that prevent that from happening: 1) perception. the perception is, if you ask around, that motorcycles are, in fact, not cheaper than cars. it's objectively untrue, but it's the perception. people see motorcycles as if they're actually more expensive than owning a car. they think motorcyclists are changing their tires every 4000 miles and constantly having to do engine repairs. they think motorcycles can't handle 6 digit mileage. they think motorcycle gear costs thousands of dollars. they truly believe it's a pure luxury pursuit. people would have to be enlightened and educated about these misconceptions before folks can shift toward buying more motorcycles, and i believe it starts with the manufacturers. they've never really attempted to market their products as transportation solutions, only as fun machines. a shift in marketing toward more practical applications and safety training would make a huge difference.

2) social pressure. people are told all the time about how dangerous motorcycling is, and they're right, but not for the reasons you'd think. it's dangerous because of the lack of training and the culture of carelessness that surrounds it. more measures like mandatory training, mandatory protective gear, and more strict licensure practices would sharply reduce the number of traffic deaths related to motorcycles, and over time people would begin to develop a familiarity with them. the more motorcycles you see on the road, the more accepted it becomes as a mode of transportation, and the more people will be willing to give it a try.

if these two things make a 180 in the near future you could see a huge turnaround for the motorcycle industry, but it's going to take the manufacturers putting up big $$$ for political lobbying and advertising to accomplish them both. This is what my generation needs to be shown the advantages of motorcycles.

Interesting. I spent 17 years in the motorcycle industry and have been riding on the street almost daily for 54 years and I would argue that motorcycles are a lot more expensive to own than cars, a lot more, and that motorcycle gear does cost thousands of dollars (plus its a hassle to get in and out of every time you stop at a gas station or store or show up for work) that it's inconvenient to ride a motorcycle weather wise the majority of the days of the year, and that it's an absoluetly dangerous endeavor, even with experience and training. Imo you have to really WANT to ride a motorcycle or the factors against it would logically keep you from doing so.

i can't tell you how many times i've heard those talking points. it's ok. it's a commonly held misconception. The core issue is that you're comparing motorcycling at it's peak, to cars used only for practical purposes. that is not a correct comparison. if you (smartly, not frivolously) purchase a motorcycle for $5000, and compare it to a car that is running at the same level of reliability, you will almost certainly find that the car costs at minimum 3x more than the motorcycle. already you can see the enormous savings.

moving on to ownership costs: a common misconception is that motorcycle tires cost a lot more than car tires, this depends on a lot of factors, but on average a motorcyclist that is purchasing and using his tires (smartly, not frivolously) will encounter a cost that is only *slightly* higher than that same car we discussed. Oil changes are subject to a similar misconception. people like to talk about how cars take oil changes at around 6k miles while motorcycles often take them at around 4k miles. this is true, but it's a trifling cost, really barely noticable on the scale of years. but here's the real kicker. here's why motorcycles are definitely, objectively, and without question cheaper to own than cars: INSURANCE. holy cow. the average rider saves thousands of dollars per year on mandatory insurance coverage in the US when compared to the insurance required for car drivers. even when you compare only the bottom basement minimum liability insurances, the motorcycle riders often save over $1000 per year when compared to the owner of a comparable car. an older bike can clear under $100 per year on minimum liability insurance. that's HUGE. any marginal increase in regular tire and oil change costs is eclipsed and forgotten in the face of such huge savings. insurance is really the game changer that proves my point as fact. but that's not all. now we get to talk about the second huge savings pool: GAS. the kind of bike that you would buy for $5000, if you're being smart and not frivolous, gets approx. 70-80mpg on average. the kind of comparable car that you can buy at the same level of reliability is going to be around 30 mpg these days. you can run the math in your local area, and it will be more for some and less for others, but based on average unleaded fuel costs in the USA right now the average rider is going to save around $50 per month on fuel costs. that's HUGE over the course of a year. i've already put $1000 in my pocket for insurance, now i'm going to put another $600 in for gas, on top of the massive savings of being able to buy a vehicle that's 1/3 the total cost....

on to gear: you're stating that gear costs thousands of dollars, but again you're making the same mistake that most people like to make: they're comparing the "best" options, without shopping smartly. the truth is that one can gear up adequately for under $200. that's practically a one-time cost, or at least a once-every-3-years cost.

you can see that in the hands of somebody who is focused on using a motorcycle as a practical means of transportation rather than a recreational machine, owning a motorcycle saves enormous amounts of money over a car. how do i know all this? i'll tell you. because i lived it. when i stopped driving cars over a decade ago i did it for financial reasons, and i was proven SO VERY RIGHT. the extra money I had in my pocket at the end of the first year was so staggering that it changed my life. i could never have pulled myself out of the muck without the savings i garnered from switching to motorcycles. so, rest assured, it's definitely cheaper to live on a motorcycle than a car.