Getting younger riders into riding?

for me in the USA, it doesn't matter how many awesome bikes are out there since the US doesn't allow most of them to be imported to us. it's also an economical issue and a society issue with bikes being demonized, and manliness being attributed to CC's. the social stigma around motorcycles here is retarded. i'd love to have started out on a 150cc bike in high school. i think everyone should. less cars on the road and it'll weed out the idiots sooner.

i also think all TC/ABS should be taken off bikes, it breeds less skilled and less attentive riders which is the opposite of what this world needs
 
Pretty good article, and I agree on people my age just not into motorcycles. Everyone I ride with is older than me, about 35 y.o. and up. Im 28 (29 at end of this month) and started to ride street bikes when I was 25. I was told it was unsafe and just not smart. I was extremely scared and nervous first time I started to ride a street bike, but ive ridden dirtbikes all my life since I was 7. I think me taking my time and slowly getting into my first bike (2008 R6) was the best thing I could have done.

Biggest delima my generation faces is slightly touched in the article, and its income or better yet disposable income. My FZ1 is now my daily driver, and its my personal goal to see how long into the year I can ride it. I have my car still incase I need it. Most people my age cannot afford multiple vehicles with just starting out in a career and possibly a family and mortgage. Also realistically and socially it is hard to justify a motorcycle over a car.
 
My neighbor was a girl about 7 or 8 years older than me. She has one of those red mini bikes back in the early 70s. I saw her riding around front yards and sidewalks and I was hooked as a 6 year old.

MY parents did not want me on a motorcycle because I could have (probably would) injured myself.

You need a system in place to teach young riders safety and skills and parents who are open minded to such activity. I think if I had those parents and some sort of safety course back then, I would have been riding a lot earlier. I did not get on a motorcycle until I was 14, and that was too late in retrospect.
 
The motorcycle culture of North America is as shallow as every other facet of American society. It's shallow, egotistical, paranoid and focused solely on image. You can't build young riders into responsible motorcyclists because everyone around them will laugh at their vehicular penis size until they get a 'real bike' and lose that 'gay safety gear'

It will always be this way until the society collapses and reboots itself. In most other places, motorcycles & scooters are the only way to get around and are the wheels of the poor. There is no 'zero down, don't pay for 6 months' mentality of the USA and Canada. People here think they 'must' have 3 TVs and 3 cars and a boat and 6 bikes and 20 pairs of shoes and 600 Big Macs and 10 guns.

Until you take something seriously, it won't be respected and will largely remain ignorant.
 
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Sow the seeds of Motorcycle Love

Myself I understand the risks of today’s riding environment and despite that, ride because I seriously can’t imagine not being able to. It’s the only thing about aging that scares me. My first taste was on a Honda 50 sometime just before my age was measured in double digits, and then again on the back of a Honda chopper in the early 70’s. It wasn't until very early Eighties (that I worked around peers that rode) that the latent bug finally really took hold. That first street-bike (a Yamaha) had me hooked. It was admittedly an underwhelming and yet at the same time awe inspiring experience and it is what is needed for today’s youth.

I don’t envy any manufacturers position trying to entice the video game generation out of the basement and into the scary real world where there is no re-spawns when you make a mistake. In this reality some mistakes are permanent. As a parent, I see a whole group of children’s friends that have not even written a driver’s license test ( 1 out of ten) citing fear at the roads and the crazy drivers they see out there. In the city I call home the roads see an average of 35 new cars every day (12,775 annually) so is it any wonder. Combine that with a climate that at best allows 7 months a year of practical, if not comfortable riding. In a way it is that same climate that inspires such passionate riders like me, but we all need that first exposure. When my children were at the right age to get that first push, I was both financially unable to, and too busy being over-protective.

I am not as bitter and jaded as some regarding the North American machine culture being ego stroking genital size extensions, but don’t deny that such a thing exists. I see the strides that Honda in particular has made at making interesting entry level machines, with Kawasaki following their lead. Sadly they really seem to be the only ones in Japan. Some European manufacturers (surprisingly KTM, unless you consider the ownership of India in the company now) have seen the immerging markets like India and China (for the fertile sales grounds that they are) and have made bikes to entice that first rider to part with what disposable they have.

I don’t discount the lawyers part in the situation facing the manufacturers either, in North America, and specifically the part south of the 49th, the sue everyone culture has in no way helped. The ambulance chasers are happy to name the builder in any suit that will turn them a fast buck and north of the magic line is close behind.

With all the forces piling up against the industry on a whole some have written it off already. I watch the whole thing from the seat of my bike and from time to time glimpse a ray of light poking through the doom and gloom. I see more and more female riders; something 30 years ago was a rarity at best. Face it guys the women out number us and they are the industry’s future. The manufactures are slowly but surely sneaking in a few bikes that won’t scare a new rider, but still thrill them. It is a painfully slow process and some manufacturers (like Yamaha) seem to be very slow to get it but don’t give up hope. Wait until the Korean and Indian manufactures get rolling, they learn fast, just skip the first few generations until they work out the bugs.

Some of you have already, like Eric planted that seed in the next generation and more will have to ensure the next crop of motorcycle enthusiast.
 
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Older riders may remember the name Joan Claybrook who was the NHTSA head back in the Carter years. She really had it in for motorcycles in general and 'crotch rockets' in particular. Many people thought the industry was doomed because she really wanted to neuter it.....low power, airbags, and restrictions on who could ride. Yet look at the advancements made in the 35 years or so.

Many people learn to ride as youngsters on off road and dirt bikes but more and more public lands are being restricted due to destructive environmental rules and regulations fomented by wealthy elites who need to atone for their own guilt, so that cuts into the opportunity to ride early. And we live in an ever more safe society where any sort of risk must be taken out of the equation. Hell, kids can't play tag, dodgeball, hang on the monkey bars, or even use a swing because of the "danger". And let's not even talk about the corrupt legal system which wants to sue for the slightest injury someone suffers. Fall off a bike, sue and get a payout. Eventually all the roadblocks start taking a toll on anyone actually wanting to get out on the road on a real bike. Much easier to sit in your den and play games on your PlayStation. Another sign of decay in the zest for life.
 
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Mine is a MC family. My son has been riding since he was 4. I put a nylon belt on him, put him on the front of my XR, and gave him the gift. Hes on his 5th dirt bike. Took his older sister out the other day and gave her a "clutch" lesson.

All 3 of the kids have ridden on the FZ.

But, your right. Things change.
 
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