A bit of a rant...

[Clarkixlc]

So I am a member of a few forums including this one. Some motorcycle related and some not. But this rant is mainly focused on the motorcycle forum side of things.

Don't get me wrong here I think forums are a great thing and is why I a member of a few. They give great information from knowledgable people that otherwise wouldn't of been able to pass on that knowledge to a vast audience as they can do now. Which I greatly appreciate, you are upto date more on what's happening in the world of riding and motorcycles in general.

You can and I'm sure a lot have made new and long lasting mates via organised rides. You have found a top bargain wether it be a bike or a part you were desperately looking for and someone flogged it off to you for 1/4 of what retail is just because.

All of these things are great and why I enjoy forums. This being said there aren't many I come back to after a few months ( I have been a member here for over a year and others for around the same)

Is it because I'm caught between a generation gap ? (I'm 27 this year and believe I was bought up with a good work ethic and family values ect) with the younger side of my generation the ones currently between the age of 17-24 ish and my fathers era of riders.

I don't do many group rides and that's just my own thing. I like riding my bike alone and by myself. I don't mind going for rides every now and then with others but they are few and far between.

Not trying to get into any arguments here but it seems that the younger generation (my so called generation) are more interested in everything other than riding ( if for a minute I can just blanket everyone in that age group regardless of what they like)

They want to have the fastest bike.

They only want the newest superbike/Supersport even if it means going into ridiculous debt for it.

They want to have all the name brand gear. (A lot of them are ATGATT which is fine)

They want to vlog ( video blog ) every single thing they do on a ride.

They need the backing of every one else before they put the next part on THEIR bike.

They simply live for forums and post every little thing on there and then if they are challenged they get Agro and have a hissy fit and want to get you blocked.

They don't respect other peoples tastes. Ie ah fuck street fighters they are just because guys can't ride and stack em and are too poor to fix them properly or that bikes too old or that bike is too slow or why would you even ride that.thats not a gsxr/r1/zx10 ect it must be shit ( except Harley's every one is allowed to rag on Harley's haha )


And then there is my dad's era who say fuck it let's ride. Let's ride in our old tatty jeans and worn out leather jacket or that had to use gardening gloves for riding gloves or used to stick newspaper down the front of their jacket in winter to keep the wind off. Who used to ride for hours upon hours upon kilometer just for the sake of riding. Not trying to get the "chicken strips" off their bike.
Who couldn't give a fuck if the bloke down the street is doing wheelies in the back streets with stubbies, singlet and thongs on. And let him go with out lecturing him every chance they got about ATGATT.

All I am trying to get across is that I think the younger generation are too caught up in being "internet famous" and not just enjoying the wonderful thing that is riding a goddamn motor bike. Wether it's flat out through the twisties, drag racing, wheelies, track days. Who gives a fuck. At then end of the day you have to stop spending money on things you can't afford to impress people you don't even know and just enjoy what you have. With out making it about who's dick is bigger.

P.s sorry for the novel guys.

P.p.s this is one of the best forums I have been apart of and thanks for being that way. And trying to stay true to the love of motorcycles.

[Glen]

I blame Facebook. I have an account but I still thinks it's retarded. I think it's time to deactivate it again.

I think your right though. The interwebs is a great place for everyone to have the right opinion on everything and to have sourced that opinion from many other sources on the inter webs.

Thankfully here we seem to have a pretty good group who don't get caught up in the bullshit.

[Clarkixlc]

I blame Facebook. I have an account but I still thinks it's retarded. I think it's time to deactivate it again.

I think your right though. The interwebs is a great place for everyone to have the right opinion on everything and to have sourced that opinion from many other sources on the inter webs.

Thankfully here we seem to have a pretty good group who don't get caught up in the bullshit.

Obviously being my age I have Facebook and use it on regular basis. However. My main use is to keep in contact with friends whom live in the US, the UK and Perth. Because well we all know that Perth isn't part of OZ. other than that I post pointless shit and watch funny videos.

But yeh thanks for taking the time to read it. And put up with my shitty spelling and grammar.

Damn iPhones.

[laidback]

As in the 'real' world, this forum like many others has people from a wide variety of locations, socioeconomic and interest groups.

Being an old fart it's easy for me to accept and get involved in what I find interesting. Also people move through different interests and may not always advertise why they pull away from certain interests.

Just enjoy and if it seems that a group, forum or real life, moves away from what your interested in put feelers out and you will probably find others lurking around with similar views.

I have made so many friends on this forum in the few years I have been a member and have only had a few rides with them.
A good indicator of how things change is the Gingers Creek ride. Awesome time away but this seems to have fallen by the wayside.

[paulsj]

I met some quality people through this forum and others as I'm also into Datsun's.

When i was living in Sydney about 10 years ago away from family and friends in Melbourne i was looking for someone to ride with found the KSRC joined up and got in on the saturday morning Nasho runs. First time i met the crew at a park enroute which would of continued if i was a clown but the guys were happy and not long would be meeting up at peoples houses and even helping me out after I unfortunatley flipped my zxr750 over the bars in the nasho on a midweek ride on my day off in trailering it home as i had no car at the time.

Good to be back here now after restoring a ZX9R C2 for track riding.

I try to give as much as i take if i do something to my bike i put it up for others to consider. 95% of active forum users are tops people in my experiences so far........

Paul

[dutchy]

I'd reply but I'm too busy making myself look awesome through my Facebook status updates.

In all seriousness, if Facebook and blogs are meant to make you look good, I'm failing miserably.

[Smiffy]

Agree, but it's remarkably easy to ignore all that shit and just ride.

[Six Addict]

im exactly your age clark... and having come back from the weekend at the supers with everybody, i partly understand your post. I used to post fuckloads on here when i had a kawasaki, and the forum members up here in sydney we prolific typists and riders...

also hanging around with gen x people is interesting at times (constant gen y bashers, you know who you are ) but you only make of it what you put in.

ive been on a couple of other forums as well, but only come back here because of the people ive met in person... one other forum was full of old cruiser riders, and the other was an american forum, need i say any more.

[Cath]

I disagree. That's not my experience at all.
I know plenty of serious riders who are younger.
And plenty of older riders who are show ponies and/or keyboard warriors. I like the variety of people who ride motorbikes - all walks of life, some you get on with, some you don't.

I reckon you might have a bit of confirmation bias going on there, TBH.

[Clarkixlc]

I disagree. That's not my experience at all.
I know plenty of serious riders who are younger.
And plenty of older riders who are show ponies and/or keyboard warriors. I like the variety of people who ride motorbikes - all walks of life, some you get on with, some you don't.

I reckon you might have a bit of confirmation bias going on there, TBH.

I think if you read through my post properly. Near the beginning I stated that if for just a minute I could blanket all younger riders as one even though I know it's not that case.

It's just stating that there is a lot more younger people using the internet then older which means they are more active and we see more from them.

[sillywilly]

Facebook very anti social i have mates that don't call each other anymore because they catch up on Facebook. Why the fuck would someone post its 23deg today and perfect and i just had a cuppa really who gives a shit .I am 35 years old and i just don't get its fair enough people catching up o.s but when 2 mates live 2 blocks apart and havnt talked for 1 year that shit is weird .

[robracer]

but when 2 mates live 2 blocks apart and havnt talked for 1 year that shit is weird .

You are not wrong there

[Cath]

I disagree. That's not my experience at all.
I know plenty of serious riders who are younger.
And plenty of older riders who are show ponies and/or keyboard warriors. I like the variety of people who ride motorbikes - all walks of life, some you get on with, some you don't.

I reckon you might have a bit of confirmation bias going on there, TBH.

I think if you read through my post properly. Near the beginning I stated that if for just a minute I could blanket all younger riders as one even though I know it's not that case.

It's just stating that there is a lot more younger people using the internet then older which means they are more active and we see more from them.

And if you read my post properly, you'll see I'm respectfully disagreeing with you. I'm specifically thinking of all the ride videos, ride reports, etc I've seen on forums, and on facebook. And they're almost all from those who are older than Gen Ys. I see a lot more riding related internet activity (particularly youtube vids of road and dirt rides) from the 35+ set than the under 35.

All I am trying to get across is that I think the younger generation are too caught up in being "internet famous" and not just enjoying the wonderful thing that is riding a goddamn motor bike. Wether it's flat out through the twisties, drag racing, wheelies, track days. Who gives a fuck. At then end of the day you have to stop spending money on things you can't afford to impress people you don't even know and just enjoy what you have. With out making it about who's dick is bigger.

I disagree with this. I don't think pre-Gen Y (what are those young-uns called anyway?), Gen Y or Gen X are much different in these things. Maybe those 60+ are less likely to be all about the internet and not about the riding, but IME all those other things you mentioned in your post are just as likely to be coming from someone who is 45 as it is from someone who is 25. Or maybe I just hang around with a lot of old farts who are internet savvy I guess I just don't get the same impression that you get - who knows if your impressions and experiences are more typical or if mine are? Without an impartial study it's just anecdotes. But I just chimed in because your words didn't match what I've seen, so was providing a different perception. YMMV obviously!

[kaneg]

Interesting read and I clearly see both points of views.

However I do 100% agree with this bit :

"Facebook very anti social i have mates that don't call each other anymore because they catch up on Facebook. Why the fuck would someone post its 23deg today and perfect and i just had a cuppa really who gives a shit .I am 35 years old and i just don't get its fair enough people catching up o.s but when 2 mates live 2 blocks apart and havnt talked for 1 year that shit is weird ."

[kawadave]

The same goes for texting.....the other day I spotted 10 or so people sitting on 1 table all texting on their phones.
The art of verbal exchange is dead.

BTW...I'm a baby boomer.