Where will we be in 20 years?

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It wont be many more pies until its a mobility scooter for each cheek. All joking aside Bev and I did see a very large young woman given two chairs in a restaurant as one would have just disappeared.
 
michael_dinwiddy said:
Im not sure if thats true, a rather romantic view, maybe for the generation that had points & condensers.. but I would say the vast majority of motorcyclists haven’t a clue or are not in the least bit interested in how a motorcycle works, but ride for the fun of the power agility and possibly because of traffic congestion in urban areas. Some also do ‘live the biker lifestyle’ and seek brotherhood in a bike Club. But most just don’t get the spanners out, which one rarely has to with any bike nowadays.
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Romantic? Fixing stuff was a necessity, a generation of fixers. Then came the credit card era and quoting numbers over a phone - held in the hand. Several times I've stopped to give assistance only to be told: "Nah, s'okay mate, RAC's on the way." Those points and condensers could be cleaned and adjusted with a little knowledge, and on you go. A failed electronic unit is toast. You walk. Phone with no signal? You walk, or hope someone stops to give assistance.

Of course it doesn't always work. Not easy to fix a broken con-rod beside the road. One of the few times I had to call recovery. Took them two hours to reach me. "Where's the trailer?" I asked, "Oh they only sent me out to see if I could get it going." Another two and a half hours later, the trailer turns up.

Fixing stuff is karma for the soul. If you know what you're doing of course. Knowing your machine inside and out gives confidence.
 
Degsy said:
Romantic? Fixing stuff was a necessity, a generation of fixers. Then came the credit card era and quoting numbers over a phone - held in the hand. Several times I've stopped to give assistance only to be told: "Nah, s'okay mate, RAC's on the way." Those points and condensers could be cleaned and adjusted with a little knowledge, and on you go. A failed electronic unit is toast. You walk. Phone with no signal? You walk, or hope someone stops to give assistance.

Of course it doesn't always work. Not easy to fix a broken con-rod beside the road. One of the few times I had to call recovery. Took them two hours to reach me. "Where's the trailer?" I asked, "Oh they only sent me out to see if I could get it going." Another two and a half hours later, the trailer turns up.

Fixing stuff is karma for the soul. If you know what you're doing of course. Knowing your machine inside and out gives confidence.
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Sorry but this really is romantic, and an attitude held by a select few (errrr......including me at various times) . And it doesn't really maketh the man or woman any more than a kickstarter does. I'm not inclined to piss on anyone waiting for the RAC. And you don't know what their issue is.

Did you know, the RAC and AA have been offering breakdown recovery in the UK since the very beginning of the 20th century. There has never been ''a generation of fixers'' on two wheels or four. Just a very few intrepid owners who actively relish diagnosing and repairing by the roadside. We all know them. They are the minority.

If motorcycling relied on the owner having to fix at the roadside, the motorcycle would have become extinct at least a century ago.

One of the joys of modern vehicle ownership is the stone-cold reliability of the internal combusion engine compared to even 40yrs ago.

But you will have noticed, the RAC and AA have not abandoned breakdown recovery. I am intrigued to see how long-term reliable EVs prove to be.
 
"Relish"? Who relishes fixing stuff by the roadside? That's for workshops or the shed!
Fixing stuff by the roadside - at times - became a necessity to complete a journey. Simples. The early days of motorcycling was also a time when blacksmiths and agricultural engineers were to be found in most towns and small villages. There was help nearby because of it. Motorcycling hasn't disappeared up its own exhaust pipe due to perpetual breakdowns, though the British side of the industry certainly took a pasting when they took to saying: "The Japanese imports are nothing to be worried about." The Japs saw, copied, but improved the motorcycle. And here we still are today.
 
Been on 2 wheels since I was 16 and 4 wheels since 19 and I never had breakdown cover nor relied on a garage to maintain or fix any of my vehicles until I was in my late 30s - it was seen as an added cost I simply could not afford. That was the reality for most people I knew, the home mechanic armed with a few tools and a Haynes manual was how we lived.

Same goes for home ownership - young with a large mortgage, you did your own maintenance and decorating, it was called DIY. Again it was more out of necessity, if you did not know how you asked around, usually family or a friend would guide / assist.
 
I can think of at least one who did seem to relish fixing by the road side. He was the only lad from school that I kept (for a few years) in touch with, he was born with grease under his finger nails, while we were beating out awful ashtrays in metalwork class he and the teacher were in a corner brazing or something similar on bits of his old motorbikes which he pushed up to the abandoned allotments to ride. When I was on my HD SX-175 he was on a cafe racer-esque Royal Enfield Metor Minor and when on a ride an exhaust bracket snapped he pulled up next to a dumped wash machine left out for the dustman (back when they actually took heavy stuff!). From pockets (and lining) of his beaten Belstaff he produced tools and stripped and "re-purposed" parts which stayed on his bike for ages. He was a living Paul Sample cartoon, how I imagine Ogri's love child would look. I must admit there is a sense of triumph when you succeed in a roadside repair, like bending a coil of your broken points spring to make a new hook...??!
 
devon.john said:
do you really want tobe here in 20yrs i dont
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:cool: I want to live forever and, with that much time on my hands, I could buy up every Shovelhead in this galaxy :cool:.

As to the question asked..........
It would have not been too difficult, probably, to arrive at an accurate answer, if the question had been asked in the year of the Club's founding.
It would have been easier, probably, to arrive at an accurate answer, if the question had been asked in the year of 1970. Or 1990. Rinse, repeat.

Opinion: If it were done, and done well, a deep-dive into the Quin, coupled with some keen extrapolation, might give a chance at the possibilty of an accurate answer as to what things will be like in '34; that is, if the premise of the question is how will the Club evolve as a social organism. How motorcycles evolve will of course play a driving role in the equation. But if the Factory folds will the Culb necessarily become harder to sustain?


Will The Factory make the leap to anti-gravity powered, inertia-free bikes.......... that can be altered :unsure:?
Stay tuned ya'll.
 
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