Yorks and Lincs ride out .... and demographic issues..

[Trooper74]

 

Dry day here in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire so a morning ride out the the Willingham Cafe to the east of Market Rasen seemed a good idea. 9 deg c, dry, so jeans today instead of the armoured, padded bike trousers.
It was early when i arrived at the cafe, 20 - 30 bikes there and a chat with a few guys ensued ...
Then you realise all the riders are white males over 60 !!
Now white male is fine, 45% of the UK population are white male .... but over 60 !!
Where are all the young motorcyclists ????

 

When I left the cafe i headed to the now defunct RAF Binbrook. The last home of the Lightning Fighter and where all our Tornados where destroyed by scrap merchants. I served for 25 years in the Royal Air Force,( Nimrod, Phantom FGR2 / F4J, Tornado GR4 .. Flightline Airframes Engineer ) when it was a force with hundreds of fighters and thousands of pilots and engineers ..... Now, 60 war ready Typhoons and 6 F-35's .... Putin must be trembling in the Kremlin .... trembling with laughter ...!

 

 

Always sad to revisit a base that you remember as full of life and noise to find it boarded up and empty ...

 

 

 

 

 

[bonio]

Quote

Where are all the young motorcyclists ????

I've been asking this too. Not sure they exist any more. All the bikers I see out are ancient like me, or even ancienter.
When I talk to my friends in their 30s or my kids (also in their 30s) about bikes, they just shudder and mutter about how dangerous they are.  

Edited February 12, 2023 by bonio

[skyrider]

48 minutes ago, Trooper74 said:

 

Dry day here in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire so a morning ride out the the Willingham Cafe to the east of Market Rasen seemed a good idea. 9 deg c, dry, so jeans today instead of the armoured, padded bike trousers.
It was early when i arrived at the cafe, 20 - 30 bikes there and a chat with a few guys ensued ...
Then you realise all the riders are white males over 60 !!
Now white male is fine, 45% of the UK population are white male .... but over 60 !!
Where are all the young motorcyclists ????

 

When I left the cafe i headed to the now defunct RAF Binbrook. The last home of the Lightning Fighter and where all our Tornados where destroyed by scrap merchants. I served for 25 years in the Royal Air Force,( Nimrod, Phantom FGR2 / F4J, Tornado GR4 .. Flightline Airframes Engineer ) when it was a force with hundreds of fighters and thousands of pilots and engineers ..... Now, 60 war ready Typhoons and 6 F-35's .... Putin must be trembling in the Kremlin .... trembling with laughter ...!

 

 

Always sad to revisit a base that you remember as full of life and noise to find it boarded up and empty ...

 

 

 

 

 

yes when you turn up at a bike meet these days when they take their helmet off they all have grey hair not too many young pilots out there

Edited February 12, 2023 by skyrider

[Copycat73]

12 minutes ago, skyrider said:

yes when you turn up at a bike meet these days when they take their helmet off they all have grey hair not too many young pilots out there

well the price of insurance tends to cost both wings ... 

[Trooper74]

15 minutes ago, Copycat73 said:

well the price of insurance tends to cost both wings ... 

But still a fraction of motor car insurance for an 18 year old on a 250 trail bike. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Trooper74

[Mickly]

Why pay £1k’s for a bike & more for training, insurance, tax, kit etc when for £300 you can get an electric scooter with no extra costs except for a black hoody & a scarf to cover your face & you can charge it at your parents & at work !!

[fullscreenaging]

Give it another month and it’ll start getting busier. The younger ones will there then. 

[Trooper74]

9 hours ago, Mickly said:

Why pay £1k’s for a bike & more for training, insurance, tax, kit etc when for £300 you can get an electric scooter with no extra costs except for a black hoody & a scarf to cover your face & you can charge it at your parents & at work !!

Because you can't do 100mph into a sweeping left hander with the sun at your back on the way to the cafe / coast / girlfriend / mistress .... et al.