2013 BMW R1250GS Preview

[schizuki]

Originally Posted by jmdonald

600 lbs. should not be the new standard.

Bikes today are too goddamn big.

[sarnali2]

After going from an 800+ lb bagger back to a relitively svelte 500 lb GS I'd say I have to agree. Any bike I can't pick up w/o risking a hernia is too big!

[cloud9]

Originally Posted by Kevin_Duke

It's kinda sobering to think motorcycling in America will never be bigger than it was in the 2000s.

I'm hoping this whole social media thing takes a back seat to just living life. There is only so much you need to know about a person w/o being there.

[The Spaceman]

Originally Posted by Kevin_Duke

I really don't want to believe the above point, but it's the sad fact about the next gen of youngsters coming along. It's kinda sobering to think motorcycling in America will never be bigger than it was in the 2000s.

I disagree. Every generation writes off the next one as useless, uncaring dolts, doomed for failure. It's been going on in the US since the 1920's "Flappers." Yet each generation does come around, and overall, improves things. It is hard to see sometimes...

A lot of people in the late '80's thought we'd never see motorcycling be as big as it was in the 60's and 70's, yet it came back even bigger in the 90's. There's too much inherent goodness in motorcycling to keep it from growing, or even having another big "bubble" when the economy revives.

[The Spaceman]

Originally Posted by schizuki

Bikes today are too goddamn big.

Doesn't that depend on what you want to do with any given bike?

[jmdonald]

The fact is Social Networking is a new form of mind control by used the Governing Elites. As far as bike weight goes I have always found a light weight nimble machine almost always has the advantage over a heavy non-turning freeway sled. They are quicker, turn better and stop faster than the heavy weight bretheren. It does seem that more bikes are of the narrow purpose variety these days. The adventure bikes are the new all arounders. I do like the R1200RT and like concepts. It's aerodynamic and less than 600lbs. Aside from an occasional fire road this bike may be the ticket for the majority of my riding. Maybe the Multistrada. Time will tell.

[schizuki]

Originally Posted by The Spaceman

I disagree. Every generation writes off the next one as useless, uncaring dolts, doomed for failure. It's been going on in the US since the 1920's "Flappers." Yet each generation does come around, and overall, improves things. It is hard to see sometimes...

I dunno. Aside from better foods and microbrew beers, I can't see anything the Boomers have done that compensates for their cultural destructiveness and institutional fascism.

[Kevin_Duke]

Originally Posted by The Spaceman

I disagree. Every generation writes off the next one as useless, uncaring dolts, doomed for failure. It's been going on in the US since the 1920's "Flappers." Yet each generation does come around, and overall, improves things. It is hard to see sometimes...

A lot of people in the late '80's thought we'd never see motorcycling be as big as it was in the 60's and 70's, yet it came back even bigger in the 90's. There's too much inherent goodness in motorcycling to keep it from growing, or even having another big "bubble" when the economy revives.

Less people are being born in America, so unless something societally huge happens sometime soon, there can be no big upcoming group in the forseeable future that can purchase bikes in the amounts bought a few years ago.

Plus, kids just ain't riding bikes like they were in the 1960s and '70s, and those were the people still fueling the bike industry until the Great Recession.

When I first got on a minibike in 1976 or so, there was definitively no other activity around that was as fun and exciting. Today, with kids receiving an endless barrage of entertainment (TV, games, internet) without even getting off the couch, there are precious few who want to turn their backs on what all their peers are doing and spend money on something that gets you dirty and, quite possibly, hurt. Sales of dirt bikes are in the toilet, and if kids aren't riding in the dirt, they're highly unlikely to start riding once they're adults.

That said, I hope you're right!

[schizuki]

Maybe once they figure out how to text and ride...

[Buzglyd]

Originally Posted by schizuki

Maybe once they figure out how to text and ride...

I can now with my iPhone and Bluetooth helmet.

I say, "send my girlfriend a text."

It asks, "what would you like to say to Schizuki?"

I then dictate a text.