Is It Time to Leave the Sport? Honestly… I’m Starting to Wonder.

[Lightcycle]

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At the end of the day, motorcycling is going to be whatever you make of it for yourself.

I love this because it's so true.

If you're an introvert, that in-your-helmet time where nobody can call you or tap you on the shoulder is your sanctuary away from the frantic world of taxes, bills and bosses.

If you're an extrovert, attending a motorcycle meet or group ride and chatting with like-minded folks recharges your battery and you know nobody is going to try to duck out of the conversation because they're just not interested in talking about motorcycles.

If you're a life-at-full-lean adrenaline junkie, motorcycling is for you.
If you need to relax and take in the sights, sounds and smell on a sedate country-road ride, motorcycling is for you.

If you like the pure, stripped-down, vintage mechanicals of a by-gone era, motorcycling is for you.
If you like the flashy, ultra-neo, techno-fueled two-wheeled spacecrafts of a sci-fi tomorrow, motorcycling is for you.

If you like to clean, polish and shine your machine with micro-fibre cloths and Q-tips, motorcycling is for you.
If you like to take mud baths with your bike and tell stories behind every dent and scrape on the crash bars, bar ends and fairings, motorcycling is for you.

Motorcycling is *totally* what you make of it.

 

[Bobo]

Saw this movie when I was 9 years old at The Elane Theatre in Scarborough and I’ve been hooked on bikes ever since.

 

[Gaoler]

Me thinks, bottom line is.. It's difficult for most people to just survive these days.
Us bitching about the state of motorcycling is the epitome of first world problems.

 

[Evoex]

Me thinks, bottom line is.. It's difficult for most people to just survive these days.
Us bitching about the state of motorcycling is the epitome of first world problems.

Amen

 

[Trackday]

It was nice seeing all of the great things people have said about motorcycling in here. I could write a book of quotes with what you guys have shared. Here's my take:

At the end of the day, motorcycling is going to be whatever you make of it for yourself.

If it's just a "sport" for you, then that's all it is. Personally, I've been riding almost 20 years, never seen it as a sport, and I hope to God I never will. People fish and golf and call it a sport. "Sports" are some of the most boring, passive things you could do. If it's just something you like to choose to pick up and do once in a while, like playing badminton with your elderly mother, cool, it's a sport for you.

Motorcycling can be just a hobby, that's okay too. There are ways to have a lot of fun of fun with hobbies, there are ways to keep hobbies cheap, and there are ways to make your hobbies as expensive as you choose to make them.

Motorcycling can also be a means of transportation. I've been riding every winter since the 2007 season. If you live right in the city, you can totally ride throughout the year, through like 60-90% of the winter, IF, you choose too.

Motorcycling can also be a lifestyle, and it is for many of us here, it is, because we choose it to be a lifestyle. We choose go to rallies, to go to trackdays, to go to monthly or weekly social functions around it, and schedule our vacations with our spouses around it. Some even go so far as to schedule or even build our entire lives and careers around it.

@Amazon famously chose to use motorcycling to find a prom date (and later a husband). I chose to start a YouTube channel so I could make a living making videos no one watches. We both worked in the industry as kids. We're still doing our thing.

If you aren't getting anything out of motorcycling, or only seeing it a certain way, I'm sorry for the choices you make, but that's not a dealers fault, or a manufacturer's fault, or the other drivers' fault. That's your choice, and it's your fault. You get what you choose, so take some accountability, and choose to enjoy it, or stop crying and pointing fingers at everything/everyone but yourself. It's exactly what you make of it, nothing more or nothing less. Your move bud.

Well said — and you’re right that motorcycling becomes whatever each of us makes of it. For some it’s transportation, for others a hobby, a lifestyle, or a full-blown identity. No argument there.

But where I’ll add to the conversation is this: while motorcycling is a personal choice, the environment around that choice has changed. Costs have skyrocketed, licensing is more complex, insurance is borderline insane, and the industry has tilted heavily toward older riders and premium machines. That absolutely affects how new riders experience the sport, and pretending it doesn’t oversimplifies the issue.

E-bikes are a perfect example. They didn’t explode in popularity because people stopped “choosing” motorcycles — they exploded because they’re simple, affordable, require no licence or insurance, and offer a low-barrier entry into two wheels. Look at Beachman: retro looks, good performance for the city, plug-and-play ownership. For a lot of people, that is enough. And as Ryan from FortNine pointed out, they’ve taken a chunk of the market because motorcycles left that space wide open.

So yes — attitude matters. Passion matters. But the structure around the sport matters too.
Not everyone is “crying” or blaming others. Many are pointing out the real-world barriers that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago.

Your take is solid: motorcycling can be anything you want it to be. My take is this: it should also be accessible enough that people actually get the chance to choose it in the first place.

Both can be true.

 

[nakkers]

I suppose it just depends on your point of reference? Are we comparing the current circumstances against what time period? Last year, 5 years? 10 years? Longer?


Being young and wanting to enter the sport in any era, how was the cost to get started compared to now? Would a 20 something walk down to the local dealer and get themselves a nice 600 SS to ride home and look up when the next track day is and get started?

From my armchair analysis, there is ALOT of things competing for our dollars present day. We have more lifestyle material things to choose from as well as just simple living expenses and choices.

When you look at where your dollars go and everything competing to grab your attention to spend it, it’s a wonder. Lots of stuff comes and goes.

Being young, out of university, finding a job, finding a place to live, finding a mode of transportation, affording gas station sushi and the latest game console. The bank of parents are supporting their own aging parents and trying to get their own kids to be independent.

Swipe right, started a relationship, move in together and save some housing costs but, the career ladder isn’t moving as projected. The dreams of a SS are far off. Find a 10 year old CBR600 and getting it insured turns out to be expensive. The car dealership warns you against using your leased Civic to tow a trailer will void your warranty. Renting a van from HD, they won’t insure you for being too young. I think you get the idea.

So it must be the greedy business sucking the money out of us.

How many times have we witnessed various tracks open, flounder, go into disrepair and go under?

Same for independent shops.

I would argue anything you do comes at a financial cost. Is it worth it? If the answer is no, find something that is.

Rent a Vespa in Portugal on holiday and head south. It might not be tracking a SS but, it might be fun and worth your time. And isn’t that winning enough? Go ahead and insert your own idea of cheap thrills for mega smiles.

As an aside, I used to GoKart at a young age. Parents supported me and took me places. Then the paddock started to get packed with large trucks and trailers with the latest and greatest and most speaking a foreign language. (Those darn Quebecers!). I didn’t fit in any more and it got too serious for this teenager. I don’t miss it for one bit.

Heck, I listen to my friends that are teachers and have kids in hockey cry and moan about the cost of hockey. I don’t think they do hand me down shin pads or skates from play it again and pretty sure they don’t skip the Starbucks on the way to practice.

 

[adri]

So yes — attitude matters. Passion matters. But the structure around the sport matters too.
Not everyone is “crying” or blaming others. Many are pointing out the real-world barriers that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago.

Your take is solid: motorcycling can be anything you want it to be. My take is this: it should also be accessible enough that people actually get the chance to choose it in the first place.

Both can be true.

Insurance on my 20 year old, highway capable, 250cc scooter is less than $100/year.

Motorcycling IS accessible IF people choose it to be.

If you choose bigger displacement, newer options, you get what you chose, but that doesn't mean accessible options don't exist, it just means you chose to avoid them.

 

[Relax]

Your take is solid: motorcycling can be anything you want it to be. My take is this: it should also be accessible enough that people actually get the chance to choose it in the first place.

How do you define accessible? In 1991, my friend bought a brand new ZX-7 for $8k. They no longer offer a 750 today, but a ZX-6R is $14k, and a ZX-10R is $20k. Factoring inflation, $8k is worth $16k today, so it slots right in between them as it should.

In 2000, I paid around $18k for my demo 748S, which is worth $31k in today's money. But a 2026 Panigale V2 is only $22k, so prices have come down drastically from the 916 era.

A brand new Honda XR150L is $4565 today. In 1988 dollars, that would have been $2000. I don't rmember beoing able to buy anything new for $2000 back then. Even a YSR-50 was $2500.

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