When did everyone get so old?

[Rasbutan]

That's right. Tonight, it finally struck home.

What happened, when did everyone get so old?

I went to our local club meeting. People that I can remember back from about as far as I can remember, and seeing them both made me happy and sad. I looked around the room and thought about the surrogate family I had there. At 33, I was probably the youngest in the room by 12-13 years. I grew up around these people.

I dunno know, maybe I equate the MOA to the local club. If this is a sampling of the general population, then I can't see much for the future. There aren't nearly as many of us 'younger' riders as the previous generation. Everyone is sooooo entralled with the choppers, sport bikes, and show bikes it seems long gone the days of just enjoying the ride on 2 wheels.

Maybe its that I miss my few riding friends.

Maybe it's just the winter blues.

:cry

[GrafikFeat]

...maybe it's the video games. :brow

[Mark II]

when did everyone get so old?:cry

Not everyone, just the people you hang out with. :hide

Honestly though, I have noticed it too. At 31, I seem to be one of the younger ones at BMW gatherings. I chalk it up to a few reasons:
- BMW's are relatively expensive for motorcycles. The adrenaline junkies can get their fix for a lot less $$$$
- Many people my age are not into bikes for the sheer enjoyment of riding
- I'm not into the "lets get drunk and do stupid stuff on our bikes" crowd, and there isn't much or any of that (that I have seen) in BMW circles

There are other reasons such as machismo and image, and perhaps others that define other motorcycle groups (HD and sportbike riders come to mind, respectively) more so than the average BMW rider. Of course, there is a certain image gained from having that blue and white on your bike, but I'm ok with that.

[Rapid_Roy]

That's right. Tonight, it finally struck home.

What happened, when did everyone get so old?

I went to our local club meeting. People that I can remember back from about as far as I can remember, and seeing them both made me happy and sad. I looked around the room and thought about the surrogate family I had there. At 33, I was probably the youngest in the room by 12-13 years. I grew up around these people.

I dunno know, maybe I equate the MOA to the local club. If this is a sampling of the general population, then I can't see much for the future. There aren't nearly as many of us 'younger' riders as the previous generation. Everyone is sooooo entralled with the choppers, sport bikes, and show bikes it seems long gone the days of just enjoying the ride on 2 wheels.

Maybe its that I miss my few riding friends.

Maybe it's just the winter blues.

:cryThere needs to be new Airheads, that look old. It worked for Triumph.
Buck up Sparky, I'm only 47.:ha
:wave

[tommcgee]

What happened, when did everyone get so old?


Last time I went to a wake, I was wondering where the old folks were...

[Callmethebreeze]

There's another thread about the MOA and its gray constituency.
People in their twenties aren't joining clubs or service organizations unless there is a tradition in their families or communities. They're into the instant but false intimacy of the net and its blogs and forums (this one for example).
The baby boom generation is another explanation. There are simply more of us.
I've expanded my net to include talking to younger people at work and really listening rather than lecturing to them about my "experience". I keep my cynical edge. Young people resonate to that. I try new things that aren't "age appropriate". I've met some good people who don't use 'Touch of Gray". :)
Works for me.
Breeze

[Braddog]

Some mornings, when I look in the mirror, I clearly see my dear old dad staring right back at me. Of course, he passed away in 1996, so it's really not him...or is it?

I neither owned nor joined the BMW MOA until I was 40. At 33, you're one of many young lions that's coming up in the world of BMW ownership. Nothing wrong with that.

However, since unemployment is very high in the U.S. added to the fact that we're in a huge recession, I just don't see many people buying new BMW motorcycles in the U.S. in near future. This means we've got to keep the existing airheads/oilheads/hexheads running and in the market. And we will. There will be more and more folks like Crazydrummerdude who rescue old BMW's and make them their own. There will be newer riders like Josh Metzger who rides not one, but TWO airheads!

While beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, age is truly a frame of mind. Don't look at the gray hairs and wrinkled faces, see the gleam in the eyes of fellow riders.

The local rider clubs as well as the MOA will be fine.

[tommcgee]

Some mornings, when I look in the mirror, I clearly see my dear old dad staring right back at me. Of course, he passed away in 1996, so it's really not him...or is it?

Yep, it's him.

[GrafikFeat]

Yep, it's him.

OooOOooOoooo... Or is it!? OoooOOooOOoo

[RandallIsland]

While beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, age is truly a frame of mind. Don't look at the gray hairs and wrinkled faces, see the gleam in the eyes of fellow riders.

The local rider clubs as well as the MOA will be fine.

+1 :bikes

[BobfromSWOhio]

I turn 60 tomorrow and you know what makes me feel young --- the 70 and 80 year olds I meet at the BMW rallies!

A good friend from NY is in his early 70's and I can't keep up with him (he is single and still chasin' the ladies - he has to beat them away when he wears his leather pants, but that is another story----). Also, this fall I camped beside a new friend that is in his late 70's (early 80's?), has had both knees and one ankle replaced and was going in the following Monday to replace the other ankle. I can almost guarantee that I will meet up with him at rallies this summer.

Don't feel sorry for we old foggies; just be happy for us that we are still out there and going strong. Also, it doesn't matter what you ride, just "keep your knees in the breeze!" As they say: you don't get old and quit riding, you quit riding and you get old.

See you all at the rallies!

[mthelmet]

That's right. Tonight, it finally struck home.

What happened, when did everyone get so old?

I went to our local club meeting. People that I can remember back from about as far as I can remember, and seeing them both made me happy and sad. I looked around the room and thought about the surrogate family I had there. At 33, I was probably the youngest in the room by 12-13 years. I grew up around these people.

I dunno know, maybe I equate the MOA to the local club. If this is a sampling of the general population, then I can't see much for the future. There aren't nearly as many of us 'younger' riders as the previous generation. Everyone is sooooo entralled with the choppers, sport bikes, and show bikes it seems long gone the days of just enjoying the ride on 2 wheels.

Maybe its that I miss my few riding friends.

Maybe it's just the winter blues.

:cry

Getting old is HELL. I always ran around with most of my friend being 4 to 5 years older than I. Then in 1992 I went to CO hunting with my son-in-law, sitting around the camp fire I started to feel "OLD", I was 14 years older then the next oldest person in camp.:dunno

Funny feeling at that point. Just try an think what they were feeling, seeing that young guy who came around those years ago.:clap

[bobs98]

Buck up Sparky, I'm only 47.:ha
:wave

Geeez, and you appear to be so much older, ..... er .... I mean .... wiser. Yeah, that's it! :bolt

[Artiee]

That's right. Tonight, it finally struck home.

What happened, when did everyone get so old?

I went to our local club meeting. People that I can remember back from about as far as I can remember, and seeing them both made me happy and sad. I looked around the room and thought about the surrogate family I had there. At 33, I was probably the youngest in the room by 12-13 years. I grew up around these people.

I dunno know, maybe I equate the MOA to the local club. If this is a sampling of the general population, then I can't see much for the future. There aren't nearly as many of us 'younger' riders as the previous generation. Everyone is sooooo entralled with the choppers, sport bikes, and show bikes it seems long gone the days of just enjoying the ride on 2 wheels.

Maybe its that I miss my few riding friends.

Maybe it's just the winter blues.

:cry

I vote winter blues. :brow

[pffog]

In the words of Andy Rooney:

I didn't get old on purpose, it just happened. If you're lucky, it could happen to you!!!:clap

[JK]

Getting old is HELL. I always ran around with most of my friend being 4 to 5 years older than I. Then in 1992 I went to CO hunting with my son-in-law, sitting around the camp fire I started to feel "OLD", I was 14 years older then the next oldest person in camp.:dunno

Funny feeling at that point. Just try an think what they were feeling, seeing that young guy who came around those years ago.:clap

Hey Mthelmet -

Depends on what you came to Colorado to hunt. My own experience is that you're only as old as the one you feel.

Case in point, last week my sweetie and I did a pre-Valentine 200 mile run from Denver to Colorado Springs and back, on our R-1200s, in 30 to 40 degree weather. We hit three bars (The Spur, O'Malley's, and the Ancient Mariner) and three digits. :buds

With silk underwear beneath her red BMW leathers, as St. Steven says, it's hard not to play cupid with something so "sharp and narrow."


J.K. :wow

P.S. "... One man gathers what another man spills...." :bow

[squeaky]

Originally posted by JK:
We hit three bars (The Spur, O'Malley's, and the Ancient Mariner)

In 200 miles? Sounds more like a bunch of bikers.

Bob Schrader
Wentzville, Mo.