I feel like I've let the side down by hanging up my helmet this year after 30 years of biking. The key reason for me was the dangerous state of the roads I used, & the drop in driving standards/increased car traffic. I just wasn't enjoying the ride anymore & it was more of a survival test.
Its absolutely fair dos. No one has intimidated you or regulated you off your bike, it’s a decision made that will probably echo with many of us here. I’m keeping at least one classic until I’ve no further use for anything, but I ride infrequently these days, for reasons similar to yours. Road discipline is often truly appalling these days. Most of the roads near where I live have had no remediation since we moved here in 1995 & area blend of deeply unpleasant and outright dangerous. My particular pet peeve is the extensive “edge traps”, almost all arising from cut and cover laying of cable for TV & internet. The long, parallel cuts have often been badly repaired and over years, long depressions with distinct edges have become commonplace. On many of the nicest riding routes, I’m spending a quarter of the ride trying to avoid placing my front wheel on one of those edge traps.
@@GT380man Spot on - I have a thing about what I call "linear pot holes" - not sure how they form but I live close to the A43 to Kettering, & on one section there is a mile of 4 inch deep ruts running along the central section of the road. Ok if you know they are there, but if not & you go for an overtake, you'd be lucky to return to your lane before oncoming traffic hit you. In the dark you'd be straight off.
Yes they are. I was paying over £500 a year just to to keep it on the road. It was quite a lot for a weekend bike with a possiblity of commuting to work. I was also maintaining it properly at the dealer , that was not cheap also. Once it was stolen, I gave up on buying another one. £500 for 700 miles a year does not make any senses. Now when we go on holidays we just rent a big scooter - way better , way cheaper and it's nicer than cruising around the house.
My machine is not any kind of luxury item at all, it's a major part of my daily life, and my sole means of transport (I could never justify the running and maintenance costs of a car)
People arent getting into biking as much nowadays also because of the stupid structure of how to obtain your licence more than the costs of bikes for sure
@@chrishart8548 Not so. My Yamaha 321 cc MT-03 is good for over 100 MPH and has a 0-60 of 5.1 seconds. So, no slouch for a small capacity bike. Perfect for me at the age of 88. Best doing a bit of homework before making silly comments......
I think that it is the way of the world, my son buys his cars of the internet, research what he wants or specs it up of a website, pays his money and it turns up in a car transporter job done, no dealer visits all done on a computer. I think that the whole world has changed, how many pubs have shut down ? Loads of them. I am 65 years old bought my first bike when I was 11 from my paper round anther dead job that long gone, but nowadays I just run around on my old classic bikes, buy all my spares from the internet from all over the world and wait for the courier service to deliver them, no postman another sign of the times.Good video really enjoyed it.
I bought a SYM 125fiddle III, (22plate, £1500 ) under seat storage,and a top box, charger, Over100 mpg, handles, I have used it daily, done two festivals, 3000 miles, and I am over 60years of age.. It’s like a breath of fresh air
You know what's more dangerous than riding a motorbike? A regular road bicycle. You're even more vulnerable to knobheads, AND you don't have the power to get away (or even just keep up with traffic most of the time). I don't see anyone going around telling kids that riding their bikes to school is "too dangerous" 🤔
I traded in my big bike last month for something a lot smaller, lighter, more fun and cheaper to run. Motorcycling has changed and many riders move on to other things, that has a knock on effect with those who are still riding when their bikers friends aren't around to meet anymore,
I've always ridden big bikes, but am now riding a smaller, lighter bike as well. One reason is the handling, as I'm getting older and my reaction speed has been slowed down considerably due to medical circumstances, but the other reason is that the national speed limit over here has been lowered again from 120-130kph to 100kph and the Netherlands is almost literally riddled with speedcams, so even late at night fast riding has become very expensive. The ever increasing egotistic attitude of car drivers (this is MY piece of the road and you can either disappear or die) has made biking far more dangerous as well and it has spoiled some of the fun of riding for me.
Enjoyed listening to the chat lads and yup, you both hit the nail on the head. Biking used to be a cheap mode of transport, way cheaper than cars so loads of people started off on bikes, found the love for them and stuck with them. But now, it’s cheaper and easier to get a car and also to do your car licence. Our bike licence structure is ridiculous. There should be one test..and then even if they restrict your bhp until you hit a certain age, that’s fair enough..but let’s just have the one test eh. I also don’t get why you need a cbt every two years. For instance, in my 125 days..I already had a car and a bus licence. So I could drive a bus full of people, all over Europe if I wanted to..forever…but to ride a 125 on my own, I need basic training every two years?!..what is that about man 🤷♂️. I also feel the manufacturers could do more to encourage young riders. They know their main audience is older folk, so almost everything seems to be targeted towards us older folks…(with the exception of some Chinese brands), how about they start targeting young people. It’s in their own interests..the older demographic won’t last forever, so what happens in 30 years when no young people have come through to replace the current older generation?..where are all the cool bikes from the 80s for 17 year olds?!..bah!..sorry, went on a bit of a rant there 😂
Over here in the Netherlands the category of your motor license is age and experience depended. You start off on A1, or go directly for A if your old enough, then upgrade to A2 and finally A automatically as you gain experience. Which is a far more sensible structure, as you can buy a 600cc motorcycle, have it limited to 37kw and when you go up have that restriction legally removed to enjoy the full potential of your bike. You can only ride the really heavy bikes when you've upgraded to the A license, so that would mean that you would have to buy a heavy bike later on, which is the smart thing to do anyways.
The prices of new bikes are killing it, the second hand market is still going strong , I bought a few new bikes over the years and I remember back in 2011 paying just under 14k for a high spec bmw s1000rr , now if I wanted to buy one it's 20 odd thousand !! I bought a new 23 desert x and the build quality compared to a old honda xr650r I got that is 24 years old is comical, greed will kill the industry as newer riders can't afford these newer bikes so they opting for older bikes imo. The hoops the new riders have to jump through to get a licence is also stopping people getting bikes...
This shite weather we've had in the UK for the past 3 years or so is to blame. I have 4 bikes at present and had 3 on the road this year, tested, taxed and insured but the cold damp rainy weather limited their use.
My last bike was a gen 2 Hayabusa, but after it got nicked I didn't replace it. Now all I see in London is scooters with L plates driven by Indian men working for Deliveroo. Literally that's it. For me speed cameras and general surveillance has been the main cause. With 20mph speed limits it's game over sadly.
The next generation of motorcyclists are being killed off by high insurance costs. My son is 23 yrs old and has 5 years no claims discount for a car as well as having a pilots licence and was quoted £2300.00 for a 125cc bike. By comparison he owns a glider and his annual insurance costs is £585.00.
It's definitely a combination of things. The expensive and complex licencing regulations. The price of new bikes. Insurance costs. The list goes on. I was talking to a dealer a while ago. He said you would be amazed how little they make from new bike sales.
its been happening slowly for the last 40 years . and its not just dealers . loads of small back street bike shops that just did repairs have gone completely .used to do it myself ,but shed loads of regulations came into forse and closed most down .
Although dealers are a big part of Motorcycling there are still only a part. There are more than enough bikes already in private hands to keep Bikers entertainerd for decades. Sure keeping them going will be a little harder but far from impossable.
One thing you've not talked about is the electric push bikes . Why would a sixteen year old pay 1.5k plus for a 50cc scooter when they can get a surron thats faster no insurance no tax no licence 😅
Good chat fella's. I am sooooo old that I brought my first bike in 1967. What my grandson and son in law had to do to get a motorbike licence is unbelievable. All I had to do to get a full licence was ride around the block and do an emergency stop. How have as motorcyclists allowed this to happen ! Its killed our industry. The sound was a bit off at times so apologies if you did mention it but did you know Sykes are opening a Ducati agency. Owned a couple of Harleys but neither suited me and dare I say it now ride a GS, gravel car park is my limit though 😂😉.That said many of my mates ride Harleys and even if you don't Sykes make you feel welcome if you call in on a Saturday for a free coffee.
Bennetts is doing Superbike factory a big fav by doing the 'what bike next' videos there, they are not a motorcycle shop, just a flog anything finance shop.
Motorcycle manufacturers and dealers survive (and can grow) when they can adapt to changing market demands and conditions. Government attracts blame, but not the customers who just want what they want.
I think you guys hit the nail on the head, for years now the main motorcycle manufacturers have been producing expensive toys and catering to the older generation who are now sadly fazing out of the motorcycle buying group instead of producing cheap reliable sensible transport that the normal working man can afford?
@@BigPezza I agree you can buy 100+bhp bikes for less than a lot of 125cc bikes. There is just such little competition from buyers when buying higher power bikes.
So on MCN reviews, most of the long term reviews feature 100 BHP bikes whether roadsters or adventure bikes. Even 750 cc bikes with 90 bhp are described as middleweight. The motorcycle industry is writing its own death certificate. A 150 kg bike with modest 40 bhp just doesn't cut it with most people. I think people want too much of everything, whether it's bhp, food, holidays etc. Just unsustainable and then complain thins are too expensive
I whent to P and H about 6 weeks ago, i wanted to look at the xsr gp, i wondered around the showroom for 20 minutes, nobody asked me if they could help me or anything!
The law needs changing , a bike cbt should be compulsory before any driving lessons can be done . This would attract more people to ride scooters and eventually motorbikes .
Yes, especially as a good 125 does three times the MPG of a small car, let alone a big or old car. More of those on the road means fewer solo car journeys. Sadly, they'll never replace a family car for transporting a family.
Insurance is preventing young riders. I passed my CBT a few months back and with 30 years NCD on my car, a 125 was £650. What is a 17 year old being stung for. Then your tests too. Its why the average age is 54 and why BMWs sell well in big bikes, it's not a mystery.
Nice one the small town I was brought up in had two dedicated bike shops all gone now. Go to any bike nite or rally its mostly older people. The bikes are very expensive now and it's hard to get a licence. I started on a 50cc then 250. Then took test no messing about. There was always loads of cheap bikes about as well
I can only reiterate , what everyone else has said.. Price to pass your test. Overpriced motorbikes. Insurance. The loans to buy it.. I bought a brand new zzr1400 in 2020..it cost me £600 to insure, I went to insure my bike this year and the quote I got was 5k..Despite having over 13years NCB..I struggled to get a single quote. I was considering getting rid of my bike. I dropped the value of my bike and got insurance.. Btw, I was a 20-plus years biker for all weather's. Also, its the cost of living, people are struggling to survive, never mind buying new bikes, I prefer bikes over cars, probably always will, just need the government to make it easier....
£5000 is just ridiculous. It’s not possible if the underwriters were doing good work for the cost to have risen in the way you described. That means something else has happened. At a guess? Enemy action. They want people like us, off our bikes. Just like they want all car drivers out of their ICE vehicles. Mistakes Were Not Made. It’s all intentional.
J S Gedge is still going, thank heavens. One of the few family run business left in the area, the service they offer is excellent and the reason I bought my new bike from them. I've only passed my test last November and I'm fff fifty something, completely hooked I own a Honda VFR800 VTEC (my first bike) and a Honda Africa Twin DCT and ridden 7,000 miles for pleasure miles between them in the past year, not including the ones I've bought and sold! The test centre and my instructor is always busy, it does seem that many people are going for bikes. It's the best thing I've ever done.
People said the same thing four years ago so it should have died already, the problem has many layers i think, price being the obvious one accessibility and insurance being the other, running costs are too high compared to the value they bring. Lastly it is hard to find any place local to work on them.
I can’t believe Grabber Groombridge is gone! He was an institution and could sell anybody anything, always over 600 new and used machines in stock Sadly after he passed away the shop got worse and worse and in recent years the staff could never be bothered to look up from their laptops to acknowledge customers Might have something to do with the closure?
good! dealers, manufacturers and the government need to come back to sanity! meanwhile, outside the uk where governments do not hate their people as much, motorcycling is booming. not to mention asia where entire nations are being moved by affordable scooters and NO insurance requirements!
Not too many positives for getting into riding, Crowded pot hole ridden roads, speed cameras everywhere, horrible weather for 9 months, expensive to get a license, insurance is expensive, riding gear is expensive, for decent stuff anyway, Bike thefts on the rise, ! Not surprising youngsters aren't interested.
It’s hard to resist the conclusion that the authorities have as an objective to minimise the number of motorcyclists. This is certainly the effect of policy and also the predictable effect of non-policy changes in society and the economy. It cannot be said that the authorities have in any way done anything to assist the sector, even though, at one time, it was a not insignificant contribution to the economy. Of course, we once (up to the end of the 1960s) were pretty good at making them, and indeed manufacturing many things (all things!) but we don’t any more. Am I being paranoid? Quite possibly. Then again, in an era of “woke”, I cannot think of a demographic the self-appointed “elites” despise more than the kind of young men (mostly white, mostly working class) who wanted the kind of thrills I got from my early motorcycles, more than they wanted safety. Safety never crossed my mind (until I fell off & later, crashed into the front of an oncoming car). Biking back then more or less required a person to develop independence of mind and some judgement as well as basic mechanical knowledge. We were forever messing around with settings and anything that might help it run faster. Expansion chambers were moving into retail from the race track. In the 1970s, when I began riding, the cost of entry was trivial. In 1977, I paid £115 for a rough Yamaha YAS-1 125cc two stroke twin. It was a 1971 model iirc and had had a very tough life at the hands of a succession of local, teenage boys. Much was wrong with it, but I had slightly older mates who fixed it at my cost for a very few parts, like plugs (one was loose in the head, both were wrong and not a pair), points (burned & obviously sand papered a few times), oil change (because I got no service history) in the gearbox and front forks and the idle circuit in one carburettor was plugged, as well as the float heights being wrong and different one from the other. I think all this cost around £20 & was the last of my small savings. I’m grateful to this day by the kindness of those older lads. They not only saved my bacon by fixing the abused lemon I’d bought, but I also got a crash course in entry level motorcycle maintenance, skills I still use today. I was also advised to save up for tyres, brake shoes as well as chain & sprockets. Someone gave me a very old, open face helmet without a peak or visor and scratches all down one side. It stunk and was too big. It was perfect. The rest of my gear was jeans, trainers and a non waterproof light jacket (no gloves yet). I got up early on my 17th birthday and rode all day. The next day I took it to college and dropped it right outside on a wet roundabout when on my way home. If I listen hard, I can just faintly hear the jeers and hand claps 😊 It would reach an indicated 70mph, with a very long run-up, chin on the clocks. Even now, some of my fondest biking memories were made on that machine. I passed my test in a few months and swapped it for a 1972 Yamaha YDS-7 250cc twin (because I couldn’t afford anything better). I’ve still got the metal plate in my wrist from a botched overtake, 46 years ago. It would reach an indicated 100mph downhill into Portsmouth on the M27. Glory days. My kids are grown up but neither lass was ever much interested in my bikes. Now I’m a grandpa of two small boys, much fun has reentered my workshop, because they like visiting & helping me by passing me tools. They rarely stop asking questions and touching the bikes & their mum mentioned they’ve both said that when they grow up, they’re going to get a Suzuki, just like grandpa. Bless.
Used bikes are cheap and plentiful at the moment. If you don’t need to show off by having the absolute latest thing, this is a good time to change your bike.
This has been my thoughts over the last few years. Preceded by car sales being purely driven by finance deals. I buy my cars cheap and keep as long as I can, advice from my dad who owned a car dealership. Lost my licence recently through health so double whammy for me. Like losing a leg. My first bike was a honda c50, a year old 1972 from a dealer £100😂😂😂 I paid for my daughter to get her full licence over 3 yrs cost well over £2k abs ridiculous. I was of the 16 and a 50cc brigade, a year get a 250cc then straight to 750
My wife is 40 and I had to pay £1100 insurance for her to ride a GSXR125. What will it cost my son in a few years when he’s 18. Poor sod has no chance! In the same year I’ve paid £3600 to insurance a new hayabusa. What young couple could afford to enjoy motorcycles! On top of mmmmm They’ve become luxury items but not by choice
@@BigPezza It lasted 3 miles before it broke down, when I took it back they said they couldn’t find a fault, they clearly couldn’t be arsed so I’ve bought a brand new one instead.
I think its cost of licence then the absolute joke that insurance seems to be these days. I went to the local piaggio dealer the other day for some gearbox oil none in stock but they had an electric BMW 125 equivalent for £6000 how can someone you justify that and then have £1000+ on insurance. Then its all the thefts! I've a good friend thats stopped riding bikes after 30 years because bikes will get nicked while you go and pay for fuel.
I bought my Cub from Superbike Factory, happy with it, but you are correct! My bike is a 19 plate and only 256 miles on it! I financed with a view to paying it off within a few months!
For the entire video I was concerned Terry was going to have to brake hard and you were going to demonstrate high speed sword swallowing. Or even worse, he rear-ends a card and the air bag goes off😮
A whole chain of car & motorbike dealers just went into administration; Completely Motoring, and its bike division Completely Motorbikes, shut for a mysterious 'audit' last Saturday with people still waiting for bikes they'd paid deposits for, and when people looked into the situation they found an administrator had been appointed. They had various dealerships in Wales and mostly the west Midlands. Also, Hartgate Motorcycles in Mitcham has downsized drastically, from a four-unit spread to just one unit on Upper Green East. Much cruder sign as well. The website and Facebook page still have the old address, and pictures of the old frontage. BTW: CBT costs nearly £200 in a lot of places now, especially inside the M25.
@@BigPezza I did a two day course to learn to operate a HIAB crane in Croydon this year. Cost me just over £700 and it was one-to-one (that's £350 a day). A one-to-one CBT costs £500 here. Given that any truck with a HIAB costs a lot more than a 125cc bike, how on earth can they justify that?
Who buys a new 125? Like everyone else, I bought a second hand 125 to do my CBT, Mod 1 7 2 and get my licence as soon as possible. I had a Suzuki Slingshot that cost me about £800.
I'll have to get in touch with JW Groombridge to find out what is going on. I bought my Kawasaki Versys 650cc from there in 2021and I normally got it serviced every year. Looks like I'll have to service it myself like I do my Yamaha MT-03 660cc.
Motorcycles are great fun but you have to remember they're only as reliable as a 1910 car. Even a broken chain or a puncture can leave you stranded. Larger bikes with shaft drive are better but expensive. Small bikes only have a short mechanical life, 8000 miles if you're lucky, and small 4 strokes are bad news, prone to sudden seizures. Because of emissions regulations there are no more 2 strokes being sold in the UK. Having endured a small 4 stroke machine in the Sixties, with constant breakdowns, I changed to a scooter, first a Lambretta, and then a Vespa PX125e, bought in 1984, which I still have. My Vespa is 2 stroke, with Autolube, so no valves or timing chain, and is cog drive, so no drive chain, and carries a spare wheel, which can be changed in minutes. No wonder they stopped making them - not enough money for dealers in servicing them. The new models are 4 stroke, with valves, timing chain, belt and rollers for transmission, plenty to go wrong and need attention.
8000 miles on a small bike? I average that in around 3 months on my C90 😂 The odometer is almost half way back round to 00000.0(for the second time) Troublesome 4 strokes eh? 😂
Looking at the financials, P&H weren't a picture or profit even before 2020. It was a big hit at a bad time, but they look to have bounced back the following two years. 2023 doesn't look particularly good either though. I imagine Paul decided he's had a good run of it over the past 40-odd years and just wants to retire now. As in while the business still has the sort of value that can fund his retirement. This market looks to be quite risky, going by the thin gross margins I see in the data.
@@BigPezza They made more net profit in the two years following than in those preceding ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ At least according to their companies house filings. But I'm looking only at the numbers, haven't been there in absolute ages, so most of the above is pure speculation on my part.
I enjoyed a very good deal at Superbike Factory. A three-year-old RT with 3000 miles. It wás in perfect nick at the most competitive price available in UK (Autotrader, ebay, Gumtree). The battery was goosed (lack of use) and SBF paid for the new one I bought. I bought the bike for cash so I can't speak about SBF finance deals.
These companies haven't gone just because of slow business but because the market has become obsessed with PCP which makes money for manufacturers (values can be increased) and finance companies. Creates loads of stock which these high dealers have to hold, don't shift them and essentially their assets are just constantly devaluing.
Sold my ZX12 ten years, did 3000 miles in five years on it, all the fast country roads up here, Wales, Cumbria, Peak District have average speed cameras. Never again, I might buy another Monkeybike.
It really does seem like the death of motorcycling, certainly in this area at least, but aside from the demographic, there's also the fact that all our local roads, as well as being chockablock full of cars and trucks 24/7 with drivers who have no idea and no regard for other road users, are also completely f**ked from many years of previous Government neglect. I remember a time when I used to enjoy the commute but pretty much every day is a life and death risk situation or, if I take an alternative route, just plain boringly slow, for me now. Also, the whole e-vehicle thing is looming large, unless they find an alternative fuel for ICE then we'll all be forced onto electric bikes in a few year's time because fuel costs will skyrocket. The weather also seems to be getting consistently worse each year, the price of gear is through the roof and there's not a single open road around here to speak of. I'm not surprised really, but so many bike shops closing or changing, you mentioned all of the bike shops I know and the only one that's thriving is the one I had my worst experience with so never go there anymore, despite it being just a few minute's ride away for me (I even have an old Suzuki to work on - Oh well, the Suzuki place in Bookham will still be the one I use). I think people up north where it's less busy seem to have a healthier attitude towards motorcycling and motorcyclists and I guess, one of the main reasons it's the older gen that rides is that they have the cash to maybe ride further afield to warmer climbs (as well as being able to afford new bikes). All that said, there is a little hope, a new shop on the A22 in Blindley Heath has just opened, he sells a few bikes, has some gear and some consumables, he says he's busy so all is not quite lost just yet. I love the ABR festival as much as I love the Armchair Adventure Festival, events like these are great for the biker community, they're always great fun and you always end up having amazing conversations with amazing people. They're easy events and the trail at the ABR festival is great. Don't knock them until you've tried them, yes there are lots of old geezers that go but there are also shed loads of young people there as well. As I said earlier, all is not lost, it's just that we all need to move up north where it's cheaper and nicer (though quite a bit wetter I guess). Wales does pretty well as well as far as I know. maybe we should all move to Spain (as long as the locals don't start hurling abuse at us for being tourists! :-D) It has been a while since I've watched your videos, thanks for this one and I'll make sure to watch them more often in the future, they're great. Last time I watched you had a VFR, now you're on another Beemer! Nice one, Beemers are great, as long as you can do your own work. I have three, I'm lucky not to need any assistance with fixing or servicing and love riding them if/when they're on the road (2 out of 3 at the moment), though I still haven't yet resolved the difficult first gear issues on either the G or the F (650GSs).
I love how you 2 plant pots talk about your mate who needed to get a dealer service on his cf moto especially as it has a chinese engine in it , when your recording on a chinese camera, have a chinese made i phone or samsung, watch a telly at home made in china, having a cold beer from a chinese made fridge whilst eating a chinese takeaway and driving in a car with chinese made components,and love your BMW bikes with engines made in the Loncin factory in CHINA , right pair you are
haha yeah i should have said CF moto is just a chinese KTM some china stuff is ok but its really hit and miss and my BMW was made in west germany before the wall came down
@@BigPezza true cf is just a chinese ktm ,keep up the videos pal ,no hard feelings just light harted banter with no offense meant at all ,if your ever up north call in and see us at Bennetts motorcycles we might even let you have a demo on a Benelli 702 and if your really nice an MV Enduro Veloce Chinese versus Italian . Regards Phil
I just ride my scooter now just for my daily commute . I’ve had three motorcycles stolen in 18 months . My R9T and a CRF300l and a CRF250L Put my insurance from fully comp to third party only so that’s it I’m done with motorbikes . And what you get for your money for a motorbike is an absolute rip off in comparison to a car .
@@jamesbatten8659 oh man I feel your pain I had 3 bikes nicked over the years one of them was a crf250l as well 😪. I don't even use my small bike to commute on cause in fear someone gonna nick it I use my BMW cause it's big and has imobiser and alarm.
Groombridges going was a shock in itself. They sold Kawasaki, Suzuki, Benelli and Royal Enfield to name a few. I bought my first big bike from them in the late 90's. Heard about P&H from Hippodrones on twitter, but didn't know it's going to be a Superbike Factory.. Not sure about that one, as I have heard more bad than good about them. Dark times, really. Two major dealers now gone/going from the south..
I really think if superbikefactory was that bad they would not be in business anymore but they seem sell alot of volume so there is bound to be a higher amount of complaints
Encourage people to maybe consider getting a motorbike 🤔 want to ride a thing where you gonna get cold and wet and not seen by car drivers 😅 maybe I should keep quiet 🤐
The industry needs to change to meet the needs of its customers. Sports touring is making a quick comeback. The demand for high end sports bikes has dropped of a cliff but low end cc machines are in high demand.
All things go in circles,presently the kids want cars,but the cost of learning and astronomical insurance costs will eventually drive them away and probably back to small motorcycles as what we did as kids,now think about this, the Japanese are now concentrating and developing mainly small motorcycles up to say 500cc,not that many big ones,I think they're realising what the next generation will want.Time will tell
You're not a biker anymore. you're a road warrior. To many wankers not paying attention and putting our lives at risk. That coupled with the cost of getting a licence, the bike, (silly money) and all of the clobber you have to wear protecting you from said wankers, its no surprise youngsters aren't taking up biking. I still ride, but it's not as pleasurable as it used to be.
people arent doing there car license either its all too expensive and over priced and also anyone doing a cbt that should be the license for a 125 and you shouldnt have to ever take it again that would help , but prices too high not enough demand and that means too much supply not being sold just like crappy EV,s theres a mountain of that junk in fields at ports nobody is buying them , but its all designed to get you off the roads.
A motorbike was what we did in our dim and distant youth like a rites of passage , most of us moved onto cars , some died and some never left bikes , How many people do you see riding a bike to work all year round ? Bikes are just a summertime toy bought by blokes in midlife crissis , then realise it's not the fun it was in their youth !
bought my daughter a yamaha yb125 - just over a grand, great bike - people don't need to buy new and if they do that is because they are getting bad advice from people around them or worse still, twats on the web with vlogs who try to act as knowledgable..... the license structure is idiotic - i passed my cbt in 92 in just over an hour and my license took 6 lessons, i have ridden safely for 32 years - as usual, gvt over reach has helped the destruction of new riders as with many things but they are too stupid to acknowledge their decisions that ultimately affect economy, never mind peoples well being more over though i think it is the rise of the weak minded constantly saying biking is dangerous, these are the same type of twats who will have you living in a sealed airbox at home wearing masks because its winter - i have ridden since i was 4 years old, i grew up in sidecars and on the back of choppers in a motorcycle chapter and i am still here, all my mates who ride are still here painting the death is foolish - shops come and go, life is peaks and troughs - this is simply a trough and people should stop trying to make a self fulfilling prophecy from it
Not a good idea holding a steel rule in front of your throat in a moving car - the outcome would not be a good one in the event of a sudden stop - good content however. It's happening all over the country, not just with motorcycles, but with any discretionary purchase - caravans and motorhomes for example. The younger end also do not have the disposable income to even consider motorcycling, they are struggling to pay the rent and living costs. Modern inclusive Britain for you.
Its the price off japanese bikes + italian an german bikes bloody ripping bikers off an they dont like the chinese bikes comin on the market cuttin there prices in half .bringing new models out every yr dosnt help either..
Wellyeah testosterone has been trending the same recently… as is depression ETC. We gotta conquer our vitality back, and start riding for adventure. What else is there to do.
I still love messing around on my little bikes but there is something strange about riding round in large circles burning fossil fuels whilst inhaling other burnt fossil fuels, because we have always done it feels normal but am guessing younger folk might feel differently
I'm sorry but that is an stupid statement to make, bikes are not dangerous, cars are not dangerous, the operators of the vehicles are the ones that can make them dangerous.
Neither would petrol. Or helicopters. Or shark cages. Or Caterhams. But luckily for us, all of these things were invented before we listened to women. There. I said it.
I feel like I've let the side down by hanging up my helmet this year after 30 years of biking. The key reason for me was the dangerous state of the roads I used, & the drop in driving standards/increased car traffic. I just wasn't enjoying the ride anymore & it was more of a survival test.
Its absolutely fair dos. No one has intimidated you or regulated you off your bike, it’s a decision made that will probably echo with many of us here.
I’m keeping at least one classic until I’ve no further use for anything, but I ride infrequently these days, for reasons similar to yours. Road discipline is often truly appalling these days. Most of the roads near where I live have had no remediation since we moved here in 1995 & area blend of deeply unpleasant and outright dangerous. My particular pet peeve is the extensive “edge traps”, almost all arising from cut and cover laying of cable for TV & internet. The long, parallel cuts have often been badly repaired and over years, long depressions with distinct edges have become commonplace. On many of the nicest riding routes, I’m spending a quarter of the ride trying to avoid placing my front wheel on one of those edge traps.
@@GT380man Spot on - I have a thing about what I call "linear pot holes" - not sure how they form but I live close to the A43 to Kettering, & on one section there is a mile of 4 inch deep ruts running along the central section of the road. Ok if you know they are there, but if not & you go for an overtake, you'd be lucky to return to your lane before oncoming traffic hit you. In the dark you'd be straight off.
yes, to the drop in driving standerds. too many idiots who quite frankly shouldn't be behind a wheel.
Exactly the same for me, 36 years and I've had enough of it all
Motorcycles are a luxury item - the UK is heading for ever deepening austerity - hence the collapse in sales.
Yes they are. I was paying over £500 a year just to to keep it on the road. It was quite a lot for a weekend bike with a possiblity of commuting to work.
I was also maintaining it properly at the dealer , that was not cheap also.
Once it was stolen, I gave up on buying another one. £500 for 700 miles a year does not make any senses. Now when we go on holidays we just rent a big scooter - way better , way cheaper and it's nicer than cruising around the house.
My machine is not any kind of luxury item at all, it's a major part of my daily life, and my sole means of transport (I could never justify the running and maintenance costs of a car)
@@davedthomas01 Some bikes are now more costly than cars. My NC750x rear wheel + chain + oil = £800 . The wheel itself was 150 + labour.
@@davedthomas01you and me both c👍🇬🇧
@@davedthomas01 Thank you - the exception proves the rule.
People arent getting into biking as much nowadays also because of the stupid structure of how to obtain your licence more than the costs of bikes for sure
Yeah it's alot of hoops to jump through and also alot of young people only passed a A2 so restricted to 47bhp
@@BigPezza 47hp doesn't give you much bragging rights down the pub. And also it's pretty slow compared to a lot of cars now.
Erm 😅😅 don't look at my other videos most of them this year I was on a bike with 7bhp and top speed of 37mph
@@BigPezza sounds like an aprilia sx50 rx50
@@chrishart8548 Not so. My Yamaha 321 cc MT-03 is good for over 100 MPH and has a 0-60 of 5.1 seconds. So, no slouch for a small capacity bike. Perfect for me at the age of 88. Best doing a bit of homework before making silly comments......
I think that it is the way of the world, my son buys his cars of the internet, research what he wants or specs it up of a website, pays his money and it turns up in a car transporter job done, no dealer visits all done on a computer. I think that the whole world has changed, how many pubs have shut down ? Loads of them. I am 65 years old bought my first bike when I was 11 from my paper round anther dead job that long gone, but nowadays I just run around on my old classic bikes, buy all my spares from the internet from all over the world and wait for the courier service to deliver them, no postman another sign of the times.Good video really enjoyed it.
Motorcycling is dying in U.K. but in much of the developing world, small capacity bikes still sell well.
Government is to blame again...they hate motorbikes
And the people.
I bought a SYM 125fiddle III, (22plate, £1500 ) under seat storage,and a top box, charger, Over100 mpg, handles, I have used it daily, done two festivals, 3000 miles,
and I am over 60years of age.. It’s like a breath of fresh air
You know what's more dangerous than riding a motorbike? A regular road bicycle.
You're even more vulnerable to knobheads, AND you don't have the power to get away (or even just keep up with traffic most of the time).
I don't see anyone going around telling kids that riding their bikes to school is "too dangerous" 🤔
Poor brakes too, compared to a motorcycle!
I traded in my big bike last month for something a lot smaller, lighter, more fun and cheaper to run.
Motorcycling has changed and many riders move on to other things, that has a knock on effect with those who are still riding when their bikers friends aren't around to meet anymore,
I've always ridden big bikes, but am now riding a smaller, lighter bike as well. One reason is the handling, as I'm getting older and my reaction speed has been slowed down considerably due to medical circumstances, but the other reason is that the national speed limit over here has been lowered again from 120-130kph to 100kph and the Netherlands is almost literally riddled with speedcams, so even late at night fast riding has become very expensive.
The ever increasing egotistic attitude of car drivers (this is MY piece of the road and you can either disappear or die) has made biking far more dangerous as well and it has spoiled some of the fun of riding for me.
Enjoyed listening to the chat lads and yup, you both hit the nail on the head. Biking used to be a cheap mode of transport, way cheaper than cars so loads of people started off on bikes, found the love for them and stuck with them. But now, it’s cheaper and easier to get a car and also to do your car licence. Our bike licence structure is ridiculous. There should be one test..and then even if they restrict your bhp until you hit a certain age, that’s fair enough..but let’s just have the one test eh. I also don’t get why you need a cbt every two years. For instance, in my 125 days..I already had a car and a bus licence. So I could drive a bus full of people, all over Europe if I wanted to..forever…but to ride a 125 on my own, I need basic training every two years?!..what is that about man 🤷♂️. I also feel the manufacturers could do more to encourage young riders. They know their main audience is older folk, so almost everything seems to be targeted towards us older folks…(with the exception of some Chinese brands), how about they start targeting young people. It’s in their own interests..the older demographic won’t last forever, so what happens in 30 years when no young people have come through to replace the current older generation?..where are all the cool bikes from the 80s for 17 year olds?!..bah!..sorry, went on a bit of a rant there 😂
Over here in the Netherlands the category of your motor license is age and experience depended. You start off on A1, or go directly for A if your old enough, then upgrade to A2 and finally A automatically as you gain experience. Which is a far more sensible structure, as you can buy a 600cc motorcycle, have it limited to 37kw and when you go up have that restriction legally removed to enjoy the full potential of your bike. You can only ride the really heavy bikes when you've upgraded to the A license, so that would mean that you would have to buy a heavy bike later on, which is the smart thing to do anyways.
The prices of new bikes are killing it, the second hand market is still going strong , I bought a few new bikes over the years and I remember back in 2011 paying just under 14k for a high spec bmw s1000rr , now if I wanted to buy one it's 20 odd thousand !! I bought a new 23 desert x and the build quality compared to a old honda xr650r I got that is 24 years old is comical, greed will kill the industry as newer riders can't afford these newer bikes so they opting for older bikes imo. The hoops the new riders have to jump through to get a licence is also stopping people getting bikes...
I think the max I have ever paid for a bike is 4k
This shite weather we've had in the UK for the past 3 years or so is to blame. I have 4 bikes at present and had 3 on the road this year, tested, taxed and insured but the cold damp rainy weather limited their use.
My last bike was a gen 2 Hayabusa, but after it got nicked I didn't replace it. Now all I see in London is scooters with L plates driven by Indian men working for Deliveroo. Literally that's it. For me speed cameras and general surveillance has been the main cause. With 20mph speed limits it's game over sadly.
The next generation of motorcyclists are being killed off by high insurance costs.
My son is 23 yrs old and has 5 years no claims discount for a car as well as having a pilots licence and was quoted £2300.00 for a 125cc bike.
By comparison he owns a glider and his annual insurance costs is £585.00.
It's definitely a combination of things. The expensive and complex licencing regulations.
The price of new bikes. Insurance costs. The list goes on.
I was talking to a dealer a while ago. He said you would be amazed how little they make from new bike sales.
its been happening slowly for the last 40 years . and its not just dealers . loads of small back street bike shops that just did repairs have gone completely .used to do it myself ,but shed loads of regulations came into forse and closed most down .
yeah like most things goverment red tape everywhere
Word on the street is Bridge Motorcycles in Exeter and Fowlers Bristol are in trouble too
Although dealers are a big part of Motorcycling there are still only a part. There are more than enough bikes already in private hands to keep Bikers entertainerd for decades. Sure keeping them going will be a little harder but far from impossable.
One thing you've not talked about is the electric push bikes . Why would a sixteen year old pay 1.5k plus for a 50cc scooter when they can get a surron thats faster no insurance no tax no licence 😅
Good chat fella's. I am sooooo old that I brought my first bike in 1967. What my grandson and son in law had to do to get a motorbike licence is unbelievable. All I had to do to get a full licence was ride around the block and do an emergency stop. How have as motorcyclists allowed this to happen ! Its killed our industry. The sound was a bit off at times so apologies if you did mention it but did you know Sykes are opening a Ducati agency. Owned a couple of Harleys but neither suited me and dare I say it now ride a GS, gravel car park is my limit though 😂😉.That said many of my mates ride Harleys and even if you don't Sykes make you feel welcome if you call in on a Saturday for a free coffee.
i think i know someone who works there i keep meaning to swing by that place and have a look
Bennetts is doing Superbike factory a big fav by doing the 'what bike next' videos there, they are not a motorcycle shop, just a flog anything finance shop.
Motorcycle manufacturers and dealers survive (and can grow) when they can adapt to changing market demands and conditions. Government attracts blame, but not the customers who just want what they want.
I think you guys hit the nail on the head, for years now the main motorcycle manufacturers have been producing expensive toys and catering to the older generation who are now sadly fazing out of the motorcycle buying group instead of producing cheap reliable sensible transport that the normal working man can afford?
the only cheap bikes out there are the big bikes that people who have a full bike lience can ride
@@BigPezza I agree you can buy 100+bhp bikes for less than a lot of 125cc bikes. There is just such little competition from buyers when buying higher power bikes.
My vfr750 was 1k with spare parts and valid MOT 😱 all I did was a minor service and it was off on a trip round Scotland
So on MCN reviews, most of the long term reviews feature 100 BHP bikes whether roadsters or adventure bikes. Even 750 cc bikes with 90 bhp are described as middleweight. The motorcycle industry is writing its own death certificate. A 150 kg bike with modest 40 bhp just doesn't cut it with most people.
I think people want too much of everything, whether it's bhp, food, holidays etc. Just unsustainable and then complain thins are too expensive
Some great points made there. Sad situation. The same is happening with dealerships in my neck of the woods
I whent to P and H about 6 weeks ago, i wanted to look at the xsr gp, i wondered around the showroom for 20 minutes, nobody asked me if they could help me or anything!
JW Groombridges is in East Sussex
I've always bought & sold privately, from nearly new to pretty old. New bikes are too expensive & trade in offers derisory...
The law needs changing , a bike cbt should be compulsory before any driving lessons can be done . This would attract more people to ride scooters and eventually motorbikes .
Yes, especially as a good 125 does three times the MPG of a small car, let alone a big or old car. More of those on the road means fewer solo car journeys. Sadly, they'll never replace a family car for transporting a family.
That would be nice but I don't think the government is going to cater to the 1%
Insurance is preventing young riders. I passed my CBT a few months back and with 30 years NCD on my car, a 125 was £650. What is a 17 year old being stung for. Then your tests too.
Its why the average age is 54 and why BMWs sell well in big bikes, it's not a mystery.
Nice one the small town I was brought up in had two dedicated bike shops all gone now. Go to any bike nite or rally its mostly older people. The bikes are very expensive now and it's hard to get a licence. I started on a 50cc then 250. Then took test no messing about.
There was always loads of cheap bikes about as well
I can only reiterate , what everyone else has said..
Price to pass your test.
Overpriced motorbikes.
Insurance.
The loans to buy it..
I bought a brand new zzr1400 in 2020..it cost me £600 to insure, I went to insure my bike this year and the quote I got was 5k..Despite having over 13years NCB..I struggled to get a single quote. I was considering getting rid of my bike. I dropped the value of my bike and got insurance..
Btw, I was a 20-plus years biker for all weather's.
Also, its the cost of living, people are struggling to survive, never mind buying new bikes, I prefer bikes over cars, probably always will, just need the government to make it easier....
£5000 is just ridiculous. It’s not possible if the underwriters were doing good work for the cost to have risen in the way you described.
That means something else has happened. At a guess? Enemy action. They want people like us, off our bikes. Just like they want all car drivers out of their ICE vehicles. Mistakes Were Not Made. It’s all intentional.
@GT380man Absolutely, I have said the same thing many times. They are trying to price our vehicles off the road .. Especially ICE vehicles..
J S Gedge is still going, thank heavens. One of the few family run business left in the area, the service they offer is excellent and the reason I bought my new bike from them. I've only passed my test last November and I'm fff fifty something, completely hooked I own a Honda VFR800 VTEC (my first bike) and a Honda Africa Twin DCT and ridden 7,000 miles for pleasure miles between them in the past year, not including the ones I've bought and sold! The test centre and my instructor is always busy, it does seem that many people are going for bikes. It's the best thing I've ever done.
People said the same thing four years ago so it should have died already, the problem has many layers i think, price being the obvious one accessibility and insurance being the other, running costs are too high compared to the value they bring.
Lastly it is hard to find any place local to work on them.
I can’t believe Grabber Groombridge is gone!
He was an institution and could sell anybody anything, always over 600 new and used machines in stock
Sadly after he passed away the shop got worse and worse and in recent years the staff could never be bothered to look up from their laptops to acknowledge customers
Might have something to do with the closure?
I found them friendly but there wasnt much effort to try and sell you anything. That may have been part of the problem.
good! dealers, manufacturers and the government need to come back to sanity! meanwhile, outside the uk where governments do not hate their people as much, motorcycling is booming. not to mention asia where entire nations are being moved by affordable scooters and NO insurance requirements!
It will be the Travel agents next, the financial squeeze is going to get worse come the budget.
Looks like Jay from the Inbetweeners is doing a spot of Vlogging 😂😂😂
Vlogging. completed it mate 😁
Not too many positives for getting into riding, Crowded pot hole ridden roads, speed cameras everywhere, horrible weather for 9 months, expensive to get a license, insurance is expensive, riding gear is expensive, for decent stuff anyway, Bike thefts on the rise, ! Not surprising youngsters aren't interested.
The superbike warehouse in Yarmouth closed but reopened under a different name with same staff. So still selling rubbish and conning people.
It’s hard to resist the conclusion that the authorities have as an objective to minimise the number of motorcyclists.
This is certainly the effect of policy and also the predictable effect of non-policy changes in society and the economy.
It cannot be said that the authorities have in any way done anything to assist the sector, even though, at one time, it was a not insignificant contribution to the economy. Of course, we once (up to the end of the 1960s) were pretty good at making them, and indeed manufacturing many things (all things!) but we don’t any more.
Am I being paranoid? Quite possibly. Then again, in an era of “woke”, I cannot think of a demographic the self-appointed “elites” despise more than the kind of young men (mostly white, mostly working class) who wanted the kind of thrills I got from my early motorcycles, more than they wanted safety. Safety never crossed my mind (until I fell off & later, crashed into the front of an oncoming car).
Biking back then more or less required a person to develop independence of mind and some judgement as well as basic mechanical knowledge. We were forever messing around with settings and anything that might help it run faster. Expansion chambers were moving into retail from the race track.
In the 1970s, when I began riding, the cost of entry was trivial. In 1977, I paid £115 for a rough Yamaha YAS-1 125cc two stroke twin. It was a 1971 model iirc and had had a very tough life at the hands of a succession of local, teenage boys. Much was wrong with it, but I had slightly older mates who fixed it at my cost for a very few parts, like plugs (one was loose in the head, both were wrong and not a pair), points (burned & obviously sand papered a few times), oil change (because I got no service history) in the gearbox and front forks and the idle circuit in one carburettor was plugged, as well as the float heights being wrong and different one from the other.
I think all this cost around £20 & was the last of my small savings. I’m grateful to this day by the kindness of those older lads. They not only saved my bacon by fixing the abused lemon I’d bought, but I also got a crash course in entry level motorcycle maintenance, skills I still use today.
I was also advised to save up for tyres, brake shoes as well as chain & sprockets. Someone gave me a very old, open face helmet without a peak or visor and scratches all down one side. It stunk and was too big. It was perfect. The rest of my gear was jeans, trainers and a non waterproof light jacket (no gloves yet).
I got up early on my 17th birthday and rode all day. The next day I took it to college and dropped it right outside on a wet roundabout when on my way home. If I listen hard, I can just faintly hear the jeers and hand claps 😊
It would reach an indicated 70mph, with a very long run-up, chin on the clocks.
Even now, some of my fondest biking memories were made on that machine. I passed my test in a few months and swapped it for a 1972 Yamaha YDS-7 250cc twin (because I couldn’t afford anything better). I’ve still got the metal plate in my wrist from a botched overtake, 46 years ago. It would reach an indicated 100mph downhill into Portsmouth on the M27. Glory days.
My kids are grown up but neither lass was ever much interested in my bikes. Now I’m a grandpa of two small boys, much fun has reentered my workshop, because they like visiting & helping me by passing me tools. They rarely stop asking questions and touching the bikes & their mum mentioned they’ve both said that when they grow up, they’re going to get a Suzuki, just like grandpa. Bless.
Thanks for sharing your heart warming story, maybe motorcycles have skipped a generation and our grandchildren will take up our passion.
Used bikes are cheap and plentiful at the moment. If you don’t need to show off by having the absolute latest thing, this is a good time to change your bike.
This has been my thoughts over the last few years. Preceded by car sales being purely driven by finance deals. I buy my cars cheap and keep as long as I can, advice from my dad who owned a car dealership. Lost my licence recently through health so double whammy for me. Like losing a leg.
My first bike was a honda c50, a year old 1972 from a dealer £100😂😂😂
I paid for my daughter to get her full licence over 3 yrs cost well over £2k abs ridiculous. I was of the 16 and a 50cc brigade, a year get a 250cc then straight to 750
My wife is 40 and I had to pay £1100 insurance for her to ride a GSXR125. What will it cost my son in a few years when he’s 18. Poor sod has no chance! In the same year I’ve paid £3600 to insurance a new hayabusa. What young couple could afford to enjoy motorcycles!
On top of mmmmm
They’ve become luxury items but not by choice
The weather in this bloody country is the real killer of motorcycling.
I had a really bad experience with superbike factory, ended up getting a refund.
He’s right they do sell shite.
oh dear they sold you a lemmon?
@@BigPezza
It lasted 3 miles before it broke down, when I took it back they said they couldn’t find a fault, they clearly couldn’t be arsed so I’ve bought a brand new one instead.
Probably not worth there time investigating
I think its cost of licence then the absolute joke that insurance seems to be these days. I went to the local piaggio dealer the other day for some gearbox oil none in stock but they had an electric BMW 125 equivalent for £6000 how can someone you justify that and then have £1000+ on insurance.
Then its all the thefts! I've a good friend thats stopped riding bikes after 30 years because bikes will get nicked while you go and pay for fuel.
I have a 24 aprillia rs 125 at 20, insurance was the same price as the bike... 4k, hate it
I bought my Cub from Superbike Factory, happy with it, but you are correct! My bike is a 19 plate and only 256 miles on it! I financed with a view to paying it off within a few months!
For the entire video I was concerned Terry was going to have to brake hard and you were going to demonstrate high speed sword swallowing. Or even worse, he rear-ends a card and the air bag goes off😮
A man asks how much, a poor man asks how much per month.
A whole chain of car & motorbike dealers just went into administration; Completely Motoring, and its bike division Completely Motorbikes, shut for a mysterious 'audit' last Saturday with people still waiting for bikes they'd paid deposits for, and when people looked into the situation they found an administrator had been appointed. They had various dealerships in Wales and mostly the west Midlands.
Also, Hartgate Motorcycles in Mitcham has downsized drastically, from a four-unit spread to just one unit on Upper Green East. Much cruder sign as well. The website and Facebook page still have the old address, and pictures of the old frontage.
BTW: CBT costs nearly £200 in a lot of places now, especially inside the M25.
£200 😱😱😱 I think mine was 75 quid was going back a few years tho
@@BigPezza I did a two day course to learn to operate a HIAB crane in Croydon this year. Cost me just over £700 and it was one-to-one (that's £350 a day). A one-to-one CBT costs £500 here. Given that any truck with a HIAB costs a lot more than a 125cc bike, how on earth can they justify that?
ducati 250 single 600 quid from a place in croyden early eighties
Always loved the Honda Cubs - learnt to ride on one on fields, while still at Primary School. Awesome fun!!!
me to we called it the Honda 50 ??
yeah i think alot of people did we still use them today great on camping trips
@@allanhughes7859 We called it "The Placky Rat". But that's kids for you!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Who buys a new 125? Like everyone else, I bought a second hand 125 to do my CBT, Mod 1 7 2 and get my licence as soon as possible. I had a Suzuki Slingshot that cost me about £800.
My second bike was a yamaha DT125 l paid 450 new in 1978.
I'll have to get in touch with JW Groombridge to find out what is going on. I bought my Kawasaki Versys 650cc from there in 2021and I normally got it serviced every year. Looks like I'll have to service it myself like I do my Yamaha MT-03 660cc.
It's pretty sad!
I enjoy being part of the minority though
Superbike factory is a good place to window shop that's it
that bloke driving makes a lot of practical sense
Motorcycles are great fun but you have to remember they're only as reliable as a 1910 car. Even a broken chain or a puncture can leave you stranded. Larger bikes with shaft drive are better but expensive. Small bikes only have a short mechanical life, 8000 miles if you're lucky, and small 4 strokes are bad news, prone to sudden seizures. Because of emissions regulations there are no more 2 strokes being sold in the UK. Having endured a small 4 stroke machine in the Sixties, with constant breakdowns, I changed to a scooter, first a Lambretta, and then a Vespa PX125e, bought in 1984, which I still have. My Vespa is 2 stroke, with Autolube, so no valves or timing chain, and is cog drive, so no drive chain, and carries a spare wheel, which can be changed in minutes. No wonder they stopped making them - not enough money for dealers in servicing them. The new models are 4 stroke, with valves, timing chain, belt and rollers for transmission, plenty to go wrong and need attention.
8000 miles on a small bike? I average that in around 3 months on my C90 😂 The odometer is almost half way back round to 00000.0(for the second time)
Troublesome 4 strokes eh? 😂
Looking at the financials, P&H weren't a picture or profit even before 2020. It was a big hit at a bad time, but they look to have bounced back the following two years. 2023 doesn't look particularly good either though. I imagine Paul decided he's had a good run of it over the past 40-odd years and just wants to retire now. As in while the business still has the sort of value that can fund his retirement.
This market looks to be quite risky, going by the thin gross margins I see in the data.
yeah they got hit by covid and they never really recoverd from it
@@BigPezza They made more net profit in the two years following than in those preceding ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
At least according to their companies house filings.
But I'm looking only at the numbers, haven't been there in absolute ages, so most of the above is pure speculation on my part.
I enjoyed a very good deal at Superbike Factory. A three-year-old RT with 3000 miles. It wás in perfect nick at the most competitive price available in UK (Autotrader, ebay, Gumtree). The battery was goosed (lack of use) and SBF paid for the new one I bought. I bought the bike for cash so I can't speak about SBF finance deals.
These companies haven't gone just because of slow business but because the market has become obsessed with PCP which makes money for manufacturers (values can be increased) and finance companies. Creates loads of stock which these high dealers have to hold, don't shift them and essentially their assets are just constantly devaluing.
Sold my ZX12 ten years, did 3000 miles in five years on it, all the fast country roads up here, Wales, Cumbria, Peak District have average speed cameras.
Never again, I might buy another Monkeybike.
It really does seem like the death of motorcycling, certainly in this area at least, but aside from the demographic, there's also the fact that all our local roads, as well as being chockablock full of cars and trucks 24/7 with drivers who have no idea and no regard for other road users, are also completely f**ked from many years of previous Government neglect. I remember a time when I used to enjoy the commute but pretty much every day is a life and death risk situation or, if I take an alternative route, just plain boringly slow, for me now. Also, the whole e-vehicle thing is looming large, unless they find an alternative fuel for ICE then we'll all be forced onto electric bikes in a few year's time because fuel costs will skyrocket. The weather also seems to be getting consistently worse each year, the price of gear is through the roof and there's not a single open road around here to speak of. I'm not surprised really, but so many bike shops closing or changing, you mentioned all of the bike shops I know and the only one that's thriving is the one I had my worst experience with so never go there anymore, despite it being just a few minute's ride away for me (I even have an old Suzuki to work on - Oh well, the Suzuki place in Bookham will still be the one I use).
I think people up north where it's less busy seem to have a healthier attitude towards motorcycling and motorcyclists and I guess, one of the main reasons it's the older gen that rides is that they have the cash to maybe ride further afield to warmer climbs (as well as being able to afford new bikes).
All that said, there is a little hope, a new shop on the A22 in Blindley Heath has just opened, he sells a few bikes, has some gear and some consumables, he says he's busy so all is not quite lost just yet.
I love the ABR festival as much as I love the Armchair Adventure Festival, events like these are great for the biker community, they're always great fun and you always end up having amazing conversations with amazing people. They're easy events and the trail at the ABR festival is great. Don't knock them until you've tried them, yes there are lots of old geezers that go but there are also shed loads of young people there as well.
As I said earlier, all is not lost, it's just that we all need to move up north where it's cheaper and nicer (though quite a bit wetter I guess). Wales does pretty well as well as far as I know. maybe we should all move to Spain (as long as the locals don't start hurling abuse at us for being tourists! :-D)
It has been a while since I've watched your videos, thanks for this one and I'll make sure to watch them more often in the future, they're great. Last time I watched you had a VFR, now you're on another Beemer! Nice one, Beemers are great, as long as you can do your own work. I have three, I'm lucky not to need any assistance with fixing or servicing and love riding them if/when they're on the road (2 out of 3 at the moment), though I still haven't yet resolved the difficult first gear issues on either the G or the F (650GSs).
Yeah the VFR was a great bike but the BMW looked really cool I have done the work myself it did save tones of money
I love how you 2 plant pots talk about your mate who needed to get a dealer service on his cf moto especially as it has a chinese engine in it , when your recording on a chinese camera, have a chinese made i phone or samsung, watch a telly at home made in china, having a cold beer from a chinese made fridge whilst eating a chinese takeaway and driving in a car with chinese made components,and love your BMW bikes with engines made in the Loncin factory in CHINA , right pair you are
haha yeah i should have said CF moto is just a chinese KTM some china stuff is ok but its really hit and miss and my BMW was made in west germany before the wall came down
@@BigPezza true cf is just a chinese ktm ,keep up the videos pal ,no hard feelings just light harted banter with no offense meant at all ,if your ever up north call in and see us at Bennetts motorcycles we might even let you have a demo on a Benelli 702 and if your really nice an MV Enduro Veloce Chinese versus Italian . Regards Phil
I just ride my scooter now just for my daily commute .
I’ve had three motorcycles stolen in 18 months .
My R9T and a CRF300l and a CRF250L
Put my insurance from fully comp to third party only so that’s it I’m done with motorbikes .
And what you get for your money for a motorbike is an absolute rip off in comparison to a car .
@@jamesbatten8659 oh man I feel your pain I had 3 bikes nicked over the years one of them was a crf250l as well 😪. I don't even use my small bike to commute on cause in fear someone gonna nick it I use my BMW cause it's big and has imobiser and alarm.
Groombridges going was a shock in itself. They sold Kawasaki, Suzuki, Benelli and Royal Enfield to name a few. I bought my first big bike from them in the late 90's. Heard about P&H from Hippodrones on twitter, but didn't know it's going to be a Superbike Factory.. Not sure about that one, as I have heard more bad than good about them.
Dark times, really. Two major dealers now gone/going from the south..
I really think if superbikefactory was that bad they would not be in business anymore but they seem sell alot of volume so there is bound to be a higher amount of complaints
P&H? In Crawley?
@@233kosta Yes, P&H Crawley.
What can we as bikers do, to save the industry
Encourage people to maybe consider getting a motorbike 🤔 want to ride a thing where you gonna get cold and wet and not seen by car drivers 😅 maybe I should keep quiet 🤐
@@BigPezza 🤣 yeah your seles skills need some work!
The industry needs to change to meet the needs of its customers. Sports touring is making a quick comeback. The demand for high end sports bikes has dropped of a cliff but low end cc machines are in high demand.
All things go in circles,presently the kids want cars,but the cost of learning and astronomical insurance costs will eventually drive them away and probably back to small motorcycles as what we did as kids,now think about this, the Japanese are now concentrating and developing mainly small motorcycles up to say 500cc,not that many big ones,I think they're realising what the next generation will want.Time will tell
You're not a biker anymore. you're a road warrior.
To many wankers not paying attention and putting our lives at risk.
That coupled with the cost of getting a licence, the bike, (silly money) and all of the clobber you have to wear protecting you from said wankers, its no surprise youngsters aren't taking up biking.
I still ride, but it's not as pleasurable as it used to be.
people arent doing there car license either its all too expensive and over priced and also anyone doing a cbt that should be the license for a 125 and you shouldnt have to ever take it again that would help , but prices too high not enough demand and that means too much supply not being sold just like crappy EV,s theres a mountain of that junk in fields at ports nobody is buying them , but its all designed to get you off the roads.
A motorbike was what we did in our dim and distant youth like a rites of passage , most of us moved onto cars , some died and some never left bikes , How many people do you see riding a bike to work all year round ? Bikes are just a summertime toy bought by blokes in midlife crissis , then realise it's not the fun it was in their youth !
bought my daughter a yamaha yb125 - just over a grand, great bike - people don't need to buy new and if they do that is because they are getting bad advice from people around them or worse still, twats on the web with vlogs who try to act as knowledgable.....
the license structure is idiotic - i passed my cbt in 92 in just over an hour and my license took 6 lessons, i have ridden safely for 32 years - as usual, gvt over reach has helped the destruction of new riders as with many things but they are too stupid to acknowledge their decisions that ultimately affect economy, never mind peoples well being
more over though i think it is the rise of the weak minded constantly saying biking is dangerous, these are the same type of twats who will have you living in a sealed airbox at home wearing masks because its winter - i have ridden since i was 4 years old, i grew up in sidecars and on the back of choppers in a motorcycle chapter and i am still here, all my mates who ride are still here
painting the death is foolish - shops come and go, life is peaks and troughs - this is simply a trough and people should stop trying to make a self fulfilling prophecy from it
I think you have tapped a vein here Pezza, looks like this video has legs!
Heathfield East Sussex , not Kent!
I nearly bought a bike off Superbike Factory , rear tyre was bald. They put a barely legal part-worn on it.
Magnet Motos in Weybridge will sort your mate’s first service on that CF Moto. Assuming he isn’t sorted already
P&H in Crawley?
Sold to Superbike factory
Not a good idea holding a steel rule in front of your throat in a moving car - the outcome would not be a good one in the event of a sudden stop - good content however.
It's happening all over the country, not just with motorcycles, but with any discretionary purchase - caravans and motorhomes for example. The younger end also do not have the disposable income to even consider motorcycling, they are struggling to pay the rent and living costs. Modern inclusive Britain for you.
Yeah 😅 noted I will swap to something less metal and sharp.
Its the price off japanese bikes + italian an german bikes bloody ripping bikers off an they dont like the chinese bikes comin on the market cuttin there prices in half .bringing new models out every yr dosnt help either..
Wellyeah testosterone has been trending the same recently… as is depression ETC.
We gotta conquer our vitality back, and start riding for adventure. What else is there to do.
I still love messing around on my little bikes but there is something strange about riding round in large circles burning fossil fuels whilst inhaling other burnt fossil fuels, because we have always done it feels normal but am guessing younger folk might feel differently
East Sussex ffs……’on the way to Kent’ 🤣
This was very early on a Sunday morning 😅 our brains not quite in gear
Please don’t sit in a car with a steel ruler pointed at your head within a split second the state of Motorcycle will become irrelevant to you
If motorcycles were invented now, they would never be allowed in to traffic, because they are too dangerous
i think you are correct
@@BigPezza I wish I was the one who came up with that, but I am sure I heard it from someone at some point.
I'm sorry but that is an stupid statement to make, bikes are not dangerous, cars are not dangerous, the operators of the vehicles are the ones that can make them dangerous.
Neither would petrol. Or helicopters. Or shark cages. Or Caterhams. But luckily for us, all of these things were invented before we listened to women. There. I said it.
So are we just ignoring e scooters and electric unicycle wheels that can go up to 60mph on roads?
There to expensive
Houses are too expensive
@@steve00alt70Living is too expensive
*They're.
@@Raggerty-j4c*They're too
That's one noisy car - too difficult to hear.