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Are we becoming dinosaurs?
- Thread starter Mailman
- Start date
What a great thread this is and the timing is spot on. I'm only 59, but I feel like I've always been kind of an "old soul" so to speak.
I was always kind of ahead of the age curve because when my parents divorced, I was only 7....so I clung to my Dad closer and closer as a result and grew up pretty fast. He was a Champion AMA Hillclimber here in the West and all his bikes were Triumph 500's and 650's. If he was out wrenching in the shop, I was out wrenching in the shop. He had me compete on his 650 Triumph when I was 12 years old...talk about waivers!
But I digress....
I guess my point is, I grew up around old iron, Dad had a 59 Ford pickup as his primary driver, so I went out and bought a 59 Ford pickup and so on.
Thus my love for these old bikes and other vintage stuff. Neither of my Sons took a liking to it or mechanics really (probably a lot of my fault for being gone on deployments in the Air Force so much, but I tried)...however, my oldest Son just remarried a few years ago and I got a pretty damned cool Step-Grandson out of the deal. He's a mini-me. Total motorhead, loves my old bikes, my old 62 C-10 short bed and likes to wrench. He's Junior High School age right now....I taught him how to ride dirt bikes a few years ago (took him out again today in fact).
Anyway, I've often wondered what will become of my bikes and parts when I'm gone. While I know the wife won't piss it all away, she may have no clue what goes with what. So, long story short...I was telling the Grandson that very thing today out in the shop (thus the weird timing of this thread).
I was showing him some of the old bits and pieces of some bikes that are rare as hens teeth and which of said parts go to which bikes. I told him I'm going to put tags and labels on certain TT500 mufflers & skid plates, one year only NOS XS-1 fork boots, etc... that go to certain bikes that you just cant find anymore and they don't need to get separated just for future history's sake I suppose if nothing else?
I think that he totally understood my point. I sure hope so...I've always said we're only caretakers for this stuff, till the next one comes along.
I was always kind of ahead of the age curve because when my parents divorced, I was only 7....so I clung to my Dad closer and closer as a result and grew up pretty fast. He was a Champion AMA Hillclimber here in the West and all his bikes were Triumph 500's and 650's. If he was out wrenching in the shop, I was out wrenching in the shop. He had me compete on his 650 Triumph when I was 12 years old...talk about waivers!
But I digress....I guess my point is, I grew up around old iron, Dad had a 59 Ford pickup as his primary driver, so I went out and bought a 59 Ford pickup and so on.
Thus my love for these old bikes and other vintage stuff. Neither of my Sons took a liking to it or mechanics really (probably a lot of my fault for being gone on deployments in the Air Force so much, but I tried)...however, my oldest Son just remarried a few years ago and I got a pretty damned cool Step-Grandson out of the deal. He's a mini-me. Total motorhead, loves my old bikes, my old 62 C-10 short bed and likes to wrench. He's Junior High School age right now....I taught him how to ride dirt bikes a few years ago (took him out again today in fact).
Anyway, I've often wondered what will become of my bikes and parts when I'm gone. While I know the wife won't piss it all away, she may have no clue what goes with what. So, long story short...I was telling the Grandson that very thing today out in the shop (thus the weird timing of this thread).
I was showing him some of the old bits and pieces of some bikes that are rare as hens teeth and which of said parts go to which bikes. I told him I'm going to put tags and labels on certain TT500 mufflers & skid plates, one year only NOS XS-1 fork boots, etc... that go to certain bikes that you just cant find anymore and they don't need to get separated just for future history's sake I suppose if nothing else?
I think that he totally understood my point. I sure hope so...I've always said we're only caretakers for this stuff, till the next one comes along.
We are dinosaurs. I guess looked at objectively I'm an eccentric. Grew up on the back of me Mum's bikes, have always owned at least one bike since I was eighteen. But back in the 70s, 80s, hell even now, never felt like a proper biker - those people always had the latest flavour of the month plus all the correct kit, colour matched racing leathers. I suspect they were fashionistas and would quickly move on. My next bike will be an Audi A4.
Picture the layby, a handful of brand new GSXRs and CBR900RRRs, maybe a 916, their leather clad riders clomping about in racing boots won't even share 'Hello' wiv the bloke in black leather jacket, jeans and bovver boots who turns up on a 1975 Z1-B. Or these days, it's the aloof textile-clad pilots of GS or KTM 'adventure bikes' doing their best to ignore a bloke in overalls with an old XS650.
My bikes mean something to me and I don't even know what or why. Maybe part of it's a kind of inverted snobbery. Anybody with enough credit can walk into a glass and chrome emporium, buy the latest bolide and ride off to the refresher course. But it takes a different kind of idiot or cheapskate to waste time and effort keeping an obsolete 'product' still running long after the world it was built for has been tarmacked over.
Picture the layby, a handful of brand new GSXRs and CBR900RRRs, maybe a 916, their leather clad riders clomping about in racing boots won't even share 'Hello' wiv the bloke in black leather jacket, jeans and bovver boots who turns up on a 1975 Z1-B. Or these days, it's the aloof textile-clad pilots of GS or KTM 'adventure bikes' doing their best to ignore a bloke in overalls with an old XS650.
My bikes mean something to me and I don't even know what or why. Maybe part of it's a kind of inverted snobbery. Anybody with enough credit can walk into a glass and chrome emporium, buy the latest bolide and ride off to the refresher course. But it takes a different kind of idiot or cheapskate to waste time and effort keeping an obsolete 'product' still running long after the world it was built for has been tarmacked over.
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I resemble the idiot remark. Even the frustrations of keeping Taffy and all its problems does not put me off. Small wins out of frustration deliver rewards greater than the problem asked.
The older I get, the better I used to be. There's nothing I can't do now that I couldn't do when I was in my 20's. That tells you how pathetic I was in my 20's... 
We all noticed at any wheeled event..... very few young faces... we even had a couple of local golf courses closed.... today's Gen X's.... Millennials... whatever they're called.... they're too busy try'n to figure out what's behind their zippers.... 
My son @Ben1 has become fully enamored with these XS650s to the point that he is pouring my bourbon AND lighting my cigarettes for me. What a fine son...
I met a friend at a weekly impromptu "Car Show" in an empty factory parking lot this summer. Rice burners, Rat rods, some 60s iron. Friend has a nice 69 Olds Cutlass w/455, mods, paint, etc. My Red Bike drew a fair amount of attention from the 20s/30s crowd. One young fellow was pretty proud of his 47 (48-53?) Plymouth (Ford, Pontiac, Olds?) in that he knew the starter, charging system, etc and 3 on the three, inside and out. I liked that. The car did have some skulls and a Cheetah Print thow spread across the back seat but there are some young guys that do actually twist a wrench and play with old stuff. We have to get past the nose rings and face tats to see some genuine interest.Yes and no. Those of us who grew up learning to ride in the 60's and 70's are indeed aging out. The number of us still riding and wrenching these old bikes is dwindling... no question, but there are those in younger generations picking up the torch, so to speak.
Consider that there are still bikes and cars... mostly cars, from the 40's and 50's still on the road. The owners, riders and wrenchers are definitely not from that generation. The generations after them are keeping them alive. You can go back to the era of the Model A and such. They're few and far between now, but there's still a dedicated bunch looking after 'em.
The bikes we grew up with and love will get the same treatment. Their numbers will dwindle, no doubt, but they'll still be here.
This is actually pretty timely Bob. I just finished helping my neighbor Jeff load his big Beemer on the trailer so he could take it out to his hanger in Topeka for the big winter snooze.
Jeff is only a few yrs younger than me... about 65 I'd guess. The whole time we were loading it, we were discussing just this issue. We came to the conclusion that yes, our ol' bikes will still be alive and kicking long after we are gone.
50-75 yrs from now, some kid will point his '79 XS650 down the highway and wind it out through the gears... with a shit eatin' grin on his face while all the little electric contrivances dodge and weave trying to figure out what the hell that was. I only regret that I won't be there to enjoy the moment.
Maybe you need to talk to a proffessional about your problem?
See an above post. We, in my small city have an impromptu show/ gathering weekly. I went to only one but my eyes were opened. The youth there liked rice burners AND flathead 6s from the late 40s/early50s. There were a couple of Honda/Kawasaki/Yamaha 400 ish twin bobbers. I am not disagreeing with you, only saying there is still some interest in our youthful ones.We all noticed at any wheeled event..... very few young faces... we even had a couple of local golf courses closed.... today's Gen X's.... Millennials... whatever they're called.... they're too busy try'n to figure out what's behind their zippers....
I was making a repair on our Church lawnmower a few years ago. The custodian asked me how I knew what to do... I explained that I spent my whole life breaking things that I couldn't afford to pay for somebody else to fix...
The Yamaha 650 Society Smokies rally stopped a couple of times this fall at the Tail of the Dragon headquarters/coffee shop. Each time Harley Riders/ full on kitted Sport Bike riders and all between slowed down or stopped to check out our old XS650s, some to chat a bit.
I know of this man, but I haven't met him, although I've lived in Victoria now for over 27 years. Only once did I see a gullwing driving down the highway - was pretty spectacular!
I'm 58 now and definitely consider myself a dinosaur on a few levels!
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