Your age?

Live65a846d0ee

Feels like I am the only person with a motorbike in Ireland that's in his early 20s. Not a single motorbike in my college(except me) and the only bikers I see are older gentlemen in their late 30s or 40s with cruisers. See a lot of bikes on my commute but maybe have seen 2 bikers my age during my 2 years of commuting. Anyway what's your age?

stewygriffin

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

Feels like I am the only person with a motorbike in Ireland that's in his early 20s. Not a single motorbike in my college(except me) and the only bikers I see are older gentlemen in their late 30s or 40s with cruisers. See a lot of bikes on my commute but maybe have seen 2 bikers my age during my 2 years of commuting. Anyway what's your age?

Old enough to be your da.


Why you need to know peoples ages here??

Very personal question to ask.:pac:

Live65a846d0ee

stewygriffin wrote: »

Old enough to be your da.


Why you need to know peoples ages here??

Very personal question to ask.:pac:

Hahaha most bikers are, not looking for exact age. I need it for research purposes. I don't consider it personal, it's not like anyone cares.

stewygriffin

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

Hahaha most bikers are, not looking for exact age. I need it for research purposes. I don't consider it personal, it's not like anyone cares.

Post your research here 1st before you ask peoples ages.

jay48

Older gentlemen ? You cheeky little b0ll0x :-D

punisher5112

A big reason is insurance and the hoops to go through to get a licence.

When I started it was impossible to insure a car and near impossible to insure a bike but could be got cheaper back then so that's why I started on bikes and loved it.

The downside is the weather and other road users.

Live65a846d0ee

punisher5112 wrote: »

A big reason is insurance and the hoops to go through to get a licence.

When I started it was impossible to insure a car and near impossible to insure a bike but could be got cheaper back then so that's why I started on bikes and loved it.

The downside is the weather and other road users.

Motorbike insurance for me is much cheaper than a car on a full license. Difference though is on a bike you do your IBT and are allowed on the road while on the cage you are not.

Del2005

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

Feels like I am the only person with a motorbike in Ireland that's in his early 20s. Not a single motorbike in my college(except me) and the only bikers I see are older gentlemen in their late 30s or 40s with cruisers. See a lot of bikes on my commute but maybe have seen 2 bikers my age during my 2 years of commuting. Anyway what's your age?

I'm in the bracket that you mention and when I go out on the bike I only see people of an even older generation. I don't ride a cruiser thought and very few of the others I see on the roads are on them.

peckerhead

Old duffer (52) riding a young man's bike here. Cruiser me @rse.

I've noticed exactly the same change - when I was 18-20, it was mostly young lads drove bikes. Now they're all too busy driving around in modded cars and bad haircuts; there's only us old farts left.

sonofenoch

How do you tell someones age under a helmet?

mamax

And I'm old enough to be your dad as well lol
Same as above when I was young car insurance was a joke now I've 2 bikes insured for 30 euro less than the car ffs and no I don't ride a cruiser either about an hour ago I finished servicing the fireblade so she's ready for action when the weather gets better

Wood

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

older gentlemen in their late 30s

Well f*ck right off.(I'm only 34)

Nah there was a discussion on a different forum about where the younger generation of bikers will come from.

It's either you're in or not. Scrotes are into subarus and civics nowadays. But it will come back around.

By the time you're hitting 30 with full no claims bonus those lads will be paying 2000 insurance on a gn125.

Enjoy it now and enjoy the next 4 or 5 bikes you will inevitably buy

peckerhead

sonofenoch wrote: »

How do you tell someones age under a helmet?

You can tell by the size of the chicken strips.

Lumen

Just add a poll

Lyle Lanley

Mid 20s, couple of friends have gotten into bikes the last year or two. Up to that it was just me. It's not easy to get in the road these days.

Haven't lived in Ireland for a few years, going back shortly. Hoping to see a few heads closer to my own age at any rally's I can get to this year.

Max Headroom

Biking in Ireland is a dying hobby , so it shows that the RSA is doing its job, get everyone into cars.....theres no encouragement to get younger lads onto bikes, as said above they'd rather be driving around in their larger than needed cars. In years to come i can see problems with too many cars on our little roads, more tolls and fees to drive into cities in order to get people OUT of cars..... most young guys are fathers these days so the car is a necessity..an in truth they just arent ar$ed with bikes...except when they turn up in droves at the road races for a fight..:rolleyes:

Mid 50's btw....;)

mcginty28

39 and have an mt07, got my first bike (bandit) at 34.

arybvtcw0eolkf

51 this Thursday.

Biking since I was 18.

Rode a cruiser once, didn't like the position. Riding a Vstrom now, and I never thought I'd say this but I think my next bike will be a brand new Burgman 650 or a scooter along those lines. (I hope that this is just a passing phase).

antiskeptic

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

Feels like I am the only person with a motorbike in Ireland that's in his early 20s. Not a single motorbike in my college(except me) and the only bikers I see are older gentlemen in their late 30s or 40s with cruisers. See a lot of bikes on my commute but maybe have seen 2 bikers my age during my 2 years of commuting. Anyway what's your age?

When I were a lad, Dublin was absolutely teeming with (youngsters on) bikes. Couriers on CG125's swarmed like starlings, DT 125/175's for the starter-outers, LC350's / GPZ's for those in their mid-twenties. Oldsters were a rarity.

It seems to me that biking is dying off - it's being killed by the 1000 cuts of multiple barriers to entry. Nowadays there are relatively few bikes and it's a rarity to see someone young. The older bikers are likely those who had a bike when they were young so reason to get into it again later.

But who's going to fill their boots - if no new seed is being sown.

cantdecide

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

Anyway what's your age?

Jaysus a Guard wouldn't ask you that... wait actually, they ask you that kind of thing all the time. Never mind.

I'm 35. Started riding when I was 26. I'm not the biggest cruiser fan

blade1

cantdecide wrote: »

I'm not the biggest cruiser fan

macplaxton

Started when I was 18 (in Scotland), now an auld yin.

Out of 150-odd in our last year at school I could only count two others that had a bike. One that more or less sank his money into a car when he could afford it (I'd totalled it and got done for DD) and another who whilst riding pillion on his own DR200 with no pillion pegs, got his heel caught in the back wheel at high speed. Took a handful of spokes out and spent 6 months in the hospital getting it rebuilt. He eventually bought a bike again.

There was only one other I can think of that much later after leaving school bought a scooter to get round Glasgow for a bit, but I think he gave up on that.

Everyone else got cars. I can't think of any others, but there guess there must have been some that started much later in life. I know two riders that got their licence due to my influence and borrowing my 125 when they were around 30.

I suppose most folk following what everyone else is doing, so if they are all learning to drive...

Of my current friends and acquaintances I can only think of two blokes that I work with that have two-wheelers. One is mad keen on his old scooter and the other is a fair-weather rider that must manage about 4 months a year

I'm a billy nae mates, so there must be more than that proportion around??

Del2005

Max Headroom wrote: »

Biking in Ireland is a dying hobby , so it shows that the RSA is doing its job, get everyone into cars.....theres no encouragement to get younger lads onto bikes, as said above they'd rather be driving around in their larger than needed cars. In years to come i can see problems with too many cars on our little roads, more tolls and fees to drive into cities in order to get people OUT of cars..... most young guys are fathers these days so the car is a necessity..an in truth they just arent ar$ed with bikes...except when they turn up in droves at the road races for a fight..:rolleyes:

Mid 50's btw....;)

With the way car insurance is going I can see a lot of people getting back into bikes especially since the RSA have adopted the proper licencing system.

Our, and the UKs, biggest problem with getting people onto bikes was the archaic laws we used to have which didn't allow 14 year old onto mopeds. So unless you where in a biking family or knew a biker you'd have no exposure to them and only think they are death traps, where as our European neighbours knew that they are a handy way to beat traffic and since there's 500m of them they know they aren't death traps. Go to any European city and you'll see everyone from a granny to a hipster belting around on a scooter or moped. Go to any UK/Ireland city and there's very few people using scooters to get around and our weather isn't much different as they still get rain and cold over there.

mecanno37

Lydia Bumpy Six-pack wrote: »

51 this Thursday.

Biking since I was 18.

Rode a cruiser once, didn't like the position. Riding a Vstrom now, and I never thought I'd say this but I think my next bike will be a brand new Burgman 650 or a scooter along those lines. (I hope that this is just a passing phase).

52 monday coming , been biking for around 10 yrs, never been on a cruiser. My bike is a beemer R1200gs. Even though it is a bit heavy to push around it is a dream to ride. I have to say that I don't think I know anyone else with a bike and I have worked with an awful lot of people over the years. The only other biker I have known was my ex neighbour.

galwaytt

OP - heading for Five-Oh here .....and looking around the RDS yesterday I can see why you think the way you do....

Have a look at my comment on the show here :

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057711430/2/#post102821808

cadete

35 and riding 1 year, had subarus and civics when i was younger, always wanted a bike, finally realized the "you will kill yourself on a bike" was a load of tosh, bought one and regret not doing it 10 years ago, its a blast!

chasm

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

Feels like I am the only person with a motorbike in Ireland that's in his early 20s. Not a single motorbike in my college(except me) and the only bikers I see are older gentlemen in their late 30s or 40s with cruisers. See a lot of bikes on my commute but maybe have seen 2 bikers my age during my 2 years of commuting. Anyway what's your age?

Lol there are a few of us Ladies on bikes too Regarding your question, I'm the same age as my tongue but a bit older than my teeth Early 40s actually but that's all you're getting lol
Most of the bikers i know would be older than me, I didn't get my first proper bike until i was in my 20s, as i didn't have any need for my own transport before that and i'm from a family of cagers. The few bikers younger than me that i know all switched to cars.

Tigger

jay48 wrote: »

Older gentlemen ? You cheeky little b0ll0x :-D

Cruisers was worse.

Live65a846d0ee

cadete wrote: »

35 and riding 1 year, had subarus and civics when i was younger, always wanted a bike, finally realized the "you will kill yourself on a bike" was a load of tosh, bought one and regret not doing it 10 years ago, its a blast!

Too right. There is a general negative attitude with motorbikes that most people don't even consider it at all and most of the attitude comes from people that have never ridden bikes and have negative bias towards them, as a result they convert others into the same mindset and they never even consider bikes as a method of transportation.

bladespin

42, riding bikes since I was about 5.

I've a blade now and can't see that changing any day soon, there's also a ZXR750 in the shed as an 'alternative'.

D3V!L

38 in two weeks time. I can feel a midlife crisis bike sneaking up but I've done the whole Harley and BMW thing !!

Max Headroom

mecanno37 wrote: »

52 monday coming , been biking for around 10 yrs, never been on a cruiser. My bike is a beemer R1200gs. Even though it is a bit heavy to push around it is a dream to ride. I have to say that I don't think I know anyone else with a bike and I have worked with an awful lot of people over the years. The only other biker I have known was my ex neighbour.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.......:D

rat_race

I am almost 32 (April!)...riding bikes since October 2011. Happy to say I have influenced a handful of other people my age to pick it up...

pwurple

In my thirties, but not a gentleman... or even a man for that matter, but thanks for the generalisation. 

Anyway, I've seen nothing but restrictions on bikes since I've been on them. This crap with paying tax for the whole year? I only have my bike out in summer months. Ice and bikes, hail and bikes, aqua planing and bikes? Not for me. I used to tax and insure it for the summer months. No can do anymore. So it's considerably more expensive, and in my humble opinion, a terrible idea which incentivises people taking their bike out in unfavourable conditions. 
The license is a complete farce. It is very difficult to do that turnabout on longer bikes. I know people who have to hire a bike to do the new test. Another financial roadblock and a hindrance.
Anyway, Happy biking. Don't forget us girls on two wheels exist too.

stewygriffin

88 euro for a years tax is no bigge,infact its cheap so that shouldnt even be a talking point.

And as for the test and the IBT,its there to make people more road smart and savvy on a bike so they dont fall off or kill themselves 1st time around.

galwaytt

pwurple wrote: »

In my thirties, but not a gentleman... or even a man for that matter, but thanks for the generalisation. 

Anyway, I've seen nothing but restrictions on bikes since I've been on them. This crap with paying tax for the whole year? I only have my bike out in summer months. Ice and bikes, hail and bikes, aqua planing and bikes? Not for me. I used to tax and insure it for the summer months. No can do anymore. So it's considerably more expensive, and in my humble opinion, a terrible idea which incentivises people taking their bike out in unfavourable conditions. 
The license is a complete farce. It is very difficult to do that turnabout on longer bikes. I know people who have to hire a bike to do the new test. Another financial roadblock and a hindrance.
Anyway, Happy biking. Don't forget us girls on two wheels exist too.

There's a few things in that :

You can insure your bike for a year, and suspend the policy when not in use - you get a credit at year end, and importantly, still accrue NCB.
Tax, sure, I agree, but I'd rather pay €88 and ride it, than no tax and leave it in the garage......
As for turning the bike, that's just training : btdt, and I'm not suggesting you need to travel this far to learn it, but I was nearby on hols and did a half-day with this guy and it was fantastic. Didn't pass 15mph all day.

https://www.ridelikeapro.com/online-videos/

Watch 15yr old Victoria progress over a few bikes, very quickly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuyz3WDap9Q


I now ride my H-D like my Vespa

Myself and a few others are trying to arrange that kind of training for people here atmo, as it is not the normal rider licence training, so I think there's a lot of benefit in it.

CaptainR

stewygriffin wrote: »

88 euro for a years tax is no bigge,infact its cheap so that shouldnt even be a talking point.

And as for the test and the IBT,its there to make people more road smart and savvy on a bike so they dont fall off or kill themselves 1st time around.

€88 is around a days wage, if you really can't scrape together that when you've a year to do so then something's very wrong. Its one of the best things about having a bike in Ireland versus a car.

Im 22 in a couple of months. I done my IBT there in summer 2015 and I do on average 150-200 miles a week and I haven't had any spills or anything so I must thank the IBT for that, its expensive in so far as you have to pay it in a lump of 500 quid but its certainly worth it.

I'd never driven anything before so learning an ER6 was a baptism of fire to say the least.

seanryan58

Hey folks,
Sorry if there is a designated forum for these kind of q's but I didn't really know where to look. If there is can ye point me that direction and I'll go there!

Anyway. 25, got my provisional, saving up for the IBT. Have ye any recommendations for good bikes to start out with. I plan on being on bikes for a long time so I will be going bigger, I just don't want to go buying a small 125 and getting sick of it quickly. Also are there any restrictions regarding having a provisional and a large bike, Its the A licence I have but just concerned about the size of the engine. Obviously I don't plan on going too large as I'll end up paying triple the bikes value on insurance due to being a learner.

Any advice on beginner size/brand.
Advice on good insurance companies.
Advice on good IBT trainers in the Galway area.


Also seeing as I can't ride until I've the IBT done wouldn't that mean I could only use my own bike for IBT if it arrived by trailer, IE i couldn't ride there (legally anyway)

rat_race

seanryan58 wrote: »

Hey folks,
Sorry if there is a designated forum for these kind of q's but I didn't really know where to look. If there is can ye point me that direction and I'll go there!

Anyway. 25, got my provisional, saving up for the IBT. Have ye any recommendations for good bikes to start out with. I plan on being on bikes for a long time so I will be going bigger, I just don't want to go buying a small 125 and getting sick of it quickly. Also are there any restrictions regarding having a provisional and a large bike, Its the A licence I have but just concerned about the size of the engine. Obviously I don't plan on going too large as I'll end up paying triple the bikes value on insurance due to being a learner.

Any advice on beginner size/brand.
Advice on good insurance companies.
Advice on good IBT trainers in the Galway area.


Also seeing as I can't ride until I've the IBT done wouldn't that mean I could only use my own bike for IBT if it arrived by trailer, IE i couldn't ride there (legally anyway)

What do you plan on using biking for?

Can't go wrong with a Honda CBR 250/400 or a Ninja 250/300...for starting out. Highly recommended by many as a good reliable forgiving beginners bike. Powerful enough to have fun on too. Yamaha do some nice smaller bikes too.

I started on a 250, and was happy I did, as I tried things and learned things that I wouldn't dare on a larger bike. Still own my first 250, and ride it daily.

The_Chap

43 this year, had bikes for 25 years now (fcuk I feel old reading that!) have a blade the last 6 years and still haven't found a reason to replace it, been on sports bikes all my life, albeit in th UK for most of that time, in NCD now

Don't get out as often as I'd like but family life has to be factored in somewhere

29, had a moped when I was 16 and then had a few other 125's through early 20's I bought to repair but didn't ride on the road again till I got a gsxr last year. Friends had off road bikes so I had been on them in between.

Live65a846d0ee

seanryan58 wrote: »

Hey folks,
Sorry if there is a designated forum for these kind of q's but I didn't really know where to look. If there is can ye point me that direction and I'll go there!

Anyway. 25, got my provisional, saving up for the IBT. Have ye any recommendations for good bikes to start out with. I plan on being on bikes for a long time so I will be going bigger, I just don't want to go buying a small 125 and getting sick of it quickly. Also are there any restrictions regarding having a provisional and a large bike, Its the A licence I have but just concerned about the size of the engine. Obviously I don't plan on going too large as I'll end up paying triple the bikes value on insurance due to being a learner.

Any advice on beginner size/brand.
Advice on good insurance companies.
Advice on good IBT trainers in the Galway area.


Also seeing as I can't ride until I've the IBT done wouldn't that mean I could only use my own bike for IBT if it arrived by trailer, IE i couldn't ride there (legally anyway)

Depends what you will use it for since you are unrestricted from the start you have many more options but if you have never ridden a bike before its best to start slow as even the weak 250-300cc bikes are faster than most cars in Ireland. I have ridden my 250 for a long time now and yes I am feeling the need to move up but if I went straight to a 600cc sports bike then I would be probably dead or in a hospital, as a learner you will inevitably make mistakes and everyone does. One thing I would definitely look for is ABS, people can say what they want about learning on a bike without any aids but it can literally save your life. A lot of the times the car drivers don't see you and you need to emergency brake as they can turn in front of you unexpectedly(you will learn to predict a lot of it with time).
If I was you I would go for either
CBR 500 or one of the 650cc bikes as they have enough power for the motorway and are easy to manuevour in city as well.
Other similar options are ninja 250, 300 and Yamaha r3. These bikes are mainly for the A2 restricted license holders but are excellent to learn as they are forgiving and easy to learn on you can then move to the bigger bikes at a later date. You can get cheap used bike for learning.
Regarding schools is that I have never seen a school that does not provide their own bikes for training so that shouldn't be a problem.
A lot of schools have Facebook pages which allow reviews and they are usually a good indicator of the quality of service they provide.

EIRE forever

Live65a846d0ee wrote: »

Feels like I am the only person with a motorbike in Ireland that's in his early 20s. Not a single motorbike in my college(except me) and the only bikers I see are older gentlemen in their late 30s or 40s with cruisers. See a lot of bikes on my commute but maybe have seen 2 bikers my age during my 2 years of commuting. Anyway what's your age?

what college are you in? what bike you ridin?

Jimmy Bottlehead

I'm 30, riding almost two years and adore it. I don't see a huge amount of bikes around the college campus but there's a few.

On the upside, I'm part of the UCC Motorcycle Club (only uni club in Ireland) and it's great craic. Meet every Wednesday night, work on project bikes or our own and have the chats. And there's a number of younger bikers there, so it's not completely dead. Maybe more of a niche thing than it used to be, but there's still a young generation coming up.

seanryan58

Hey guys, thanks for all your responses!
Rang liberty to see what kind of ballpark id be in insurance wise, and despite having an A provisional, they wont insure me on a 600cc. Now I haven't checked what they will insure but its slightly irritating!

I'm just wondering, what are good telltale signs of a bike. Like with cars you look at mileage, if any key components have been replaced etc, but whats the protocol for bikes. I know the mechanical operations of the engines etc but just unsure of what is too high mileage, what should be replaced and when, service intervals etc!

Also does the riding style effect how you learn, eg if you learned on a cruiser like a dragstar would the change in body position of i bought something like a ninja or cbr have much of an effect of is it just a case of getting used to be in those positions, and which is easier to learn on?