Houston 2-Wheel Culture Gone???

[PimpRice]

Alot of valid points.

for me, it's most of the above. I lost touch with alot of people i met. We've all moved on and sold our bikes for houses, cars, and other necessities.

I stopped riding because drivers seemed to be getting worst. I got my first bike in 2005, and people weren't texting and driving. There were actually good times to ride. After 8pm, you could ride the streets without traffic and construction. Now, i still sit in traffic sometimes at 10pm.

Every once in a while, i'll get the itch, and look online for motorcycles, but i haven't seen in huge drastic improvements. The cbr's, R-line from Yamaha, and gsxr's haven't changed too much year over year. I'm also not interested in ABS, and traction control on my bike.

[asinop]

Great thread everyone - I'll give you my take. Been on MH now for only 3-years. I rode just under 10K miles last year on 2 bikes and commute downtown 1-2 days a week. I also ride when the weather isn't perfect. Other than the Morganator events, there isn't a whole lot going on from my perspective. The Cyclebash's and regular meetups have stopped and that is a shame. I posted a couple of dealer ride-outs and others on the site, and no one seemed to be interested.

By contrast, I am on 3 meetup groups, BMW MOA, and Twtex, and find a lot more organized events and rides there. I also am on bike-specific groups to talk about mods, etc. So there is still a good bike community around Houston. I hope when the restaurants re-open, we'll have some Southeast meet-ups again to try to get more face time. I am not sure what the right thing is to improve MH, but more participation and some events seem to be a good direction to head.

[Renzo]

Wait... I thought Motohouston was for life and the only way out was death?? Thats what Newrider and Rykoson told me after they told me after they jumped me in and made me get that MH tramp stamp

[Mustapha]

My general observations for why this place has become so quiet...forums like these are mainly used by Baby Boomers and Generation X whereas younger Millennials and Generation Z are on motorcycle communities on Reddit, Instagram, and Tik Tok. For the reasons mentioned, this demographic isn't active the way it used to be.

Second, talk to any motorcycle dealership in the US, UK, Germany, etc. They'll all say motorcycle sales are nowhere near what they used to be before the 2008-2010 Great Recession, and that the median age of motorcycle riders and customers is getting older and older. Most likely we're in the middle of a historic economic depression, so the already weakened motorcycle market is going to diminish even more.

The only places that are doing okay are Thailand, Indonesia, India, etc. There, people are still buying motorcycles -- although for commuter purposes and much less powerful engines.

[upononer6]

Originally Posted by flipstyledsm22

Good points you laid out. I think FB groups and other apps, have impacted the need to visit forums in general for meeting purposes. Could you post those other events on MH Events if you receive notification? Or are they "by invitation only"?



Nicely put, but the OG's are not the reason why the site is dead. There are plenty of riders out there and according to TaiMc the culture is very active. I don't get why the volumes had not spilled into MH, why moto content is still at a minimum, and sponsors are sparse?

Trolls were allowed to troll, then when people got moderation got too strict. Now we have 90% of the threads made and spammed by AE accounts that break multiple rules and no one wants to interact with that . Horrible web hosting that takes minutes to load a page. Rode threads used to get flooded with talking. A certain member who can't be mentioned caused a WHOOOLE lot of drama and ran people off. Ive been here since 2006 and still read alot. I've been to alot of the old meets back in 06 and 07 mostly at ASI (OG's remember this place) but the stuff I mentioned is a pretty big turnoff. Social media has pretty much taken over forums. Life goes on.

[bumblebee]

My life got interrupted badly by Harvey. House flooded, wound up moving into an apartment, bikes are in storage.
I still ride once a week or so but 2 of the 4 don't run and 1 needs more time than I have to be safe on the street.
The reason I don't post much is mostly because I get tired of politics and bashing the president. I was tired of people bashing Bush, I was tired of people bashing Obama and now I'm tired of people bashing Trump.
Political discussion is important but when neither side can admit that the other side occasionally does something right, it's just a never ending argument.

[upononer6]

Originally Posted by bumblebee

My life got interrupted badly by Harvey. House flooded, wound up moving into an apartment, bikes are in storage.
I still ride once a week or so but 2 of the 4 don't run and 1 needs more time than I have to be safe on the street.
The reason I don't post much is mostly because I get tired of politics and bashing the president. I was tired of people bashing Bush, I was tired of people bashing Obama and now I'm tired of people bashing Trump.
Political discussion is important but when neither side can admit that the other side occasionally does something right, it's just a never ending argument.

Well, I hope everything works out for you dude. Harvey put a pretty big kink in alot of peoples lives.

[loosenoose]

i have been fortunate so far, even though im basically jobless right now. between unemployment pay and the occasional profitable bike flip, i think i have been doing alright. in response to op's question about the h town bike culture, idk. ive never been much of a social rider. i like to ride by myself most of the time. keeps me out of harm, trouble, and bs. today i started teaching my 14 year old how to ride, so that was a lot of fun! nothing makes the heart feel better than fatherly pride.

[Geephus]

Originally Posted by bumblebee

My life got interrupted badly by Harvey. House flooded, wound up moving into an apartment, bikes are in storage.
I still ride once a week or so but 2 of the 4 don't run and 1 needs more time than I have to be safe on the street.
The reason I don't post much is mostly because I get tired of politics and bashing the president. I was tired of people bashing Bush, I was tired of people bashing Obama and now I'm tired of people bashing Trump.
Political discussion is important but when neither side can admit that the other side occasionally does something right, it's just a never ending argument.

Sorry to hear about your house. Harvey was rough. I do think a lot of people are just on social media today.

Regarding politics. I think this is the first time in history people are tired of the president bashing people on social media, and not just tired of people bashing the president, on social media.

[upononer6]

Originally Posted by Geephus

Sorry to hear about your house. Harvey was rough. I do think a lot of people are just on social media today.

Regarding politics. I think this is the first time in history people are tired of the president bashing people on social media, and not just tired of people bashing the president, on social media.

This is why I don't do social media. At all. I get to see the changes without having the drama.

[upononer6]

my earlier comment about why forums are in such bad shape right now. Bloi is a very good example of this. Contributes nothing to any conversation, breaks multiple forum rules, trolls intentionally to start . Multiple people have asked for mods to do something about it and absolutely nothing is done. Ignore is a feature I understand. But its clearly the same person or same 2 people making new accounts. (Also against forum rules).

[SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by upononer6

This is why I don't do social media. At all...

You do realize you just posted this on social media. LOL

[Cello]

Originally Posted by SilverBullet

You do realize you just posted this on social media. LOL

A forum isn't social media. IRC isn't social media.

Facebook, Twitter, etc. have very different characteristics that define them as social media.

[SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by Cello

A forum isn't social media. IRC isn't social media.



Facebook, Twitter, etc. have very different characteristics that define them as social media.

Not so

[Solracer]

forums and iirc were social media before MS and FB etc

[upononer6]

Originally Posted by SilverBullet

You do realize you just posted this on social media. LOL

I guess I should have gone into more detail in what social medias I dont do since its hard for some to understand what I meant by that. The ones that constantly pop up on your phone, computer, tablet etc.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.. the real social media.. you get the point. Maybe you dont.. I do not consider web forums to be the same "social media" as the mentioned.

[SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by upononer6

...
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.. the real social media.. you get the point. Maybe you dont.. I do not consider web forums to be the same "social media" as the mentioned.

Agreed forums are not the same social media as those you listed but they are indeed 100% social media.

And having said that there are plenty of off topic threads here on MH that have all the stereotypical elements of FB. Memes, tropes, polarized far left and right rants, hate speak, questionable facts, unchecked sources/links, etc.

[TaiMc]

Originally Posted by upononer6

I guess I should have gone into more detail in what social medias I dont do since its hard for some to understand what I meant by that. The ones that constantly pop up on your phone, computer, tablet etc.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.. the real social media.. you get the point. Maybe you dont.. I do not consider web forums to be the same "social media" as the mentioned.

I feel you on this...IG is social media but for me it is different from a lot of the others you mentioned.

You follow who you want and unfollow. You post what you want and view what you want. I prefer IG out of the others because I get to look at legit bikes all over the world, in the states, and in Houston, as well as muscle cars (mainly MOPAR). It's less of people running their mouths about things and more so posting images. You might find that much more enjoyable. You aren't flooded with images and issues you don't want to view, and if the people (that you follow) post you don't like, you can easily unfollow and never have to see it again. I prefer that much more than Forums, where you can't really edit conversations that work your nerves unless you block multiple individuals.

My 2 cents.

[sikatri]

I just realized I had not been on this forum for about six years. Was at the Triumph dealer today picking up a few parts and one of the guys asks if I had ever been to some British bike meet in the Heights on Thursdays. Started looking around and stumbled back in. I usually just visit a Triumph specific forum. I mainly look for information on a topic current to me. I think a few here have hit the OP question, it depends on your life stage. If I was in my 20's, 30's, or perhaps even 40ish social gatherings would be more of a priority. Right now I just want to replace my battery and regulator rectifier. LoL.

[j_e_hurst]

Originally Posted by Solracer

Also, many OG's have moved on from motorcycles. Some are actually finding their way back.

Some have passed on.
Some have "grown up".
Some are more focused on families now.

Life happens.

This new generation also don't care to learn how to use a forum. They feel they are archaic lol.

Alot of this. I was gone for 5 years or so. I hosted meets for years with the main intention to meet others in my area to ride with. Met some awesome peeps that I still call friends today. Once you meet people you get cliqueish and wanna ride with certain groups. Mostly for comfort. I like to ride. I did meets but was never big on the "scene" Meet friends to hang out with then break it down to smaller groups. Plus being older and having a family changes . Not looking for a scene anymore. Just wanna chill with a select few like minded folks and ride.