I went on a nice trip down memory lane today. One of my best memories of my childhood was going to Turners Cycles in Elizabeth City North Carolina with my dad after baseball games. I'd drool over the red and white Honda XR80 and looking at all the bikes & ATVs. I wouldn't get one until I was 17 thanks to an overprotective mother. The little mom & pop suzuki shop in Winston took me instantly back to that time. The sights and smell of new machines....hello nostalgia! I was a kid in a candy shop.

I talked for a long time to an older salesmen (maybe the owner) about the current state of the industry and our conversation was rather depressing. At one point he mentioned terrible sales and said something like "kids these days don't buy bikes they would rather just play video games than go outside and enjoy life". Considering many of the bikes were still there from when I visited the last time, which was almost two years ago, I am inclined to believe him on bad sales.

They had my dream bike, the 2017 GSX-R1000R in its glorious MotoGP colors. But surprisingly the bike I liked the most was a tiny 200cc retro styled scrambler thing called the Van Van. The goofy red thing just looks and feels cool. I know I'd have a blast on it. They also had a used Grom at a VERY tempting price. Hmmmmm.

I want to take my son to the shop and see what he thinks about the little yellow ATV.





This little thing has an automatic transmission. I'd like to get my son an ATV and didn't even know Suzuki was making this machine until today. I wonder how good they are against the competition? It looked like a well built ATV.

The little Suzuki ATV is cool, but for a beginner, check out the Polaris Ace 150. Quite a bit safer. EFI too. I have been looking at the grown up model.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
. . .I talked for a long time to an older salesmen (maybe the owner) about the current state of the industry and our conversation was rather depressing. At one point he mentioned terrible sales and said something like "kids these days don't buy bikes they would rather just play video games than go outside and enjoy life". . .

CAUTION: thread drift

That salesman hit the nail on its head. Most kids nowadays are NOT motivated to get outside.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s my peer group thought that jobs moving sprinkler pipe were a lucrative opportunity. It's hard, dirty, mosquito-infested work, but in 1970, if you were willing to move a dozen lines a day you could earn as much as $48 in a single day! Today moving a dozen lines will net you over $100. You were the one who decided how much you wanted to earn, and the only limit was how much sweat you were willing to shed. The farmers/ranchers didn't have to recruit us, we called them and asked for the work.

And what did we use that money for once we had earned it? About 90% of it went to buy used cars, new or used motorcycles, and to chase girls. The other 10% went to pay for gasoline or to buy new Levis and shirts and boots/shoes for when school started again.

But nowadays the kids don't want cars. Hell, they don't even want to get a driver's license. It just boggles my mind! My generation saw a driver's license as our literal ticket to freedom, our guarantee of independence. Modern kids see it as a threat to their security.

The difference in mindset between my generation and the current high school crowd is not just wide, it's astronomical.

Not a thread drift at all SapperSteel. That was actually the part of my post I was hoping would generate the most discussion. I don't want to see the motorcycle and ATV industry suffer or decline. My son is ABSOLUTELY hooked on video games. I want to get him that ATV so he and I can ride together and actually get outside and enjoy life.

Sometimes I don't feel like I have a lot in common with my generation. Lots of my friends spend most of their time gaming.

quote:

Originally posted by SapperSteel:
In the late 1960s and early 1970s my peer group thought that jobs moving sprinkler pipe were a lucrative opportunity. It's hard, dirty, mosquito-infested work, but in 1970, if you were willing to move a dozen lines a day you could earn as much as $48 in a single day! Today moving a dozen lines will net you over $100. You were the one who decided how much you wanted to earn, and the only limit was how much sweat you were willing to shed. The farmers/ranchers didn't have to recruit us, we called them and asked for the work.

$100 dollars today is worth about $15.85 in 1970 dollars. How eager would you guys have been at that rate?

Or to put it another way, $48 in 1970 would be worth about $302.84 in today's dollars. Do you think more kids would be willing to work for $300? I bet so.

Why are manual low skilled labor rates so low? Over supply. And low skilled immigration has been a big driver of that.

Take a drive through any suburban neighborhood. Few if any kids outside. Not quite as bad here, its kinda hard to ignore the Yoop!

Don't loose hope Stick. My 16 yo daughter is working at Kings Dominion this fall so she can buy a Grom

She started out on a little Suzuki Quad 50. Tough little things. Can't go wrong with something like that. My wife and I would ride the hell out of it too, even though we looked like Magilla Gorilla.

Posted by mutedblade,

quote:

Don't loose hope Stick. My 16 yo daughter is working at Kings Dominion this fall so she can buy a Grom

She started out on a little Suzuki Quad 50. Tough little things. Can't go wrong with something like that. My wife and I would ride the hell out of it too, even though we looked like Magilla Gorilla.

That's awesome. She is gonna LOVE the Grom. I almost bought one today. The Suzuki dealership had a clean 100% stock Grom for $2500. I really like that tiny dual sport Suzuki Van Van though.

I'm going to buy my son and daughter a little ATV. Honestly, if it's like their power wheels my daughter will have more fun with it. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curios if I would fit on it.

My sister had a little Raptor 90. CVT transmission & it ran pretty well with my 160lb self on it, with the governor dialed as far out as it would go.

That said, my dad was almost always fighting with the carb on it. So an EFI model would be preferable.

That little VanVan looks fun, but with my 19 mile commute, don't think it would cut it on the 60-80mph freeway.

I don't know much about the Van Van but the Yamaha TW200 is along the same lines. I've had two TW200 over the years loved them they are a hoot. In fact I'm retiring soon and have been looling at getting a new TW200 or Van Van or Versys 300. The new to US Van Van has FI while the TW 200 still uses a carb I like that part about the Van Van I noticed the Van Van does not use agressive of tires as the TW 200 but for just chugging around off road these little guys are a hoot.

My great-grandsons are 2 and 6 and they are BATSHIT about anything with wheels. Their Dad was recently medically retired from the Marine Corps and bought a property in rural NC.

First thing he did was build a track and buy an ATV for the boys. Of course, the 2 year old is just a passenger at this point, but the 6 year old is tearing it up! In fact, he's in the process of graduating to a dirt bike.

I'm a street bike rider, 02 Harley FLHTPI and a 82 FLH Classic that has been half-a** bobbed, solo seat, ape bars, slightly modded 80" motor. Hoping that my buddy finally gets out of an outer ring suburb of the fine city of Detroit and moves to Roscommon like he has been threatening to do.

He has a quad, I'll have an excuse then to get one and leave it up there. And I need to go to San Bernardino County in Cali and pick up my next restoration project, a 1965 Suzuki Hillbilly, one of the early street/trail bikes. Hope to interest both grandsons in riding off-road when they get older. I have some time to restore it as the oldest is one and a half........

Then after that, when they get a bit older, there is drag racing. Onondaga Dragway has reopened near here, a 1/8th mile strip that originally was open from 1962 to 1978. Reopened about six or seven years ago, the NIMBY's brought suit against the track after it had all the necessary permits and repairs done. NIMBY's lost, track re-reopened end of August. Last weekend was Gassers.......what a flashback! Spent about ten hours out there. Haven't done that since the group hung out at Detroit Dragway in the late 60's and early 70's. I do this stuff and I lost 40 to 50 years at least mentally........

That Suzuki looks good though. What I really need to find is a Honda 305 Scrambler, 64 to 68. I would recreate the bike I ran Enduros with in 68-69. Do the x-swap in the transmission gears, makes it a close ratio box. 400X19 knobby tires, drop about two teeth on the trans sprocket, Bates racing saddle and let it rip. Hey, I was a poor kid, all I could afford while my friends had 238 Kawasakis, Yamaha DT1's, Bultacos, Maicos. I still had fun though.

Hey stick, during the Suzuki demo ride event I went to over the summer, there were lots of complaints about the Van Van. Lack of power (even for 199 cc) and too much air to the chest were the biggest gripes. Some were remarking on how chintzy the quality of it was too. Now, there were lots of folks there trying to ride the biggest, fastest, stuff there is, but some came out just to try it....They didn't seem impressed. Will talk to my dealer hookup to see how many come back for QC issues, but if I am not mistaken, I remember hearing about chains and sprockets in less than 3000 miles.

As for the little ATV's. They are great fun....for the whole family....even the 220 pound dad

my first bike 1974 honda 50 i was 10

Mutedblade, I think you are on to something with the chain and sprocket issues. I watched a YouTube long term review today (1 year ownership & 3,000 miles) and the rider mentioned quite a bit of chain and sprocket wear. The guy doing the review said it would likely need to be replaced soon. That is way too soon for those parts to fail and isn't very confidence inspiring in the overall build quality of the bike. He did admit to riding it pretty hard though.

Considering a used Grom is half the price I'd probably go that route even though I love the looks and feel of the Van Van. If you get a chance to find out more info on the Van Van from your dealership and how its riders have been doing with theirs please let me know.