When is the last time you punched a clock? Go to work, punch in, work is done, punch out. Fifty years ago it was still common practice, today, not so much. As factory work has dramatically declined, the ability to compartmentalize your work and not having to think about it during your off hours, declined right along with it. Going in early, staying late, carrying a phone and taking that call from a customer or someone at your company, is pretty much how things work today and that affects leisure time activities like riding motorcycles. When you could forget work, you could jump on your bike and ride for hours, you had riding time every day and all weekend long. You can still take long rides on vacation, but other days now seem a bit rushed.
We’ve previously discussed the growing phenomenon where many young people aren’t in a hurry even to get a drivers license, let alone buy any kind of vehicle, but motorcycles are almost exclusively devoted to leisure time, that punch out and let’s ride time. Cars were a necessity, but motorcycles were a choice. When factories were humming with activity and the end of shift rush to the parking lot took place every day, you often heard the sound of bikes starting up all over, signaling the beginning of that separate time segment when the boss was in the rearview mirror. Times have changed.
Motorcycle companies and motorcycle enthusiasts will adapt, perhaps focusing more on the technical aspects of the machines, the engineering, the accessible performance you can use all the time instead of the all out, race only numbers unreachable except by the talented few. The everyday life of more and more people leaves less room for the regular extended rides when so many other obligations vie for your time. A smaller core of riders will still own motorcycles, but the fad of yuppie corporate vice presidents donning their leather jackets on the weekend seems to have faded, the riders that remain were there before the fad and even some of them have begun to slip away.
Harley Davidson just announced a new exclusive partnership with EagleRider, the nationwide motorcycle rental travel and tour company, expanding the number of locations in their operation, enabling a rider to rent a full dress Harley touring or cruiser motorcycle in their home town, ride cross country on their dream trip and then drop it off at their destination. They experience the freedom of the road and relaxation on their extended vacation, without having to permanently park the rig in their garage all year. They can rent one for shorter rides, too, just like an RV. The rising tide of rental everything makes this a smart move for Harley Davidson, but it may also be a necessary move. The Motor Company sells or leases motorcycles, riders have access to them, but the ownership is in the rental fleet and less frequently in the individual’s garage.
Where is this leading? If you enjoy motorcycles, especially the classic models, if you like to tune and maintain that bike from decades ago, something you can do whenever you have a spare hour or two to tweak and polish and appreciate its looks, if you’re slowly restoring a project bike without a hard deadline to meet, then you’ll always have a place in the world of motorcycles, but that world on a bigger scale has changed. What will it look like ten or twenty years from now? There are probably a lot of company executives who would love to know, but don’t let it bother you. You can still participate on a personal scale whenever and however you wish as your time permits and that’s a nice thought. Be your own definition of an enthusiast, after all, it’s your precious time at stake, make your own rules. A lot of us are doing the same and we’ll be here for a long time to come.
Chapman says
Being on a bike is the best reason to have for not answering that call from a client or colleage in the off hours. Calls shouldnt be answered in a car either because distracted drivers are unsafe. Leaving work at the office is the key to happiness. And i love my job. But i love it for only 40 hrs a week.
Kelly says
Things might be different these days, but lots of people still punch a clock. Those people that are building those Harleys you mentioned are some of them. Factory jobs are core to industry. Agriculture, retail, service industries, mechanics, they are still here. Not everyone works at a computer. Sure, as your career progresses you may gravitate towards a different style of job, but don’t imply that everyone sits at a desk or takes sales calls. If that is true, we are in deep trouble. Don’t generalize industry and the required processes and occupations. It will always take all of us.
Paul Crowe says
I think you read that wrong, you seem to think I’m dismissing or denigrating those factory jobs when I’m making the observation that a lot fewer of them exist today and that’s a simple fact on the ground. Those are the kinds of jobs where a guy could earn enough to buy a nice bike and still have the time to ride it. If we had a lot more manufacturing and the jobs that went with it, we would be in much better shape. You may have heard a few words about that during our recent election.
Mechanics? We could use a lot more, but dealers are having a very hard time getting applicants for the jobs available, people apply for the office jobs at half the pay, few want to work in the garage.
The economy and even the culture is changing in many ways and the spillover effect on things like motorcycles isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you hear about new technology or automation, but it’s there.
Bob says
What NOBODY will point out is that what was once money for motorcycle payments is now health insurance payments under the fraudulently named “Affordable Care Act”.
New motorcycle? Not any more!
Vacation? Not any more!
Replace the 3 decade old car with one from this century? Not any more!
But as long as some smug overpaid/underworked political hacks and pussyhat wearing fruitcakes are happy, hey, serving the state is far more noble and just.
Tanshanomi says
When I was a child, say in the late ’60s, there was a legitimate concern over the glut of leisure time that would result from impact increased automation and computerization would have on productivity. The opposite happened. Today we are so busy, we can’t find the exit off the merry-go-round. Society reinforces this by telling us we need to move up from that “starter home,” even if the present one suits our needs, that if you don’t desire to move up into a management or supervisory position there’s something wrong with you, and that unless you enroll every kid in three different sports leagues you’re a bad parent. Since when must we have at least three different flavors of artesanal paté on hand before we dare invite friends over? When we do have downtime, we can’t sit still: information overload through social media, computer games, and binge-watching all keep our brains convinced we’re busy even when we really don’t need to be. Add in the loss of pensions and retiree health care, and we can see no future other than pedaling as fast as we can until our bodies are so broken down we can no longer work. What a wonderful reward awaits us then, sitting around in our medicaid-friendly senior care facilities.