My nephew turns 16 in February. I got him a book about safe driving techniques and habits for Christmas. On talking to his dad (my brother), turns out "Brent" isn't really interested in driving. I'm ~51 now; I recall when I was 16 I was dying for a license. Times change. My brother says he likes "video games" now. :shrug: What are ya gonna do?
When I was growing up minibikes, dirt bikes, trail riding and motocross were huge. There were four of five of us on the street that had bikes and we'd go out to the fields (that were then) across from the Burlington Bowl or to the "Clay Pits" at King Road and the North Service road in north Burlington and ride until we ran out of gas, then push the bikes home. We'd clean them, wrench on them, rebuild them, service them etc on milk crates pilfered from behind the local Becker's convenience store. We'd get all the magazines (Motocross Action, Dirt Bike etc) and be reading these things in class instead of paying attention. Some of us went on to race more seriously, others just stayed on the trails.
But then riding at the 'Bowl or the 'Pits was outlawed with one sweep of a legislative pen: Somewhere, two riders came together and got hurt. Their families sued the city involved and won and all of a sudden, a dark cloud descended: Every city and region outlawed bikes on public and and overnight bikes fell silent. I recall needing green plates on bikes and insurance. Cops patrolled all the old haunts and they went silent. Nothing ever replaced all that.
Even in the 'burbs very few people wrench on their cars anymore. Few, if any fathers are under the hood of the car teaching their kids (boys or girls) what's what, how to fix this or that etc. Even stuff like snowblowers and lawnmowers -- if they have them -- are tossed instead of being fixed by these know-nothings. Today's dads don't know **** and they've raised a cohort of kids that know even less.
In those days kids played with other kids, with material things in their yards, in parks and on the street; hands-on, physical, risk of getting bruises, skinned knees or gasp a broken bone. Not so today. Now it's fat, bubble-wrapped indoors, video games, phones, tablets and other devices and parents that encourage it all.
Schools press the eco-agenda, effectively demonizing anything internal combustion while parents are ridiculously risk-averse. With nothing going on at home, active campaigns against such things in schools and a sheltered existence in the glow of a screen, there's been little interest in two-wheeled locomotion. This is what the motorcycle companies are facing now, especially when the previous is combined with piano-wire tight home budgets.
I'm not sure there is a fix for this issue. Car makers are struggling with relevance and have turned to making their cars effectively smart phones on wheels. Motorcycles by their nature require a different sort of interaction that just isn't "a thing" today.
Glad I grew up when I did.
