My son has
been driving a car for almost 6 years now and never once has he really driven a
manual transmission. I saw the trend
coming, years earlier as rental car fleets moved to automatic transmissions in
even the lowliest of offerings, in order to be assured that ANY driver could
drive one. The joke used to be that, if you wanted to teach someone how to
drive a manual, you’d go rent a car rather than have them bash and crash your
gearbox. By the time my son came of
driving age, this was no longer an option.
The plan was
to get him to learn to control a car at speed and, once accomplished, to add in
the complexity of a clutch pedal and stick shift. A great plan, but it never panned out. Once
my child had his license (or at least was well on his way to having one) his
interest in driving my manually operated Subaru sedan was nil. For the few years, I’d throw it out once in a
while. His first two summers back from college; I would offer religiously to
teach him the intricacies of rev matching and engine braking. After a while, the writing was on the wall.
As a kid, I
was over the moon at any fast vehicle.
My Dad has a progression of better and faster cars that always keep me
wondering when I would get my hands on them.
When I was about 11, my older brother’s buddy took me for my first
motorcycle ride. I was hooked at the
sensation of speed, even though we probably never exceeded 40 mph.
Later, as
one of the perks of business travel, I made it a personal goal to drive as many
different cars as I could. I was never
happy to have to drive the same car twice, with the exception of the Lincoln
Town Cars that National Rental Car would let us young adults drive for an extra
$1 per day. Wait? You’re going to let
this 24 year-old hoon a Town Car in the middle of a Minnesota winter? I sure hope that they had good mechanics
there at National as we were mighty tough on those “free” vehicles. Do you remember the scene from Hunter S.
Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas where they pump a Cadillac’s
tires up to 70psi and then proceed to drift it all over town? That was us, pushing those big rear wheel
drive cars through, around and over snow drifts. We might have had a little
something to drink at dinner first, now that I reflect on it.
What does
this have to do with motorcycles you say?
(You did say that, I heard you.)
The generation who can no longer drive a “stick” will find themselves at
a serious disadvantage when it comes to motorcycle riding. We’ve already seen
more than a few bikes test the waters with automatic transmissions. As gasoline prices rise (and fall and rise
again), we’ll see more people experiment with scooters, which continue to grow
in displacement to rival what once was considered a “large” bike. Manufacturers are adapting their product
line-ups to augment and eventually replace manual transmission bikes with
automatics and other hybrid vehicles.
And by hybrids, I don’t mean electrics, though developments there
continue to advance. I mean
three-wheeled trikes or “ekirt”s, like the Can Am. If you’re a newbie or just getting on in
years and want to continue to ride, why would you want to have to shift your
Honda or Harley-Davidson trike? Speaking
of Honda, they continue to surprise and amaze me with the diversity of products
that they develop.
Burgeoning
markets will dictate the low-end of the spectrum but developed countries will
demand and receive the latest innovations and electronic controls, including
the aforementioned electrics, gas/battery hybrids, ABS, ride by wire and
automatic transmissions. Low volume
bikes will lose options and may eventually be offered with one choice of
transmission, which may be the choice which nets the most profit, an automatic
(for the people).
Clutch
handles and foot shifters will go the way of kick-starters and a new era will begin. Sure, there will always be those motivated
individuals who will go to the effort to learn to ride a “proper” bike, with
all the manual controls but, how long before those bikes (our bikes) are no
longer considered the norm? I think you
can expect to see a radical change to our rides and the industry over the next
20 years. I guess the only positive thing
about that is this is about when I’ll be hanging up my leathers. Hang on to your current inventory. When the whole world goes mad, in 50 years
our bikes will be collector’s items for precisely the simple and manual
controls we enjoy. Might make a nice
gift to that grand-kid who (I sure hope not yet) is eventually on the way.
The snow is
melting and Valentine’s Day is this week.
Kiss and be kind to your “Old Lady” or “Old Man”, as the case may
be. And get ready to ride again. I’m shooting out of my driveway at the first
sighting of bare asphalt. I know you’re
eager too. Make sure you do the proper
safety checks, especially those tires, as you’ll need all the grip you can get,
with the sandy roads here in the Northeast.
And wear the gear. I don’t care
if you go textile or leather but wear a helmet and cover up that ugly old body
of yours. Myself? I’m thinking of a custom Vanson jacket, with
inlaid leather, worthy of being handed down to the next generation. I sure hope that kid learns to shift soon!
A low, slow
wave,
Joe Rocket
2 comments:
Doesn't look like we'll see bare pavement any time soon with this weather forecast. And I hear you about automatic shift. All my girls drive stick. They are grown women now, but back when they were in high school, even the guys they dated couldn't drive them. When electric start came to motorcycles, I was glad. Hated the kick start. But I am having a problme with automatic motorcycles.
I am learning how to ride, my husband has no patience and its all in the shifting for me too....going for the riders course soon, to save our marriage :)
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