thanks for all the views and comments. Can I remind people to be polite and respectful please. It doesn't hurt to maintain civility. Yes, some of these topics are contentious, but I think a few responses are revealing how threatened some folk are feeling when their viewpoint is challenged. I haven't deleted comments (Yet) but I will if people go over the line. Criticism is welcomed, but not rudeness.
Threatened by challenge to viewpoint? You don't have a cogent argument. Why not respond and debate rather than threaten the deletion of comments you don't like?
@@MichaelDisney he's reminding people to be polite and respectful in their views not telling people to agree with him. Sorry you missed the point and I hope you didn't hurt yourself grabbing the wrong end of the stick 😁
Hes threatening to delete comments deemed go over a line, rather than defend his impolite and disrespectful comments. I'm happy you don't wish harm on anyone, as that would be weird!
I'll admit that I started watching Itchy Boots, Username Kate, and Girl On A Bike because they are 'easy on the eye', shall we say! However, as time passed I got to respect them for their guts and experience with bikes, and their challenging adventures. They are all no doubt better riders than me, despite my nearly 50 years in the saddle and my multiple bike ownership. I think a lot of blokes will feel the same. It's important to respect these women, who are doing a lot of positive things for motorcycling, and not treat them as sex objects and make inappropriate comments. I'm six foot tall so I am lucky in that I fit on most bikes with a little adjustment. Manufacturers should put more design effort into making bikes adaptable for different sized riders, building in handlebar, footrest, and seat height adjustment without needing to change parts over. I think Freddie Dobbs is the likeable chump, a bit like a Hugh Grant character. He has built a successful persona based on being an ordinary guy who is not too technical but loves bikes and nice, quirky places. If I had the chance for a pint with him, I'd say "let's grab a coffee instead!" Best wishes to you, and your BSA.
Man you have gotten some negative comments. I think you made some valid points.from your perspective.no negativity I heard.these are your opinions & experiences. You definitely have the right to express.
Agreed. The perfect bike is only perfect in the mind, that is, until the next perfect bike comes along... On size/age. My wife is aged 67 (don't let on I've said so, I'll be sleeping in the shed) and she is just 5-1 and a 1/2 (the 1/2 being important when you are that short) her bike being a Honda Rebel 500, which (with her boots on) she is pretty much flat footed. The other problem of small built and age is strength. My wife is as strong as a butterfly, so guess who puts her bike away in the garage, me, at the age of 87. Yes, she's my dolly-bird lol. I am only 5-6tall myself, so I'm also vertically challenged when it comes to choice of bikes, and have now downsized to Yamaha MT-03, mainly based on the light weight and low seat height. Another thing that rears its ugly head when you get to my age, and that is insurance. Not many insurance companies want to insure you at all. I put my details into a comparison site to see what would come back on my 600 cc Yamaha Diversion (now sold) and I got just one quote, and that was for £9,950. In other words, go away. My current insurer puts limitations on, which include. Not to ride other machines, and not to carry a pillion passenger. Age discrimination, or just taking sensible precautions............ The new triumph Speed 400 is looking like my next "perfect bike" given my limitations lol.
I'm 59 and I rode my first bike at the age of 5 and I hope I can still be riding when or if I get to your age, but good on you mate for still twisting the throttle 👍
I am 62 and a disabled veteran so I refuse to stop riding, I lost my wedding tackle and have a thing in me that makes my hips ache terribly on my one of w650 scrambler so it’s got to go am looking at loads of bikes all need to be lower and narrower just can’t make my mind up I do a fifty mile commute all year on my 300 vespa my 650 not used the 64 triumph tiger 90 yet can’t decide which to get I don’t care if I have to be lifted on will ride till I die
@@mickeycrilly1839 have you thought of the Triumph Scrambler 900? It is 79cm seat height but the seat is narrow so doesn't feel at all intimidating. I am same height as Cornish but fairly flimsy.😊
Interesting points. The 'you don't need to be tall to ride a bike' brigade have obviously never had that problem. When first starting out, you have enough to think about without worrying that you might fall off when you stop and having to jump from foot to foot to change gear and get back on the rear brake. With practice and experience that is less of a concern but everyone has to start at the beginning. Yes there are some amazing short women riders and they are an inspiration but most of us aren't anything special, just enjoy riding. Thank you for pointing out your inside leg measurement is more relevant than your height. And for pointing out the majority of women dont have the same upper body strength as men. This is all true. I do think there are plenty of young people, the majority male , taking up motorcycling. I follow several on RU-vid and see them at CBT training and riding about. Cost is a factor for them of course. But also, why shouldn't older people ride or take up riding? As a 5'4" puny woman with a 28.5" inside seam of more vintage age I'm starting on a Honda Vision scooter then progressing to a Grom. After that I'll see how I feel but smaller, light bikes are definitely more fun for me. I love motorcycles and the minority of men with the attitude of 'it's fine for me so shut up your whinging' while disappointing to be around,won't stop me or stop the huge majority of encouraging, interesting men from having a right to an opinion. Yes, I do have a poster of Exeter Rider on my bedroom wall 🤣
He's not that good looking in real life... Thanks for the considered reply. This vid was a bit of a risk, because challenging norms tends to be met with a blunt fist from some people. 👍
The internet is full of creeps and weirdos.... TBH, the world is, but the internet enables them sadly. Regarding short person problems, I feel your pain.... I lowered my Beta enduro bike 2" to make it more friendly for me, and I also picked the Beta as it is a bit lower than the KTM/Husky/GasGas/etc bikes. Oh to be tall and look like Brad Pitt.... or Angelina Jolie 😀
Oh, man, that was great. I love all of the comments, too; you know you've done a proper job when you can get the morons in your audience to pick up a dictionary and figure out how to compose invective. Everything in the video was well-reasoned commentary, not a diabolical, prejudicial rant. You know, I thought about naming my channel, "Hi, I'm Sally, The Single Bagger Low Hanging Fruit of the Motorcycle World", but it's too late for that now. As for the body shape material, it extends to apparel, as well, at least for me. My wife did find me a good jacket (after futile attempts by myself) from a company called Daniel Smart in Baltimore, USA, (just a shout out because I so appreciate them making a jacket that fits me correctly), but I still don't have proper riding pants. Can't find them, and I'm not sure if there is a company that will make bespoke riding apparel, or if I could afford it. Helmet choices are also quite limited, due to my having a head the size of a Buick. Thank you for the video, Andy! FG Rides in Pennsylvania, USA
@@CornishMotorcycleDiaries Unfortunately, currently, my nearest BSA dealer is about three hours away ! Hopefully we'll get one in Almería someday. Cheers Andy, Garry
Mine in for re map on Sat. Likes to conk out going down box. Tec baffle in. Just nice without being offensive. Cheap too. Never ridden without baffle in. Also wait for engine light to go off before pressing start. 2sec after sweep done
The biking community (or at least the ones active on social media) does seem to be skewed towards the socially conservative/ right wing reactionary side...
Long and short of it... Sex sells. It's easy in this modern, enlightened she to forget that we are members of the animal kingdom and are only here riding bikes, making videos and championing feminist causes because of the very nature of instinct that has allowed us to survive. It can be unpleasant at times, but as we all know some people are just that, unpleasant. Women definitely have the advantage when engaging in male dominated pastimes like Moto blogging or computer game streaming. Love the BSA and it was nice chatting with you at sb73 this year. 😊
An interesting take on things but I'm not so sure I agree with some of your conclusions entirely. I'm 5'7" with a 29" inseam so on the shorter side for a man and one of my bikes is a BMW R1200 GS (not lowered and standard seat) and no I can't flat foot it but it doesn't stop me riding it and then there is UserName Kate 5'4" who rides a lot of big adv bikes and Jocelin Snow who is 5'1" who also rides a full size GS both are female so is it not a bit sexist in itself to suggest that women can't ride big bikes ? It is not so much a height issue or a gender issue but more of a confidence and skills issue in my experience. Yes I have seen sleazy comments to female RU-vidrs but then I've equally seen some really hateful things said to male and female RU-vidrs and I think it is just something that goes with putting yourself out there to the masses. In amongst those masses are going to be a percentage of idiots, sleazebags and creeps and most of the female RU-vidrs seem to deal with them pretty well even making videos about the comments they get in some cases. As for the manufacturers making bikes that are trying to appeal to a younger demographic well that is just the industry trying to survive. They have to try and attract younger riders because we're all old and starting to drop off the perch so if they don't attract a younger audience then the industry will die with us oldies.
First of all, a woman of 5'4" statistically has longer legs than a male of the same height. I am 5' 4" with a 27.5 inch inseam, my wife is 5' 3" with a 29 inch inseam, and we both ride bikes. When I was younger I would use the same technique as usernamekate to ride larger bikes, and slide of the seat to get a foot down. Now I am older (70 next year) I am not as flexible as I once was and have resorted to built up boots. Still riding big bikes but definitely not large adventure bikes.
@@boringtouringwhenpouring5038 I don't understand what point you're trying to make tbh. Yes a 5'4 woman might have longer legs than a 5'4" man but she's not going to have legs as long as a 5'10" man. His argument was that these bikes are only suitable to tall people which is simply not true. As for you not being as flexible at 70 that is a fair point but that isn't relevant to any of the points in this video.
My point is that we all have different body shapes which bring different challenges, and we find ways to deal with them the best way we can. The video was about buyer remorse, gender, size, and age.
@@boringtouringwhenpouring5038The video was about the discrimination against age, size and gender which is not really true. Yes we are all different but no one is deliberately making bikes to stop short people riding them.
That's a bit of a whinge! Do you have any evidence for the attitudes of bikers towards treatment of women? All I've ever seen is massive respect to the very few who ride bikes to bike meets and such. Why do you want to attract more women to motorcycling? Do you think more men should do crochet or go to gymkhanas too? It does seem that not a lot of young people want to ride bikes either - again from going to bike meets. I think that has to do with risk aversion and feminization being taught to the young, rather than any ageism. And, someone who is 6'4", there is no way I could fit comfortably on a monkey bike, whereas you could always buy some stacked heels...
Switched off after you referred to Freddie Dobbs as an idiot. He has nearly 11 thousand subscribers, which gives him the opportunity to ride motorcycles and travel the world. Does your channel provide the same for you? Perhaps if you weren't so disrespectful to others, you would have more subscribers? Lifetime motorcyclist, in my 60s, before you write me off as a young person, with no experience.
I stand by my view. I watch his channel too. He could have come a serious cropper in Morocco last year as shortly after he returned to the Uk, a Spark plug was blown out of the cylinder head. If that had happened there, he could have died. There have been other episodes. He's lucky.
you are entitled to your view on the bike. for some, it will never be a BSA. As for my appearance, well that's the whole point isn't it? Society values people these days more on their looks than their overall value.
I’m 64. I can only describe your commentary here as being entirely indicative of a senior moment by a person who has only just realised that they are conscious.
