Commandos .... younger owners .... facebook ..... prices ..... just pondering ?

Grandad

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With the current topic about age demographics and Commando ownership I was wondering whether younger folks were taking up ownership of Norton Commandos as a natural progression of sales by older generations ?

Younger, now that is a question ? ..... shall we say from 20 yrs plus ? ...

Anyway the age demographic topic kind of shows me that there aren't all that many young people on this Forum so my question I suppose is whether younger folks are actually buying and riding Commandos ? ( Otherwise who is buying a Commando these days ? )

If younger people are buying do they reside here or maybe on Facebook ?

I also wonder about Commando prices with the age demographic and would imagine prices will fall by a fair amount ?

Is this a fair assessment ? feel free to reply.
 
I feel like there will not be as many homes for our old Norton’s as time goes by.

If I was young I could buy a really nice old Norton cmdo for say 15k (I think prices will go down), or I could go buy a modern one or new Triumph speed twin etc, that is far superior for about the same price.

Adding to that most young folks these days don’t want to get their hands dirty like we do / did.

I dunno, will be curious what others think…
 
Interest peaks when folks have the $$$ and they can afford what they lusted after when they were young and poor, be it a car, bike, stereo, whatever. So add 30 or 40 years. I rode and drove what I could afford, not what I wanted so badly, what was in the mags I read so avidly. Times change, I know my 18 year old son will love the Norton I give to him, but there are many young people who don't give a whit about cars. So what.
 
When I retired I had the time and money to rebuild my Commando to how I aspired to have it when I was a poor student.

Theoretically it is worth many thousands but I shall never sell it and it is left to one of my kids.

I know a few guys who own and use bikes from the 20s 30s and 40s but most run the bikes of their youth so I cannot see all of today's Commandos finding caring homes. But I'm sure a few will be still running in another 100 years.
 
Young people who do take on a old Norton are usually the ones who grew up with their dad and his Norton's and been taught all about them as buying one as said above why spend $15k on a old one when you can buy a new bike for the same or a little more and have a faster more powerful bike without having to touch it.
In our youth we grew up with cheap bikes if you couldn't afford to pay cash it was hard to get a loan for a bike at a young age, but these days young ones can get loans easy for as much as they want and I am sure if they get a loan it be for something new or close to it not a 50 year old bike you have to kick it, most wouldn't even know what a kick start is even for, even dirt bikes have ES.
My daughter and BF are members of a car club not vintage or hotrod they want Japanese hotted up drift cars etc she also has her Triumph triple modern bike she not interested in the 1960 Manxman Cafe build that I was building for her, but she will end up with my bikes anyway when I am goneeeee.
 
In my profession I'm involved in the classic car world. I observe that there are more younger people getting involved than before. Some of this is because the investment potential of the higher end cars is being recognised, but there also seems to be a 'cool' factor. Hopefully we will see this interest manifest itself in classic motorcycles too. Given the cost of new machines and the fact that their performance envelope is almost impossible to achieve due to speed restrictions, road and traffic conditions, etc. I feel that a Commando in particular is a machine that can hold it's own in today's motoring environment.
 
dave M said:
In my profession I'm involved in the classic car world. I observe that there are more younger people getting involved than before. Some of this is because the investment potential of the higher end cars is being recognised, but there also seems to be a 'cool' factor. Hopefully we will see this interest manifest itself in classic motorcycles too. Given the cost of new machines and the fact that their performance envelope is almost impossible to achieve due to speed restrictions, road and traffic conditions, etc. I feel that a Commando in particular is a machine that can hold it's own in today's motoring environment.
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I agree with this. I think that the ‘cool’ factor is / will kick in. Also the point about speed, roads are getting more crowded, cameras everywhere, etc… so why not enjoy and older cooler vehicle whilst riding around at the speed limits when there’s simply no ability to use 200bhp ?!?

Our interests change as we age, yes a lot of folks are on the nostalgia thing wanting bikes they couldn’t afford when young. But thats not everyone, if it were, there’d be no market for pre 1950/60 bikes.

Only 1 out of my 7 old bikes falls under the category of ‘wanted one when I was young’ the rest are older.

My guess is that the market will decline as the Boomers decline, but I don’t think it will go away completely, younger enthusiasts will come through.

If the market does decline, so will prices, but frankly that’s a good thing for the enthusiasts.
 
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Interesting responses, thank you.

Before reread my posting this morning I was initially concerned it may have not made much sense due to consuming of too much of the " arthur daly " ( the venerable VAT ! )
Fortunately it seems my fingers and brain were still connected :cool:

I have numerous family members who would be interested in my estate but none however who would be interested in any of my vehicles other than for their monetary value, this I suppose is one reason why I posed the question. As to pricing I guess the eco warriors, taxes and world economy will play a part too.
In the UK at least it does appear that prices are becoming more cautious.
 
These "stand alone" forums (all genres) are fewer (relative to the recent past) than "groups" on fecebook, instagram, etc. as those platforms basically bring all your favorite topical forums into one "space". It's for convenience; you only check one set of messages rather than a half-dozen or more, and you can instantly see which of your posts or replies have been replied to, no matter which topic/group they're in.
 
Great topic. I wonder how the advent of EV bikes will impact on this scenario? I can’t really see manufacturers creating retro style EV‘s, that may be a step too far for the motorcycle world. There will be a point in time however, when the majority (then all) bikes will be EV - like it or loath it (and I can guess where most of us sit).

But there will undoubtedly have to be a lengthy moratorium on ICE motorcycles - manufacturing may eventually cease but legacy machines will be many and widespread to state the obvious. When faced with the option on some characterless Tron clone, will this not make our ageing iron a whole lot more attractive to the enthusiast, regardless of age? Everything that is old is new again!

Lots of unknowns in that scenario of course, but we are talking about the future of course. Might the mighty Commando become even more valuable, the more sanitised the industry becomes - our grandkids may have to pay a premium if they want one that you actually have to kick, like the real bikers used to!!;)
 
Hopefully not in our lifetime. The goverment and car companies love EVs. The market demand is not moving as fast.
 
Depends where you live. In the current woke world it is entirely likely that the petrol pumps will be harder and harder to find and more and more expensive. The current ruling class wants it gone and they call the shots.
 
Trouble is, I don't think they'll be 'cool' the first time they don't start, or need a spanner laid on them.

When I ride or park up, interest from 'younger' is virtually non existent, though perhaps that's my attitude or maybe I should make it louder :)
 
In my town in the last two years there have been three new filling stations with dozens of pumps built, in addition to the 8 or 10 existing smaller stations at two interstate highway exits a mile apart. I suspect that the investors who spent millions expect to be in business for more than a few years. In the next ten to twenty years nothing to worry about...IMO.
 
rweb said:
In my town in the last two years there have been three new filling stations with dozens of pumps built, in addition to the 8 or 10 existing smaller stations at two interstate highway exits a mile apart. I suspect that the investors who spent millions expect to be in business for more than a few years. In the next ten to twenty years nothing to worry about...IMO.
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That's good to hear
Not quite the same in the UK with petrol stations closing
Not so much from EV competition
They just don't seem to survive
The supermarket petrol stations appear to be thriving
Also the first EV charging station in the UK opened in Braintree Essex not too far from me
Looks like hell on earth https://www.gridserve.com/electric-vehicle-charging/electric-forecourt/braintree/
Sorry for the divergence!
 
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