Boomer and writer Neil Graham Moto-journalist Neil Graham recently penned an article for ADVrider.com on riding and aging. Citing some relevant science on the subject from the Mayo Clinic he added his own, less scientific, observation, specifically for us of the Baby Boomer generation….
"The aging motorcyclist lacks something missing from the Mayo’s list: thankfulness. Rather than anger that motorcycles have sophisticated electronics, or have grown too large, or that, eventually, they’ll be powered by something other than gasoline, look back at what you’ve gained. That you lived in an age when a stinky liquid pumped from the ground and decanted into a gleaming fuel tank powered a vehicle that took you along California’s coast, or deep into Oregon’s interior, or around a racetrack at breakneck speed. We are on the crest of a great convulsion, that of the baby boom generation’s death. It was never going to be pretty. Harley has its head in a vise. Indian, with its brand-new ersatz 1950s Chief, is sitting pretty on an old horse galloping straight off a cliff. Instead of grousing over change that’ll happen after we’re dead, let’s celebrate the times we’ve had and encourage those replacing us, those who will remake motorcycling in their own image, to set the house on fire then build it up from the ashes. It’s what we did. Why would we begrudge them the indulgence to do the same?"
Neil Graham
"The aging motorcyclist lacks something missing from the Mayo’s list: thankfulness. Rather than anger that motorcycles have sophisticated electronics, or have grown too large, or that, eventually, they’ll be powered by something other than gasoline, look back at what you’ve gained. That you lived in an age when a stinky liquid pumped from the ground and decanted into a gleaming fuel tank powered a vehicle that took you along California’s coast, or deep into Oregon’s interior, or around a racetrack at breakneck speed. We are on the crest of a great convulsion, that of the baby boom generation’s death. It was never going to be pretty. Harley has its head in a vise. Indian, with its brand-new ersatz 1950s Chief, is sitting pretty on an old horse galloping straight off a cliff. Instead of grousing over change that’ll happen after we’re dead, let’s celebrate the times we’ve had and encourage those replacing us, those who will remake motorcycling in their own image, to set the house on fire then build it up from the ashes. It’s what we did. Why would we begrudge them the indulgence to do the same?"
Neil Graham
RSS Feed