I think there is a much bigger picture here than this, or any, forum participation.
We are getting older and younger people are taking our place, as it has always been. And these new people are different, as it has often been in the past. The younger people today, and I am really speaking about anyone under 40 or even 45 perhaps, are different than <most> of us participating on motorcycle forum(s) and far fewer of them ride motorcycles. In fact, I find today's younger adults are extremely different than the generation before them; they grew up in the electronics / communication age and were never interested or participated in more basic, simple things such as general mechanical things such as carpentry (even rudimentary home repairs / upgrades), anything mechanical, including both using and working on mechanical things (cars, motorcycles, tractors, boats, ad nauseum). They are simply orientated very differently in general existence than earlier generations; if you want to do / know something, have fun, 'recreate' and so forth, today's people do it with an electronic screen. So motorcycles are square in the middle of this change: we speak of 'sport tourers' falling off in popularity but it is ALL motorcycles, not a particular type.
To really see this trend, look around at motorcyclists wherever / whenever we collect- we all have gray hair! Sure there are 22 year old squids on sport bikes around but they are a small percentage of the overall motorcycling community. This forum is slowing down because interest in motorcycles is slowing down and it is not a subtle amount or a gradual change. Before long, the entire industry will sort of implode on itself with manufacturers offering fewer and fewer models, and of course fewer manufacturers (speaking of major manufacturers here, not boutique brands).
Seriously, look around at, say, 30 year old male Americans who grew up in suburbia and seek out what they know about and do- betcha' you will find the percentage of that group who can perform mechanical tasks or even know about them is down, way down, compared to those of us over 60. Younger adults today not only do not actually do these things, they do not even know anything about them; I had a conversation with a man in his 30's not too long ago about cesspool problems- he did not know what that was or what they did. Fine and well, so I asked him where he though the waste might go when one flushes the toilet and he got a blank look and said 'I have no idea but it must go someplace'. And that was a college educated, reasonably bright individual (degree in economics).
None of this is a complaint by the way- I grew up being quite ignorant of how many things worked that the previous generations knew about simply because I was not exposed to those things and did not need to know about them- such things as farming for example: corn and peas grow in cans in the supermarket, right? Seriously, I know they are farm crops but honestly, I could not grow vegetables or manage any type of farm environment if my life depended on it..... and it sorta', kinda' does. But I just ignore those things and leave it to others to provide those things and services. As it is with today's younger people- their knowledge is becoming ever more compartmentalized and really, it has to do so so that they can survive in their world. Let's face it, most people older people today are just not skilled with 'today's' things such as cable TV, computers, routers, modems, cyber security, etc., etc.. Ask a very intelligent group of 70+ year old people to explain the basics of inverse kinematics and it becomes pretty obvious that different generations need different skills sets to survive and hopefully, thrive.
So that is my view of what is happening: our time is passing and the things that we do / know / like are fading away. Some will disappear, many will decline and all will be substantially different. It is just the natural order of things....
On the bright side, there seems to be no danger of 'Political douche bags' declining Rich so nothing to worry about regarding standing out.
Brian
JUST ASKING, AS A POLITICAL DOUCHE BAG..
where are we going, i.e., with this forum, derived from a very beneficial, and user friendly point, to answer any and all Issues, and to corroborate the concours ownership experience?...
I do not see questions, and viable answers any more.. and pretty much see just government hat/dissertation.
where have WE come to, in this .....??
and, can we all get back to the original... reason... this place exists?