Are we really that old?

I had a customer around 40 years old send a email to me today on a observation he recently made at a Classic Club Meeting in Perth W.Aust, sounds familiar to me

“I have to say though – I notice that I was the youngest there at the bike meeting by far”.  I mean I was watching this old fella trying to start the Kawa racer – he was barely able to kick it over for christ sake,-  he nearly fell over with the bike at one stage, someone nearby had to catch him!!!.   ALL the other guys there were at least 55 and over.   This is a worry, because whats gonna happen in 15 years time when these older blokes are too old to start and run these bikes or are dead??.   There doesn’t seem to be the Sons there at these doo’s,, y’know getting into it etc.  These guys still riding seem to be the same guys that rode them in the first place – and have the bikes again as a nostalgia thing.   I seem to be an oddity in that at a mere 40yrs old, I run the Triumph,  but also repair/build it etc, but I was too young to ride them new, it was my Dad’s bike.   Its true that these bikes are a hobby and are expensive,  like you wouldn’t use one for every day transport etc ( I do, but only in the sunshine) ,  so if you were a young biker, you’d want a modern bike AND a classic – which isn’t going happen due to cost.   Maybe I should start a club called the YOUNG  RIDERs classic bike club AND repair shed – to get the younger riders going, to get the next generation up and running.   Maybe the Sons’ of these riders are just waiting for POPs to POP, then when they get the bike start riding it?…   We shall see in 10-15 years time,    will these bikes end up in museums, or – god forbid – go into the sheds again to be ‘found’ and restored all over again later!!.