[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by saikishor

....this question kinda ponders in my mind looking at the influencers that exist in today's social media pages.

Ignore the ones you don't agree with. Leave it to guys like Shumi for now, to educate the ignorant ones about motorcycling.

For every show off guy, there are a lot of mature dudes around riding motorcycles. I don't judge. For me, you need a bike and a proper helmet on the head. And guys on highways usually try gearing up to their financial limits.

And as many have said, you focus on your ride.

And lets not talk about guys who started with motorcycles as their thing but now do home tours, babysitting videos and what not.

I think I know who you are talking about. Don't take this as a personal attack, but the guy is just being another responsible family man. What if his content is in tune with people his age with newborn kids? Can't just toss the kid aside and go riding in Spiti can you? I personally revisit his channel whenever there's any motorcycling content.

I would say come back here in a couple of years and ponder on what you have commented on. You are being a bit too judgemental.


To add, I was on a 10 day ride around Rajasthan in the end of March. I was astounded at the number of curious and excited men approaching us to have a chat. No, they didn't ask us to revv the bikes. Just general stuff. There's a whole lot of men out there who would love to ride like us, but are limited by financial and time constraints. Social media numbers are a drop in the ocean considering India's population.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

To put it quite simply, the type of motorcycle itself doesn't matter as much. You could ride a fully kitted-out ADV or you could have a barebones Splendor, and you would still IMO be a biker. What you would call riding culture has to do with two factors:

1. Your interest in Riding/being part of the community (I'm not talking about having fancy gear or posting content about you riding, but rather your passion to ride and explore). People with Activas and Chetaks have traversed the country so your Engine Capacity/ HP/ Monetary value of the bike has nothing to do with you being a part of the culture.

2. Your sense of responsibility. Financial constraints apply to you procuring gear, but as Shumi said, buy the best you can afford at whatever point you can. What is not bound by finances, however, is responsible riding. Respecting other people on the road, sticking to safe speeds, not just for your sake, but also for other motorists/pedestrians is what matters. A guy with a cheap gear on a cheap bike who rides responsibly is much more of a rider than a dude in a dainese suit on a Panigale who rides like a moron.

3. Your sense of inclusivity and basic etiquette while riding in a group. Accepting other people with different vehicles is important. Your riding group may have a GT 650 as a part of it and an Old Classic 350, for example and having a GT Doesn't mean that you zoom off into the distance leaving the rest behind to catch up. The entire idea of group riding is that you maintain a similar pace and support each other when in need, and that support is what drives in that culture.


Just my two cents XD

[.sourov]

Seriously speaking I don't know what this biking culture is but I am sure its not the one people are showing off on YouTube.

Riding is very personal to me, if I start riding for showing off then it will never give me the pleasure that it gives me today. My satisfaction will depend on likes, views, and stares.

For me riding is healing, after some hectic days when I feel I need to recharge my batteries, I go on a ride. It does not matter whether alone or in a group, whether I am riding a superbike or a 150 or a 350, inside the lid every moment I spent it clears and refreshes my mind.

In group rides I mostly meet with people whom I find very easy to relate to. People whom I did not know 8 months before have become very close and important in my life, only because we share one common passion. During those 4-6 hours we spend together on a Sunday we all have a great time as we all are separated from all the tensions and difficulties in our lives.

[RiderZone]

It is true that there are a large number of pure motorcycle enjoyers in India, but in terms of mainstream popularity they are nothing compared to the obnoxious influencers. It is near impossible to change this situation, because the way social media works it almost exclusively promotes emotionally charged content. If you are a normal guy trying to tell the kids what's the right way to progress with their motorcycling hobby, barely anybody will see you.

It must also be said that as much as we all hate influencers, it is not an easy job. I recently have got a bit angry about the same thing that you have, and decided to start my own Youtube channel. The naive idea behind it was that it is not enough to wish things would change, you have to make some effort to make it happen. If I don't like the people who are influencing the young bikers of today, I have to produce some content that they can watch instead. Unfortunately this means that I have to fight these influencers on a medium that they have an immense advantage on, but so be it.

I bought some recording equipment and attempted to create a video, and failed miserably. Even after some heavy editing the thing I was left with was essentially unwatchable. The camera would randomly move focus away from my face, the lighting was bad, the neighbor kid's shouting can be heard in there somewhere too. Yes a lot of influencer content is total garbage as well, and that doesn't seem to affect their popularity, but I have some standards

It is hard to make good content, even writing is hard, but video is a whole other level. Even if I somehow manage to stitch together a mediocre video, I already know that it won't be watched much. Not only that, social media forces you to post stuff regularly, which means that I will have to keep putting in the effort to produce content that will most likely make no difference. On top of that, it is extremely difficult to monetize content in India. So fundamentally, I would be putting in a lot of effort for no returns.

At this point, it is just easier and far more fun to enjoy your life and ignore the idiots. Ride your rides, hang out with bikers who are on the same frequency as you, and make fun of the influencers.

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by saikishor

but all I want to say is, biking culture is a literal joke in India at this point. I mean, look at content creators like Fortnine, Motorinc etc and look at other ****** content creators (no offense).

These so called influencers are conveying wrong stuff to the younger gen like me. I mean, biking in India has become more of a show off kind of thing nowadays. Biker meets are all about showing off your expensive bike with its triple expensive accesories, photos, videos and what not.These showoff guys are conveying the wrong image to the younger gen.

Those so-called influencers ( *******) on social media create videos by riding dangerously on public roads, speeding, doing stunts, and honking for the sake of creating content. Although many people enjoy watching these videos, this kind of behavior has nothing to do with real bike riders who simply enjoy the ride without putting themselves or others in danger.

Riding bikes is still awesome! Just because you see people showing off and doing crazy stunts on social media doesn't mean you have to follow them. If you're getting influenced by all this and not riding responsibly, then you need to mature enough to understand the difference and not generalize things.( No offense ) . It takes maturity to ride responsibly and not just try to copy what you see in movies or online. Don't take it personally, but it's up to you to decide what you want to consume online. Real riders still exist and they're not into all that nonsense. So no, biking is not losing its essence in India.

[rsidd]

I bike to office most days and for fun on many weekends and many others seem to, too... oh you mean fossil fuel burners. I prefer the pedal-powered thing.

[devilwearsprada]

With the accessibility to big bikes and disposable income I don't think Biking can any longer be gatekept to "Purists".

I got my first bike last week and I'm 28.
I ride solo 95% and commute to work and back in a 650cc cruiser, I am not fully geared all the time and enjoy my rides with a little bit of photos of the bike and some music on the Cardo.

That wouldn't make me less of a biker as I dont ride in a group or do #sundaymorning rides.

My opinion is ignore social media and enjoy the amazing machine stuck between your legs, don't get a big bike till you can actually handle it and you should be fine.

Ride on~

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by saikishor

In my opinion, bikers are people who are passionate about riding and their bike ONLY. Bikers don't and shouldn't care about stuff which is not related to bikes. Those were the things which I associate to bikes.

Now if I know what biking is, then why am I starting this thread? Well as a young guy, who loves his bike to the core and goes nuts whenever he parks it and looks back at it, I feel the biking culture is being diluted and the terms biking and biking culture themselves are being diluted. These so called influencers are conveying wrong stuff to the younger gen like me. I mean, biking in India has become more of a show off kind of thing nowadays. Biker meets are all about showing off your expensive bike with its triple expensive accesories, photos, videos and what not. Photos is still fine but showoff IMO is not fine. These showoff guys are conveying the wrong image to the younger gen.

Another example I have in my mind are biking groups. I am a kinda silent member of 2 biking groups. I joined one in January, and the second one quite recently like 2 weeks ago. Situation is the same in those groups also; there is a lot of spam instead of actual bike talks. I might get kicked out after someone reads this from the group but it is what it is. I feel like exiting them, lets see I will if I find it pointless in being there.

Dear OP, there are indeed groups that are closer to what you expect from a biker group. You simply haven't found the right one that clicks with you.

I can give you my example of how I found my biker group.

For me, it was 10 years ago during my first job when I was 21 years old. Back then, a lot of colleagues would also ride their motorcycles to office. I found a few who seemed more passionate about their bikes. Nobody then had fancy bikes or the like. It was a mix of my Yamaha R15, FZ16s, Bajaj Pulsar 200, KTM Duke and one dude who had a Royal Enfield Classic 350.

It literally started one day when me and the RE owner were having a fun discussion during lunch about Japanese bikes vs Enfields. Some other guys happened to overhear us, joint into our discussion, and the 6 of us spent an entire lunch break having a great time talking about bikes.

One day one of the guys suggested we do a long-distance ride as a group, and everyone got very excited by the idea. So as a group, we started doing semi-regular roadtrips as well.

On our rides, it's not like we'd talk only about bikes of course. We were work colleagues as well, so other things would come up. Work, love, life, etc. I basically found an entire group of friends, with our love for motorcycles being the one thing that connected us all.

You're still in college. Once you enter a professional working environment, the people you meet tend to be more mature. It may take some time, and searching, but you will eventually find gearheads who are on your wavelength.

[NiInJa]

I think I know what the OP wants to say.

Whenever I introduce myself, I say that I am an avid biker and do lot of solo rides. After the general "which bike", "where have you been to" questions, the next question most people ask is whether I have a youtube/instagram page or what is the cost of go-pro camera they just assume that I have one.

I like riding bike, but I don't have the liberty to click photos while riding nor the money to have drones and go-pros, and definitely no time to create content after a gruelling 4-5 hours of ride. Heck, I don't even remember my last ride to Alibag on the long weekend two weeks back. But if some people do it, I don't see any issue with that. Trouble starts when people start assuming that being part of biker groups, having a youtube channel etc is all part of being a biker. I think it comes with age, at 35, I am really not bothered what others think about my ride, my gear or the way I ride.

[saikishor]

So I guess after going through all of these valuable responses, I feel each individual has his own definition of biking. And to some extent even I have one but I guess I can't exactly define it at this point of time. I enjoy city commutes on my 390 Duke just as much as long highway runs.

Here's to hoping that this misguiding by the so called influencers reduces to some extent atleast.

[GutsyGibbon]

An amusing topic. According to the English dictionary "culture", would mean human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. Indians ride bikes, and theoretically it is impossible not to have a uniquely Indian biking culture. For it to exist, it does not have to be the same as what people in other countries do. Law breaking discards of the American Midwest on choppers, or people on expensive ADV bikes riding for months on end. People do their own thing, and thats awesome. Sometimes people copy other cultures, thats fine too. What can possibly be wrong, when people follow their own individual pursuit of happiness.

I have been riding 30+ years, much of that in the US. When I do ride in India, I take more pics and videos, as thats something my cousins enjoy. I have a GoPro and make some videos, that is watched just by me. Because, I like to relive those moments, I like to look at my bikes and rides, and sometimes I have a lot of free time. I don't have any SM accounts where I can/want to share this. I do consume some SM content from people who ride a lot more than me, just because I like to scout for ideas for ride planning. Am I a biker, I think so. Do my colleagues and relatives know I ride? I don't think so, and I don't care if they know, or about what they think. I am ~50, I think I wanted people to know I ride when I was 20.

[100Kmphormore]

In my opinion, the term biker is only for someone who rides safely and enjoys his machine, be it anything, and wears atleast a helmet. The term is applied to every Tom Dick and Harry including the ******* with lousy bush haircuts. I could only get my dads Dio to ride in my final year of engineering and rode it for 20,000 km, and did the same with my next, V15 to work until the pandemic hit. I enjoyed both with equal gusto, and I love any 2 wheeler for its positive points, there is no machine i hate. Strict adherence to wearing a full head helmet(had a Vega MX helmet gifted by my dad, following traffic rules were my onus then. This 40,000 km is what taught me how to ride in which condition.
Before I bought my Himalayan last year, during the test ride stage I chanced upon Shumis Powerdrift podcast series on riding gear and riding and any beginner MUST see that, period. I picked up riding gear before I took delivery and upgraded my helmet to a Axor DOT ECE certified helmet. This and a good, inclusive riding sense is what I call a biker/motorcyclist now.

[Jeroen]

By sheer definition when you ride a bike you are a biker. That’s it. How you enjoy it, or what you enjoy about it is entirely up to you.

Don’t go looking for the ultimate biker definition or culture. Find some bikers that you get along with and being around each other with and that’s it. Whatever you do and enjoy is your bike culture. Don’t try and live up to some ultimate bike culture definition. Why would you.

When I had my Royal Enfield in Delhi I wrote with two groups, the Delhi bikers breakfast ride and the Royal Mavericks. Suited me perfectly and met a lot of folks that I got along with and organised some small drives and get togethers as well.

Don’t overthink it, just enjoy your bike. It is not about the “bike culture” whatever that is or not is. It is about how you enjoy your biking experience and with whom. Nothing else.



Jeroen

[Shobhitsaxena]

The beauty of motorcycling is that it range from being solo therapy to creating memories with a group.

I motorcycled during 2013-15 and got back to it in 2022. I now ride 3-400kms a week, mostly to work and back. The liberating feeling while riding a motorcycle is agnostic to speed and size of the machine. It is a very individualistic feeling. What happens on YouTube and Tiktok will change every 6 months, but it wont change in any way people (commoners to Shumi) derive from being on a motorcycle.

[silverado]

I was a biker long time ago and my mean ( In terms of fuel efficiency ) machine was CD100.

I started riding it since 1998 and for me it meant complete Freedom.
Bike trips followed, night rides followed, Night rides in rain also followed.

When i sit back and look at it , it feels very scary that i was doing highway rides on 2.5*18 section straight pattern front tyres on a bike without disc brakes!

We had our office biking group ranging from my Cd 100 to the beast RD 350.
But those were days when cars were not as fast, and going on a bike trip was rare, even rare was a travelogue.
Xbhp was ( or still could be ) the go to forum which may have started a culture of sorts.

Biking Culture are you asking? This was a term reserved only for the big bullies on bullets, today anyone can take a scooter and go touring. Things are more accessible, machines have become better, heck roads have become much much better. All this has encouraged long distance touring.

Everyone who buys a decent bike wants to be known as a biker, and be part of so called biking culture. And this is all due to biking culture where people travel all around and share their experiences and others follow. More and more people want to explore biking in the right way.( Helmets, protective equipment etc ).

Biking has become more accessible and it is not restricted to only tough guys on big bikes, and this to me is a welcome change.
Yes Biking culture does exist, but i dont think it can be defined.