I stopped in last weekend to get my local fix on what’s going on in the
motorcycle community with my friend Mike, the sales manager of a multiline shop
and who has been active for over 30 years in it. We talked of how many of the
shops in the county now have new owners, and the older guys have moved on, the
new owners only being concerned about the bottom line, a far cry from when we
both started to ride, when the owner and usually his wife were the staff, and
maybe a son a mechanic. He has trouble keeping sales help, they are young and
love bikes, but not at a level we used to. Today lines form at the Apple Store
the way they used to when the new models arrived at our local shops. How we
used to offer to help uncrate the bikes, watch as they were set up, and dream
and scheme of how to talk our wives or bankers into letting us have one. The
bike, the ride, and who we rode with told a lot about us, sadly I think it still
does today.
We happened to be in Yuma last weekend, using our free points to sit at a
motel pool and take in the desert sun. What we didn’t know was that it was the
weekend of the Yuma Prison Run, which has been going on since 1962. We saw some
bikes, but not the streets full of them like we used to, going by the
fairgrounds the lots were empty, we saw some small groups of three or four,
maybe the best evidence was not being woken up by the sound of Harleys revving
their motors on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. I counted less than six
bikes at our motel, I have seen more on an average weekend. While driving home
on the I-8 corridor, we passed a few riders, usually older with the long beards
associated with the older riders, a few side cars, and no big groups of riders
like we are used to. Even a newspaper article quoted an attendee as noticing
the crowds were way down, maybe it is time for the rally to quit. Are we
witnessing the slow death of motorcycling, sales are still way down, even at
Harley, can we get them in with free burgers and a live band, but how do we get
them out of the parking lot and onto the road? I have asked too many guys
lately “did you buy it to ride or look at?” Some stumble before they answer,
some have to think about it. Has a lifestyle taken over the life we once knew
and lived for? Is it really now all about fresh leathers and denim? Has look
out for motorcycles taken on a new meaning? Will the last rider out of Yuma
please close the gate....
As in all other walks of life, now we feel the need to be entertained. And
somehow riding a 1000 pound motorcycle, with viewing screens, reverse, a multi
function sound system, and heated sets and grips just isn’t the same.
Manufacturers are even reinventing and bringing back retro bikes, the Triumph
Bonneville the exception for success, as models from Honda and lately Kawasaki
aren’t selling, Harley never left so cannot come back. But again Mike tells me
that after the Kawasaki training, he preferred the new Z-1 clone, it felt like a
motorcycle, as opposed to the 200hp Ninja H2 for $20,000. We asked for them,
now they sit. Could it be we are in a Golden Age of motorcycling, and when we
look back wish we had bought them while they were available? At 63 I hope to
ride another 20 years, will anyone want a new 2018 model then? Or a 1978? How
about an old 1954 model like me? And as Harley announces new models consisting
of new colors and names.....
I deal with many who have been raised in church, whether they chose to or
not. My age group consists of those of us whose parents saw the value in a
religious education, but when we could, we abandoned it for other things. Now
many are looking to come back, victims of drugs or other bad choices, and find
churches not feeling comfortable letting them in. They feel out of place, I do
many times, and they are looking for a way back to God, but find religion
instead. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart for it. But what about those of us who
did and do? Too many times I meet older guys wanting to get back into
motorcycling, only to find it has changed, but so have they. They are looking
for what and how they used to ride, and cannot find it. Same with many I deal
with, they want that old time religion, but get a new i-pod version instead.
They want a version of Jesus they can relate to, and when they cannot, look
elsewhere. Which probably made them stray in the first place. How many old
saints do you know still in love with Jesus as the day they were saved, decades
ago? How many are looking for a church to attend, a service to make it to, but
don’t feel comfortable? Sure the programs look good, the activities promise a
good time, but where do we find the Jesus we need? Maybe like I was told by a
7000 member church pastor, “maybe it’s our fault...”
Like motorcycling always comes down to the bike and rider, it always comes
down to us and Jesus. We need to ask ourselves “where is he?” and maybe “where
are we?” For over 35 years I faithfully filled a pew, but now go when I want,
not when I feel like I have to. Enjoying a newfound freedom. Just like love,
it is a choice, and true love demands a choice. So small groups are popping up
in homes of older saints, looking for what is missing, looking for Jesus instead
of numbers, without a budget, just a heart for him. No prepared service, just
what God brings that night. Some nights sharing, some teaching, some praying,
but always new and exciting because the spirit leads us. Maybe that is what is
missing in motorcycling too...we need to get back to our first love. To that
first day you felt the wind in your face and you knew your life would never be
the same. Works for riding too...
Don’t give up on Jesus, he never gives up on you. Don’t quit riding
either. My biker friends in prison dream of riding again, and fondly look back
at the freedom they used to have when riding. Do we seek Jesus the same way?
Hearts are yearning the song says, but for Jesus or the experience? Maybe we
all need to just go for a ride and seek God, to get away and get back to where
we left off. We’ve changed, so has the market. Some seek entertainment, some
want to go deeper. I rather be riding my motorcycle and thinking about Jesus
than sitting in church thinking about riding. No one ever complains when the
service is over too soon, but what about when the ride ends too soon? Maybe we
are on to something here, and on behalf of Jesus Christ, I say “welcome, welcome
back. We missed you.” If only the church could understand the brotherhood of us
who ride, imagine how the world would change. In the old days when you needed a
part on a day off, the owner would come down and open up for you. Would your
pastor? Would you? Maybe we have seen the problem and it is us. Thankfully
the answer is still Jesus. No need to lock the gate, he’ll leave a light on for
you...even in Yuma. Jesus, did you sign up to live or just to look at him in
church? No bike or Bible should ever be gathering dust....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com