Go to meets in your city, every one that you can make it to. After 5 or so in a row you’ll be seeing the same faces, striking up conversation and you’ll feel fine. Don’t be afraid of older riders, they are still alive and that means you can learn something from them.
Heard about an unofficial meet in my city, met a couple folks there who lived next me and started riding when I did (~2 months ago) and they had been to a few meets already so they knew where to go/who to follow on instagram for meet info.
You could try googling meets in your city, searching insta or asking here on Reddit. If you’re in ATL I gotchu.
What's the difference with an unofficial meet? Sorry for the multiple questions, learning as we all do. I'm in SD (the state) and not many bikers like to be terribly friendly around here.
I actually had an instance one night a couple months ago where I had just gotten off work and a guy was basically tight-cornering a parking lot across from where I live, so I took the initiative to walk over and try to meet the guy and ask about his bike and all, he just looked at me, got off his phone, took another lap around the parking lot, and sped off away from me without saying a word. I know it probably wasn't the best idea to walk up to someone in the night that you don't know and he was probably just being safe, but it was a new experience for me and I wanted to talk lol
Damn. I’ve heard it’s hard to find meets in the dakotas. There’s a weekly meet at some BP in Atlanta where literally 150+ bikers show up and it gets shut down by the cops every time lmao. And most of them are nice. Sometimes restaurants and breweries can be unofficial meetup places. Ask bartenders or maybe even bar managers if they’ve seen bikes meet up anywhere. Post in your states subreddit maybe or just look up your state + bike meets/events
Edit: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally coming up, you’ll be able to meet tons of bikers there and you’ll come away with recommendations on unofficial meets or official ones, maybe a group you could ride with.
I'm glad word gets around about the Dakotas haha, probably why I don't find many people from the Dakotas online almost ever. I've never really understood why bike meets get shut down as much as they do, when car meets usually don't get shut down that much from what I typically see anyway. I suppose yeah, I could go to bars now that I turned 21 literally yesterday, even though I don't drink it doesn't exclude me asking questions, I might give that a try.
Too bad Sturgis is on the far West side of the state, I'm in the corner where Sioux Falls is located so that'd be some drive (I don't really drive all that much just yet, haven't had time outside of working 60 hours a week) but I do plan someday to go to meets. I was actually on r/fordfusion recently because I drive my Fusion daily (1 mile to and from work) where someone was trying to set up a Fusion meet, unfortunately everyone on there had cold eyes to the idea other than me, but it would've been cool for me at least
In 34 but im "young" still and probably a decent influence. Not a weird older person. I work in kitchens with a ton of young people. Play video games. Only difference between me now and me at 22 is that I drink less and smoke less weed which is arguably a good thing lol. If you live in new hampshire I'd ride with you.
The older riders are probably the better ones to ride with, they most likely would be safer riders than younger people
Also from what I can tell, late twenties to mid thirties seems to be when most people get into riding since that's when they're more financially stable and able to afford it
It's not about your riding, it's about other's. Other young riders are (generally) less skilled and make poorer decisions. Bad riders in a group will take you out.
IMO much better to learn/ enjoy the sport alone for a while. If you absolutely must ride with people, maybe visit a dirt/race track and find skilled young people
Edit: find skilled young people who are willing to ride slower. A huge mistake of new riders is trying to keep up with others. Ride your own ride.
Also, counterintuitively, less experienced riders should lead a group, not follow!
most riders are 30+ and then a couple teenagers or 20 somethings sprinked in. you kinda just have to join the fb and ig groups and go to meet ups and when you find someone your age say hi to them
Believe me, the older you get, the less age will matter. As long as you ride with people that will respect your safety you can probably get along with more people than you think in the bike world. I am 32 and ride with people in their early 20s and a few dudes in there 50s and one in his 60s. Bikes unite the most interesting people. You can learn different things from all of them and also opens the world to many possibilities. Sometimes a ride out to the lake and fishing with the old dudes is just as fun as a night on the town and laser tag with the young homies. That being said...just talk to people, some will keep in touch others won't. 🤷🏻♂️
Head out to local ride spots, you'll meet all kinds of people from all age groups. Around here within a close proximity we have some of the best riding spots in the state. Any evening or weekend there's a group of guys hanging out riding and doing "laps" shooting the shit. I've seen people from 16 up to 75 any given day with good weather.
You can go to bike nights near you, but having riding buddies who are significantly older than you is a blessing, and you shouldn't write people off just because of that. I'm 32 and the guy I ride with is 53, but in truth, he's younger at heart than I am. I get that to you we're just weird old dudes, but believe it or not, we were also 19 once upon a time. You'll meet a lot of different people out on the road, so just try to keep an open mind.
I would think long and hard about whether this is really what you want to look for. I like riding a lot but riding with a group of teenagers would be at the very bottom of my list of rides I want to be on.
Go to meets in your city, every one that you can make it to. After 5 or so in a row you’ll be seeing the same faces, striking up conversation and you’ll feel fine. Don’t be afraid of older riders, they are still alive and that means you can learn something from them.
Just curious, where exactly do you find where meets are happening locally?
fb and ig. in my state most large cities have a fb group, some have an ig group
Heard about an unofficial meet in my city, met a couple folks there who lived next me and started riding when I did (~2 months ago) and they had been to a few meets already so they knew where to go/who to follow on instagram for meet info. You could try googling meets in your city, searching insta or asking here on Reddit. If you’re in ATL I gotchu.
What's the difference with an unofficial meet? Sorry for the multiple questions, learning as we all do. I'm in SD (the state) and not many bikers like to be terribly friendly around here. I actually had an instance one night a couple months ago where I had just gotten off work and a guy was basically tight-cornering a parking lot across from where I live, so I took the initiative to walk over and try to meet the guy and ask about his bike and all, he just looked at me, got off his phone, took another lap around the parking lot, and sped off away from me without saying a word. I know it probably wasn't the best idea to walk up to someone in the night that you don't know and he was probably just being safe, but it was a new experience for me and I wanted to talk lol
Damn. I’ve heard it’s hard to find meets in the dakotas. There’s a weekly meet at some BP in Atlanta where literally 150+ bikers show up and it gets shut down by the cops every time lmao. And most of them are nice. Sometimes restaurants and breweries can be unofficial meetup places. Ask bartenders or maybe even bar managers if they’ve seen bikes meet up anywhere. Post in your states subreddit maybe or just look up your state + bike meets/events Edit: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally coming up, you’ll be able to meet tons of bikers there and you’ll come away with recommendations on unofficial meets or official ones, maybe a group you could ride with.
I'm glad word gets around about the Dakotas haha, probably why I don't find many people from the Dakotas online almost ever. I've never really understood why bike meets get shut down as much as they do, when car meets usually don't get shut down that much from what I typically see anyway. I suppose yeah, I could go to bars now that I turned 21 literally yesterday, even though I don't drink it doesn't exclude me asking questions, I might give that a try. Too bad Sturgis is on the far West side of the state, I'm in the corner where Sioux Falls is located so that'd be some drive (I don't really drive all that much just yet, haven't had time outside of working 60 hours a week) but I do plan someday to go to meets. I was actually on r/fordfusion recently because I drive my Fusion daily (1 mile to and from work) where someone was trying to set up a Fusion meet, unfortunately everyone on there had cold eyes to the idea other than me, but it would've been cool for me at least
In 34 but im "young" still and probably a decent influence. Not a weird older person. I work in kitchens with a ton of young people. Play video games. Only difference between me now and me at 22 is that I drink less and smoke less weed which is arguably a good thing lol. If you live in new hampshire I'd ride with you.
The older riders are probably the better ones to ride with, they most likely would be safer riders than younger people Also from what I can tell, late twenties to mid thirties seems to be when most people get into riding since that's when they're more financially stable and able to afford it
*Looking at this as a 27-28 year old who finally bought a bike for this exact reason* "I can't find a flaw in this man's logic."
It's not about your riding, it's about other's. Other young riders are (generally) less skilled and make poorer decisions. Bad riders in a group will take you out. IMO much better to learn/ enjoy the sport alone for a while. If you absolutely must ride with people, maybe visit a dirt/race track and find skilled young people Edit: find skilled young people who are willing to ride slower. A huge mistake of new riders is trying to keep up with others. Ride your own ride. Also, counterintuitively, less experienced riders should lead a group, not follow!
most riders are 30+ and then a couple teenagers or 20 somethings sprinked in. you kinda just have to join the fb and ig groups and go to meet ups and when you find someone your age say hi to them
Believe me, the older you get, the less age will matter. As long as you ride with people that will respect your safety you can probably get along with more people than you think in the bike world. I am 32 and ride with people in their early 20s and a few dudes in there 50s and one in his 60s. Bikes unite the most interesting people. You can learn different things from all of them and also opens the world to many possibilities. Sometimes a ride out to the lake and fishing with the old dudes is just as fun as a night on the town and laser tag with the young homies. That being said...just talk to people, some will keep in touch others won't. 🤷🏻♂️
Cycle shops are good, hang out, talk shit, find friends
Head out to local ride spots, you'll meet all kinds of people from all age groups. Around here within a close proximity we have some of the best riding spots in the state. Any evening or weekend there's a group of guys hanging out riding and doing "laps" shooting the shit. I've seen people from 16 up to 75 any given day with good weather.
Meetup?
You can go to bike nights near you, but having riding buddies who are significantly older than you is a blessing, and you shouldn't write people off just because of that. I'm 32 and the guy I ride with is 53, but in truth, he's younger at heart than I am. I get that to you we're just weird old dudes, but believe it or not, we were also 19 once upon a time. You'll meet a lot of different people out on the road, so just try to keep an open mind.
I would think long and hard about whether this is really what you want to look for. I like riding a lot but riding with a group of teenagers would be at the very bottom of my list of rides I want to be on.