The online point is valid but its up to the individual. I have used the online connections to personally meet and ride with probably close to 75 people I would never have otherwise. When I got back into riding this last time five/six years ago after a seven year hiatus, I would have never guessed I would have "Friends" and riding partners from Wildwood, Tampa, Rockledge, J'Ville, OK, NC, SC, TN, KY, NY, NJ, ME, PA, etc, etc, etc. All from online communities and all I consider "Real Friends".
And that makes my point that the author of that article is misguided to have used motorcycling to make his point. Same here in that I now know (and have met in person) so many more people than before serious motorcycling…and my Jeeping friends, too, who I really like even though they’re all a bunch of rednecks.
Heck, this Saturday I’m getting to meet and ride with 150 bikers from the area. Doubt the dude with the twenty-grand Harley will be there, but even in his way he leveraged motorcycling and got out in the real world. Or maybe he just sat there and drank beer.
If the article was focused on the youth movement, I don’t agree with that either. Even though the kids have all those gadgets that I don’t understand, I know for a fact that they’re just as interested in and enthusiastic toward motorcycles (cars, atvs, bicycles…etc.) as I was when I was that age.
Bottom line, the Era of Motorcycles doesn’t appear to be dead to me at all.
