Types of Bikers

[mikenepal]

There are many types of bikers some have a shiny bike they endlessly polish and matching leathers that race around knee down that is their choice.

There are Harley owners who like the cruising style, for others like me black leather is the colour of choice a pair of old army boots and combat pants, riding an old CBR1000.

Some people just enjoy the freedom of sitting on a machine they can feel not inside a box listening to crap on the radio or the same CD over and over, driving down the same boring roads.

Some people want to escape the rat race just for a short period of time and have control over there lives that is what I think motorcycling is about.

Some kick the A**e out of it like me and live in Nepal riding around through the Himalayan foothills on a old unreliable British bike, with the mentality of if the bike makes it, (which it normally does, I have an excellent mechanic) stopping anywhere knowing I will always be able to get a cup of tea.

My riding style has adapted for the conditions gone is the leather jacket (it’s just too hot) the main safety equipment is sunglasses to keep the dust out of my eyes, within the towns a helmet that’s about it.

Nepal has all the freedom a biker would want

Regards Mike

[Chasfield]

I think there are fulfilled and unfulfilled bikers.

You get the race replica types who spend more on their leathers than I did on my motorcycle, but they still seem bored and uninvolved. Or the the Boss Hoss guy who can't think what else to do with his steed after he has melted his first two back tyres, just like he saw on YouTube.

But Bullet owners, and classic bike owners in general, just have to be enthusiasts to go the way they have gone. Deeper involvement with their machines, and fellow enthusiasts, is inevitable and welcomed.

Some people are concerned solely with the fancy resort where they spend their summer vacation, others are more concerned with how they make the journey and what they see on the way there.

[mikenepal]

I think I may have started a thread that appeals to the real bikers in all of us, its not getting there is how you get there and why?

I have posted a couple of pics on the trips/ride section so you can understand my reasoning

[Chasfield]

Another bike that reveals distinct motorcycle philosophies is the six cylinder Benelli Sei in its 750 and 900cc forms.

Those machines were damned with faint praise when they came out in th 1970s, mainly because they didn't melt the tarmac quite as much as expected. Power and torque outputs were no better than any equivalent displacement, run-of-the-mill, four cylinder Japanese machine. The motorcycle journalists quickly moved on to the next crop of UJMs to get a better all-expenses-paid power kick.

But have a look and listen to some Benelli Sei footage on YouTube. If I had one of those machines I'd be forever starting it up on its center stand just to hear it idle. That straight six sound is so charismatic. The motor makes even sweeter music when it is opened up on the road. And just look at that fabulous church organ array of six silencers.

If you see such a machine as worthless just because it lost the BHP and foot pounds race by a small margin then you are just an appliance user and not a real motorcyclist at all.

[rideOn]

I did a bogus survey on facebook and I turned out to be a 'vincent' style motorcyclist. This means I wear durable cloths and have a laid back riding style. I have always thought that riders that fall hook, line and sinker for the 'all-out' accessories and clothing are entertaining in that they are who the companies target. I ride to work on my bike every day, rain or shine, and this means dress casual and no riding gear outside of a helmet. I live in a small town and probably pass the same people day in and day out. On the other hand, on a long ride in unfamilar territory, I add more protective gear, which means leather. Leather also is a must on cold days.

[ace.cafe]

Another bike that reveals distinct motorcycle philosophies is the six cylinder Benelli Sei in its 750 and 900cc forms.

Those machines were damned with faint praise when they came out in th 1970s, mainly because they didn't melt the tarmac quite as much as expected. Power and torque outputs were no better than any equivalent displacement, run-of-the-mill, four cylinder Japanese machine. The motorcycle journalists quickly moved on to the next crop of UJMs to get a better all-expenses-paid power kick.

But have a look and listen to some Benelli Sei footage on YouTube. If I had one of those machines I'd be forever starting it up on its center stand just to hear it idle. That straight six sound is so charismatic. The motor makes even sweeter music when it is opened up on the road. And just look at that fabulous church organ array of six silencers.

If you see such a machine as worthless just because it lost the BHP and foot pounds race by a small margin then you are just an appliance user and not a real motorcyclist at all.

Chasfield,
I owned a 1977 Benelli 750 SEI ,which  I acquired around 1984.
It was a red and black one, and it had the 6 chrome megaphones on it, and it also had a spare 6-into-1 black racing pipe in the box of spares.
It was an extraordinarily lovely motorycle, and it was amazingly smooth.
The engine was almost identical design to the Honda 550 four-cylinder, with 2 extra cylinders hung onto it.

Overall, a very nice bike that turned alot of heads. A bit too wide for real sporting performance, but it was a great GT bike or boulevard machine.
Sort of like a motorcycle equivalent of the DeTomaso Pantera, and DeTomaso owned Benelli at the time the SEI was made, so the parallels are evident.

It looked exactly like this one. Same color scheme, and mine was very shiny and in great shape too.


At the same time that I owned the Benelli, I also owned a 1977 Laverda 1000-3c Jarama, which was kitted to 1200cc and had hc pistons, performance cams, and big carbs. It was Laverda orange, with black trim, just like a Jota. It was an  early one with the 180-degree crank throws, and it howled like a banshee.
The exhaust note of that big 180 triple in full song was something to behold.
That was an awesome bike.
A bit top-heavy, and didn't handle as well as my bevel-drive Ducatis, but it was fast as blazes, and very exotic in its own right.
Everybody should get at least one chance to wring-out an old Laverda 3c. It's fun!

My Laverda Jarama was just like this one,except mine was a 77 which had the chrome fenders like the Jota had.




That was one helluva pair of motorcycles to own at the same time!
I was doing pretty good financially at that time, and was living in the Chicago suburbs.
I bought both of those bikes from Buzz Walneck, for $1350 each.

[Chasfield]

Great bikes, Ace.

Those motorcycles have soul.

There was a guy in our town who had a Jota and I was always a bit envious.

[LJRead]

The key to all this, as mentioned in the opening post, is freedom, which is an interesting subject , especially pertaining to bikes.  I consider myself both luckyand unlucky in not having much of a history with bikes and biking in that, really, I only got started a year and some months ago, though having brief forays into bike ownership in the past.  But I was never part of any biking culture, and never been much for putting on a disguise, I guess it could be called.  But I think most people on this forum are that way.  Most of us have our old British-style bikes and are content with them, though liking to look at even older bikes, or unique ones, that come our way.  Are we free?  Well, the passion for old style bikes could be restrictive, I guess, but for most of us the freedom of enjoying the ride, the sound of the ride and messing about with the bikes inners and outers is a pleasure and not a burden - so I guess to that extent we are free. 

There is no biking culture here, of course, only a few bikes and all pretty different, most small, a new Honda and a fairly new Suzuki, and never do we meet up, except to wave in passing.

[Ice]

Me I like almost all motorcycles and don't care what a person rides as long as they are cool with me . "Two wheels and your knees in the breeze" 

[PhilJ]

Well the older I get the more protection I wear year round because I will break if I don't stop going around corners all leaned over. 

[The Garbone]

Well,  I will step in it a bit and say that the only fellow bikers I don't really get a good vibe from are those baby boomers riding BMWs with all that high vis gear on.    These are the same people that won't even test drive a domestic automobile.  I guess it might be related to my dady issues..

[r80rt]

I'm not a biker, I'm a motorcycle enthusiast.

[1Blackwolf1]

  Since I've rode evrything from H-D to Brit I guess I'm pretty tolerant of all bikers/enthusiasts as long as they leave the attitude at home.  Have rode on long distance rides with gangs (Angels), have rode solo across the U.S. on a Goldwing (road couch).  Can't deal with an attitude..have actually had more rude attitudes from Beemer/Ducati riders than any 1%er.  Have to say the nicest group to run into is a Goldwing Club on the road.  They are way to nice.  Will.

[PhilJ]

Ya know Will, I'd ridden Beemers for near 40 yrs. till I got my RE. The beemer bunch in the 70's was really good. We were stubbed by other brands. But your right, and one factor for my bailing the Beemers, the new bunch really are snobbish.

Incidentally, the other and most important reason to bail is their not bikes anymore. My last BMW needed 13 screw and 3 panels removed for me to check the battery. Go figure!

[geoffbaker]

I don't think it's a bike type... its a rider type.

Its the same with a lot of groups. I just got back from diving, and diving is neatly divided into two types:

1) Really cool people who relax underwater and just want to look at neat stuff.
2) Assholes.

The second group can be further subdivided:

A) Gearheads. They've got every piece of equipment ever devised, and don't know how to use ANY of it.
B) Cash cows. They like to dive because it's an expensive sport and they can spend the evenings telling you how much they spent on everything
C) Egomaniacs (mostly doctors and lawyers). This group ignores everything the divemaster tells them and goes down and will start ripping up the coral if they think it will make a nice decoration at home.

There are other minor subgroupings.

My favorite was one guy, a doctor, who had all the gear, was always first in line to get off the boat, but it took him an hour to put on ALL his crap including extra tanks and video cameras and lights so everyone had to wait for him, and then when he got in the water he would stomp on the coral to make sure he got good footing for a good shot. Once when a divemaster told us we might see hammerhead at about 100 feet down, the divemaster told us that if we saw them, to freeze and let everyone else slowly come down... that way we could all see them. Sure enough, one diver saw a hammerhead and froze... Then ASSHOLE barrelled past with his videocam to get some footage and the sharks all left.

On the boat, he offered to show everyone his great hammerhead footage...

Luckily, I was only on his boat for one day; if I'd had to put up with him longer I would have cut his air at about 80 feet...

It's the same with motorcyclists. There are great ones and there are terrible ones.. and plenty in between.