Types of Bikers

[1Blackwolf1]

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!

  Met up with a guy years ago in East Texas on an old airhead we rode to California together.  Ran into a BMW riders group at a rest stop..they resmebled what Goeff described.  and let you know about.  We lasted about 10 minutes and had to go..stopped about a mile further down the road.  But in their defense the new H-D crowd is about the same.  And the new H-D's are the same as the Beemrs, to much mechanical waste to be believed.  Will.

[scoTTy]

wOw undeRwAteR gEEks

[Geirskogul]

Most everyone around where I live is pretty nice.  Whenever I pass by another biker, they always give me either that low wave (that I still don't know what it means) or a peace sign/wave above bar combo.  I always reciprocate.  There are always those few that refuse to acknowledge anything but their '83 Harley Sportster with Dual Reverse Megaphone Spinner Exhausts with Blue Flame Paintjobs as real motorcycles, but those people are usually from out of town, and it's safe to ignore them.

It's all about attitude.  If they're nice, be nice.  If they're smug, act nicely, but subtly smugger, so they'll begin to doubt themselves on the ride off.  At least that's what I hope.  Kind of like those guys who rob banks by pretending to work there - it's all about attitude and how you present yourself.

[D.B.Owen]

   Well, I've been a biker seance I was born 49 years ago. Both my folks rode. Motorcycles are my passion in life. Not a life style. I rode 1000's of miles in the dirt from age 6 to 15, and over 250.000 miles on the street seance. I've rid en in the rain, snow, fog, wind storms, etc. I've had some bad spills, and broken many bones. My first streetbike was a 1964 H-D Panhead I bought as a basket case, and had her going with the help of my dad and his brothers when I got my learners permit at age 15 1/2.
 To me you have to pay your dues to be a biker. Getting out a credit card, and buying a motorcycle DOES NOT MAKE YOU A BIKER....PERIOD ! It is an insult to all real bikers for these weenies to call themselves bikers. They are posers. They might go on a 30 mile ride, and then hang out at a bar trying to impress eachother.

[1Blackwolf1]

  You hit that one on the head, learned from pop, J, G, Knuckles, first real bike was a basket 750 Triumph chopper.  Many miles and good and bad days since.  Just in it for the ride..Will.

[LJRead]

The word 'poser' says a lot, doesn't it?  One can be a complete newbie to biking and take to it like a fish to water and, in a sense be considered a true biker (bike enthusiast) and one can be a groupie type, just posing for effect and never really understand what it is really all about. But this will be true with whatever they do.  Experience helps a lot, but it is more to do with attitude, at whatever stage is reached.  Some are born 'posers' some lead real lives no matter what they are involved in.

There is a Zen expression "cat catching rat" which, when you think about it puts it all in perspective.

[1Blackwolf1]

  LJ you nailed it..got to love the Buddhist thought process.  Thanks, Will.

[Ice]

"If you have to explain it they won't understand it"

[Geirskogul]

Well, things like I wouldn't say I"m a "biker" if your definition of a biker is someone who devotes their life to it.  Nothing wrong with that, but that's just not me.  I see the bike as a tool for me to use, not a key into a social world.  Other people see it as the opposite.  If people put you down or look down upon you for not devoting your life to something you HAPPEN to own, then that's their prerogative, but it's wrong.  On the flipside, don't try to fit in to a social group if you're not willing to play by the rules of the social group; if one of their rules is devotion and you can't give that, then it's probably not for you.  The coin has two sides.

In short, give mutual respect, and expect nothing more in return.

[ace.cafe]

Ridden bikes all my life, so I suppose that makes me a "biker".

Around here, most everybody waves, even the Harley dudes.
I'm usually the first to wave, because it's a habit I got into a long time ago. Some new bikers don't even know what the waving thing is all about. It doesn't bother me at all if somebody doesn't wave back.

Anyway, it's all fun.

[Cabo Cruz]

Well, my fellow enthusiasts, I developed a wave that invariably produces a friendly response and goes like this:

I raise my arm a foot or two above my shoulder with my hand simulating a gripped revolver with the hammer cocked.  I never point the "gun" to the oncoming rider as I drop the hammer and "fire the revolver" in the air.  It's sort of like the image of a cowboy firing his six shooter in the air in those old black and white, B western movies.    

[bob bezin]

that would'nt work here on a sat or sun. you would be riding with one hand in the air almost all the time . i even get tired waving the regular way. the wave started back when there were few bikes on the road.

[Cabo Cruz]

Br. Bob, those are excellent points!

[Jinx]

 You see it all on the road. RUBs,posers,1 percenters,bikers,motorcycle enthuisist, etc,etc...
 I spent my early years with my first real bike (cb750)learning to fix it or cussing while pushing it home. Had a 75 HD XLCH as my only transportation for years when I first joined the Army. It was work on it for 10 hrs to ride it 2 hrs. This was when the HD dealer was not a botique. I'd spend hrs there picking the mechanics brain and meeting 2 types of people. Hardcore bikers and blue collar guys that used it to go back and forth to work. Bikes were not socialy acepted, you were seen as a trouble maker or "white trash".
 Now jump forward to today. They are seen as toys to alot of "bikers". Some own them to say "look at me,mine cost 50 thousand so I'm cooler than you"
 Then you have the "lifestyle" bikers. Bike being rebuilt in the kitchen,MC club member,tats, the whole nine yards. It's a way of life.
 Me? I give less than a damn that you spent 10 thousand on a gayass paintjob or had a billet alu. asslicker installed. You're a RUB, a "credit card biker".  You're very low on the food chain. Usually an A**hole.
 Some buy a bike to ride once a month on sunday and spend the rest of the month cleaning it. Anal?
 Others just want to ride. Feel the wind and enjoy riding their bike. More or less likes doing their own maint. Yep' your a biker.
 
 

[Motor]

I was Harley, when Harley wasn't cool.

Motor