But I've also never had a cruiser guy wave back to me when I raise my hand. Waving seems to be going out of style these days - hardly anybody does it anymore.
I just got back from a ride up into Montana. As usual, most of the bikes out were Harley's. 90% of the Harley riders waved, about the same percentage as others. I notice fewer wave in town these days, just too many on bikes. But many still do. Out on open road, most wave, doesn't matter what they are riding.
And you actually get respect from the cruiser herd when you're on a sport bike? Never any snottiness?
Yes. Of course there are a few with their nose up in the air, but that is just a characteristic of the general population. I grew up around Harleys. I rode a '64 DuoGlide I bought from my dad for a few years before I got the 750. I don't make assumptions about people based on what they ride. I don't have a chip on my shoulder. I compliment people on their bikes, no matter what they are riding. They will return the favor. Some of the 1% 'ers won't give you the time of day, but even they aren't in the majority, again just like the general population. Some people aren't very friendly, but since most are, why let it bother me?
This reminds me of something that happened a while back. We were at Boggan's Oasis in SE Washington a couple of years ago taking a break. I was on the 750 during one of the relays. My buddy Steve was either on his Pacific Coast or his Wee Strom. We were talking to a father and son who were riding a KTM and one of those Yamaha shaft-drive DP bikes. We were having an interesting conversation about the bikes when it sounded like a level 5 thunderstorm was coming in from the north. It was Harleys, and a lot of them. The two guys stopped talking, got funny looks on their faces and started putting on their gear. They got out of Dodge while wave after wave of cycle nasties pulled in. The bikes ran the gamut from customs like the goofy #$%* that OCC used to put out, to stockers, to rat bikes that made you wonder how they even ran. The riders were a hodge-podge but in general they looked the part. They weren't a bunch of lawyers and dentists dressed up like Klingons and pirates. It was the most interesting thing that had happened all day so Steve and I stuck around and looked at the bikes and talked to the riders. Several came up to me and talked about the 750. Do I kid myself and think they are just like me and see things the same way as I do? Not hardly. They operate in a different sphere. But I'll say they were less uptight than the two guys that beat feet out of there like scared bunnies.
That's a good thing. Other than two wheels and an addiction to oxygen, people on bikes don't have much in common anymore.
Really? "People on bikes don't have much in common anymore?" I reject that. Why is it that it seems more people are inclined to look for the differences these days than what we have in common? Not just look for differences, but dwell on them and wallow in them, and elevate them to the highest importance? It suffuses politics and public discourse like a poison.
