Author Topic: Another snide Harley topic (Read 5361 times)

78_SaltLick · « **Reply #25 on:** August 19, 2005, 01:23:14 AM »

Back in the 70's i was about 10 years old. I was just telling my wife that back then, when you saw a harley, usually there was a hells angel riding it and everyone on the road kept away from him. The sound of a harley put the fear of god into you, whomever rode it was trouble. Now a days any yuppie tech geek making 100G a year has one, with his brand spankin new harley jacket, and boots to match. Try to pay no attention to the fact hes got his cell phone and pager clipped to his belt, in case his work calls him in for a downed database. I live next to a harley dealer and went in for the first time the other day for fun to look around. Ive never seen so many yuppies in my life. All with thier pressed docker shorts, tivas, and dress down tucked in shirts (of course the cell phone clipped to the belt). It really saddened me. What use to be something cool and a little dangerous, has become the stereotypical fix for todays tech geek midlife crisis. It kinda drives me nuts how they buy all the harley gear to go with it. oh well.

dpen · « **Reply #26 on:** August 19, 2005, 04:25:23 AM »

Quote from: TwoTired on August 17, 2005, 06:03:44 PM

Quote from: dpen on August 17, 2005, 05:24:37 PM
Yoy made a good point about the mating ritual Lloyd.
I met my wife when I picked her up on the Fatboy. Enough said!
(she did look funny sitting on the numberplate "FAT00" though.

I take it she doesn't read this site!

no, she doesn't & it's a bloody good thing too - she kickstarts jumbo jets for a hobby.

dusterdude · « **Reply #27 on:** August 19, 2005, 06:26:47 AM »

saltlick,yea its sickening,it gives all us real harley riders a bad name.its so sad.

Quail "Owner of the comfortable k8" · « **Reply #28 on:** August 19, 2005, 07:34:28 AM »

Have we not been down this road before. No bike is everything to everyone. I rode a 93 1100 suzuki yesterday, I loved the feel of that bike, it had 124k on it and it purred like a kitten. Not a Honda, not a Harley, but I would own it.

Dave Wyatt · « **Reply #29 on:** August 19, 2005, 08:52:26 AM »

Quote from: QUAIL on August 19, 2005, 07:34:28 AM

Have we not been down this road before. No bike is everything to everyone. I rode a 93 1100 suzuki yesterday, I loved the feel of that bike, it had 124k on it and it purred like a kitten. Not a Honda, not a Harley, but I would own it.

Quite right. It's not the bike, just the few pretentious #$%*s who bought their way into the so called "lifestyle." I've met many a Gold Winger with as much poor attitude. Let's all get back to waving at each other, no matter what we ride.

dusterdude · « **Reply #30 on:** August 19, 2005, 09:07:40 AM »

quail,david.you got it right.its the prick riding it i dont like.

MT550 · « **Reply #31 on:** August 19, 2005, 09:26:10 AM »

Riding my 550 around my little corner of the world (northwest Montana, north Idaho) I've found I actually get more waves from Harley riders than from the "boy racer" sportbike types. With a lot of those guys I think it's an age/attitude thing. I get the feeling that at least some of the Harley guys do appreciate a classic Honda though. On a recent lengthy ride, on a nice day with a lot of bikes out and about, the biggest wave I got was from a real blue-collar looking guy (I don't think his ponytail was fake) on a rather ratty, home-custom looking older Harley. He reached out and looked like he was trying to "give me five" as we passed.

Einyodeler · « **Reply #32 on:** August 19, 2005, 08:50:48 PM »

There is absolutely no truth to the saying that once you sit on a Harley you will develop an attitude....really....

nickjtc · « **Reply #33 on:** August 02, 2006, 08:01:07 PM »

This was an interesting thread and a good read.

FWIW, when I was a riding instructor I worked one-on-one on several occasion with guys who were new to riding, but of my age group (aka baby boomers). They were all well off (kids grown up and left home/finished college) with significant disposable incomes. Without exception they commented that the only bike they had ever wanted was a Harley. Not because they had some starry eyed reminiscence of Harley interaction when they were younger, just that as they grew older it was the only choice they wanted to make. When I pressed them about why they wouldn't choose a BMW/Ducati/Honda or somesuch they commented that to them motorcycle = Harley Davidson; as simple as that.

I think that HD are to be congratulated for being the hook that gets people on two wheels. Once an open mided individual has got over that first two wheeled experience and had their eyes opened to the whole picture, then we see a shift to an open-ness to embrace other options. I've lost count of the number of students I have worked with (in a classroom setting) who have bought their 'dream' bike (invariably a HD) and decided at the end of their training that perhaps it wasn't the best choice.

If I was ever pressed by a student to recommend a 'first bike' I would always suggest that the physical size of the bike and how it 'fit' them in those important first few thousand miles of riding was the most important feature to look for, not the name on the gas tank.

Steve F · « **Reply #34 on:** August 02, 2006, 10:38:14 PM »

Chris Schneiter · « **Reply #35 on:** August 03, 2006, 08:00:40 AM »

There was an interview with Sonny Barger (founder Hell's Angels) at Harley's 100th Anniversary, They were pointing out the animosity between the Angels and Harley ( The Company) When Harleys were all the Hells Angels would ride.
Barger said it was because The Angels never buy new bikes, then chop them up. He said that he'd never bought a new bike and never would, but that he doesn't see that as a problem, because of all the tuppies who have bought brand new Harleys in the past fiew years, and that in a few years, they'll all "grow up" and go back to their boats and motor homes, and there will be enough used Harleys for the rest of his life!

StevieMac · « **Reply #36 on:** August 03, 2006, 08:13:40 AM »

It is annoying when anyone tells me their bike is the only type of bike bla, bla, bla but what is worse for me, THE WORST is the people that don't even ride telling me that I should have bought a Harley! Come on people!!!! They stand there with a straight face and tell me why I should have bought a Harley when they have:

a) never owned a Harley
b) never owned a bike period
c) have probably never read a motorcycle test in their life

What is up with that!?!

It's even better when they start the conversation by first asking if the bike I'm riding is a Harley (Extremely bad start if you're about to lecture me on your incredible knowledge of bikes!!!).

Rant over

mlinder · « **Reply #37 on:** August 03, 2006, 09:49:02 AM »

Quote from: StevieMac on August 03, 2006, 08:13:40 AM

It is annoying when anyone tells me their bike is the only type of bike bla, bla, bla but what is worse for me, THE WORST is the people that don't even ride telling me that I should have bought a Harley! Come on people!!!! They stand there with a straight face and tell me why I should have bought a Harley when they have:

a) never owned a Harley
b) never owned a bike period
c) have probably never read a motorcycle test in their life

What is up with that!?!

It's even better when they start the conversation by first asking if the bike I'm riding is a Harley (Extremely bad start if you're about to lecture me on your incredible knowledge of bikes!!!).

Rant over

Are you saying... That bike in your avatar... isn't a SPORTSTER?? omg.

Seriously though, I love ALL bikes. The most fun I had with work people ever was our monthly road trip that we had when I worked at Film Roman. One of the guys would pick out about an 800 mile roadtrip for us to do. We'd go.

In that lineup was:
BMW r75/5
BMW 1100gs
Race prepped gsxr 600
70's harley chopper
Honda Shadow
BMW 600gs
Older Katana
crazy early 80's Kawi 750 frankenstien ratbike (that thing was crazy, and would pull on most of these bikes from 40 to 110)

And we would pick up 3 to 10 random riders of ALL sorts for part, or most, of the trip.
Didn't matter what you rode.
It was all waves and bug-laden grins the entire way.
We got the biker hand signal from nearly every biker going the other way, no matter what they were riding.

We, as a group, being motorcyclists, need to realise we have something important in common. A love for the road and two wheels and wind and sunburned skin, of feeling happily exhausted and sorely content after a spirited canyon carve or a long range cruise.
The comradery of our similarities should outweigh the differences in our personal taste of bikes.
We help each other on the road, even when we don't know each other. We wink to each other as we pull up to the rock store or cold springs tavern or any other place we congregate. When we come to a place that isn't only bikers, we tend to sit nearer to each other than the people that came on the tour bus or SUVs.
We are not cagers. We are bikers.

dusterdude · « **Reply #38 on:** August 03, 2006, 10:04:10 AM »

aint no sportster,its a softtail.

mlinder · « **Reply #39 on:** August 03, 2006, 10:20:16 AM »

Quote from: dusterdude on August 03, 2006, 10:04:10 AM

aint no sportster,its a softtail.

Well, his tailpiece IS made of a harley tank....

StevieMac · « **Reply #40 on:** August 03, 2006, 10:31:18 AM »

Quote from: mlinder on August 03, 2006, 10:20:16 AM

Quote from: dusterdude on August 03, 2006, 10:04:10 AM
aint no sportster,its a softtail.

Well, his tailpiece IS made of a harley tank....

dusterdude · « **Reply #41 on:** August 03, 2006, 01:51:53 PM »

you got it

angeldeville · « **Reply #42 on:** August 03, 2006, 02:33:16 PM »

I am very guilty of being a Honda/Vintage snob.

I'm the guy that doesn't wave back at you, because I'm too cool on my vintage Honda. But I am trying to lighten up! So if I neglected to wave back at you at any point, I apologize, and will wave first next time.

I tend to forget that all of us on 2 wheels, no matter our reasons for being there, are still just people trying to get a few minutes of enjoyment out of a crappy day/life.

Sorry....

seaweb11 · « **Reply #43 on:** August 03, 2006, 11:35:16 PM »

eldar · « **Reply #44 on:** August 04, 2006, 06:23:30 AM »

Maybe we should start an anti-bmw thread? I think it would be hard to carry it on though. they do run decent and are good bikes, it is just the riders that have trouble staying up couse of their enormous egos!

dusterdude · « **Reply #45 on:** August 04, 2006, 07:51:57 AM »

all bs aside,i think i have more issues with goldwing riders than anyone else.

eldar · « **Reply #46 on:** August 04, 2006, 08:10:34 AM »

Yeah, in most cases, gw riders are like bmw riders. Too good for ANYONE not on their type of ride.

Klark Kent · « **Reply #47 on:** August 04, 2006, 08:18:37 AM »

Why does this remind me of the current political situation in the US? i'll tell you. We have two very different points of view (liberal and conservative) that in theory are both represented in large numbers by real people. On the roads we have the same thing in the form of cagers and riders. But the cagers (conservatives) are well represented on the road and the riders (liberals) are characterized by isolating and castrating infighting. We all agree that our biggest enemy is the cagers and we would all benefit from advances in the rights of riders, but still we spend our time separating ourselves from our fellow riders based on minor differences in how or what we ride. The only idfference i can see is that unlike liberal minded americans, we riders are an actual minority, and need to stick together even moreso because of that. Anyone out there on two wheels has my solidarity.
-KK

nickjtc · « **Reply #48 on:** August 04, 2006, 10:11:42 AM »

As the resurrector of this thread (sorry...??) perhaps I should be the one to formally close it.

Good points by one and all.

Now let's go out and ride and enjoy ourselves, and not worry about what the other rider is thinking.........

cbjunkie · « **Reply #49 on:** August 04, 2006, 01:03:11 PM »

is that the last word?

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Author Topic: Another snide Harley topic (Read 5361 times)

MT550

eldar

eldar