Up to "here" with Harley riders and others (at times)

[shooter]

53 I can't add much to that. It was pretty much spot on for me. I have one guy I ride with most of the time. My brother in law Roger. Its a thing of beauty. We think alike. We ride alike. I'm better looking. Roger rides an Ultra Classic Limited. His skill level is 'advanced'. Best HD rider I've ever seen. We have great rides. Buddy I like your style. If you're ever in MO give me shout. I'll loan you Shay-Shay and I'll crawl on the 9. Me , you , and Roger can take a ride.

[bob109]

I bought a motorcycle not a image

What the hell is "helmet hair"! I have a "crew cut"

I have never worn a "Doo Rag"! I keep one in my back pocket for blowing my nose! It's "red" in case I have to haul a long 2X4

My "Maker" gifted me with 6'2" height and 32" inseam. No need for "platform shoes"

My leather jacket is unadorned, plain and simple and easy to clean

My helmet is like my leather jacket, unadorned but for the DOT Sticker

Solo riding is like good sex! Group riding is like a "orgy". Ya never know what's going to pop up

There are "Old Riders" and there are "Bold Riders" but there are few "Old Bold Riders"

I bought a "Heavy Cruise" knowing it wasn't a Crotch Rocket! I ride it accordingly

If I want to make sparks when I ride I'll buy a "Low Rider Car or Truck

The craziest thigh I do motorcycling is "Dark Side"

When you figure you've "mastered riding", "riding will master you"

100 Proof Southern Comfort makes for great posting

[Bryster]

Like those!

[stroguy]

The ramblings of experience, love it.

'Willfull Ignorance', my new title for some I work with. I am a bureaucrat, I have rooms full of ignorant people to deal with on a daily basis.

Thanks for the smile Steve. Needed that after the NJ tornado came through.

Do you have a recipe for Veal Parmesan? The best I ever had was from a Jersey Italian displaced to Houston. It was ground like hamburger, shaped into a football, breaded and fried. I miss the NE for the better seafood and great Italian.

[Old Ryder]

Humans are very strange in their behavior patterns. Reading some of the posts here is very entertaining. We make an image of who we want to be and then we spend our lives trying to live up to that. We tell our children about the dangers of peer pressure-----------only to discover that grown ups are just as influenced by peer pressure as their 4th grader. Imagine that!

I own 4 "helmet liners"--- not doo rags. I like to put them on out of sight because I DON'T WANT to be viewed as one of those guys. One of the main reasons I left Harley, was to distance myself from that image that so many are rushing to embrace. When I get the "Harley snub" it does make me a bit miffed, but that is soon replaced by pity. They may see themselves as big, bad Billy Bad Ass--- I see a fully grown 11 year old wanting to be with the popular crowd in school. It's not just in the motorcycle world, either. Try speaking your mind against a politically protected group and see what happens, especially if you own a business such as Chick-Fil-a--Duck Calls or you are a member of the media or a public figure. Personally, I don't care as I am mostly neutral in almost all matters and what one person does or thinks is their personal freedom, but the point I am making is that society as a whole exerts a lot of pressure to think and conform to the ever changing standards of the opinion of the masses. Freethinkers are becoming scarce. If you speak your mind and you are poor, you are called crazy. If you speak your mind and you are wealthy, then you are brilliant. A good example is Steve Jobs. A lot of people admired him, but nobody who worked for him wanted to be caught in the elevator with him.

30 years ago you were looked down on if you had facial hair and rode a Harley----now they look down on you if you don't. If I may quote your mother from years ago---"If everybody else jumped off a cliff, would you?"


PS--- I learned long ago about the dangers of posting while drinking. Very dangerous.

[Surfndad]

Love that story.

And now for something completely different....

or or
(pick whatever you like)

I have a Harley.
She's 20 years old this year.
Bought her in 2001 with less than 3000 miles.
Previous owner put in new cams, new intake, better carb, better ignition, whole crap ton of performance stuff.
She's pretty well chromed out - Steve would approve.
She has a Thunderheader exhaust and she's embarrassingly loud at times.
She makes 80 hp with 80 cu in.
Almost 20,000 miles now. (she was 1 of 4 bikes until last year, now she's 1 of 2)

I'm a lifetime HOG member.
I do not play in my local chapter anymore.
I own a lot of stock in HD.
I don't wear Harley gear.
I don't put stickers everywhere. (F6B or Harley)
I wear a big BMG nylon jacket with kevlar or CHP leather jacket and leather chaps for my ATGATT
Plus a full face Shoei helmet.
And the orange or green reflective vest, conditions dictating.
People ask why I dress like a BMW rider and ride a Harley.

Dyed-in-the-wool Harley riders shun me.
They don't understand ATGATT.
Then they don't understand how my 20 year old girl leaves their 2013 Springer in the dust.
Then they don't understand why they can't keep up with me in turns ("Oh, if I went that fast, I'd scrape my precious floorboards...")
No. The answer is you don't know how to properly ride a two wheeled vehicle.

Bottom line: Harley riders, as a congress of riders, are really great, giving people, but, they are about the most average to below average riders I have witnessed.
Hell, some of the HOG Road Captains couldn't pass a BRC2. We took 12 in a special class we setup specifically for them.
I knew most of them when I wrote part of the local HOG Safety Newsletter.
10 showed, the other 2 pontificated prior to the class to the others going that they "couldn't learn anything" from the course so they opted not to show.
6 passed.
2 failed the final practical.
2 didn't complete the course - it was too hard / too hot.

This is why I do not do group rides well. I find "the masses" to be unpredictable and I don't enjoy the ride when I'm watching out for everyone else.
I have to build a trust with anyone I ride with through experience. You can only increase your skill by riding/playing/working/fornicating with people who are better than you are.
They are out there.....I try to find them as often as possible.
Also....
I do not do concerts well. I'm a professional sound engineer and I seldom enjoy a show.
I do not fly as a passenger very well. I'm a professional pilot and I know what the guy in the front seat doesn't know.
I do not suffer poor food and beverage well. My wife is a gourmet chef and we make our own wine. Having written that...Waffle House rocks...
I do not tolerate cruelty to animals but I can kill easily a human who wanted me dead, and sleep peacefully.
Finally, I do not do well with fools. My mother always taught me that "maybe they are doing the best they can" - so they get the initial benefit of the doubt.
However, my one prejudice is "willful ignorance." When a load of facts cleverly disguised as 2x4s keeps beating you about the head and shoulders and you still don't learn?
I have no time for you and really wish you wouldn't bother to reproduce.
EndEx.

PS - i probably shouldn't drink straight tequila and post......

Great write up, and of course drink your tequila straight try Don Julio 1942

[opas ride]

Just a "quick" story about my neighbors across the street. Man and wife who both ride Harley's...one a Sportster, the other an 883 Hugger. The wife never rides with a helmet and the husband wears one of those silly little "beanies" that cost about $10..The other day the wife took off again, straight pipes so damn loud the house shook, as she came by my house I happened to be at the end of the driveway so I shouted, somewhat in jest, where is your helment?..She replied 'It is on the back of the bike in case I need it"!!...Typical answer as she is not wrapped to tight....Ride safe

[hiflyer]

Harley needs to expand their horizons like Victory.

http://www.ridermagazine.com/latest-...st-trophy.htm/

[Doug44]

Harley Davidsions are great motorcycles 90% of them ever made are still on the road, the other 10% made it home.

[srt8-in-largo]

Thanks mate.
Her carpaccio is amazing....no knife needed, just the fork.
Baked asparagus with bacon and sea salt.
Paired with one our Chilean Malbecs and it is awesome chow.
Chocolate raspberry port with cheeses for dessert.

Now I'm all hungry again....

I don't even know what most of those things are, but I'm sure it's delicious