Up to "here" with Harley riders and others (at times)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jm21ddd15
I never owned a Harley. Had a nice metric cruiser, and did enjoy it. However, I never really figured out why the Harley people have to dress like walking billboards for H-D. And around this part of the country, if they own a pick-up truck, it has a big H-D sticker in the back window. I asked one of them once, if they had a Chevy sticker on the bike. He gave me a stupid look and asked why would he do that? I responded, your proud of your bike, as you have the sticker on the truck, are you ashamed of your truck? He didn't get the point, so I dropped the issue. :shrug:
Love that story.
And now for something completely different....
:pop: or :301: or :soapbox:
(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......
Gotta love the tequila............
Must have been a special day.... I'm sitting here trying to think up something to say that would add something, 'cause I really agree with a lot of what you said but I'm coming up short. Especially love the part about your Mom, she must have been a saint. But the truth is "you can't fix stupid", and I know too many Harley riders that can't get past their own image and the local bar. God forbid you ask them to do a 500 mile day - for a week. Oh, well, to each his own. I have seen many of your posts, and it doesn't seem like there are too many F6B's out your way. I grew up a short distance from you in the Glenside area, but left 40 years ago. Usually go back to the Phila / Ocean City area once a year to see family and get pizza at Manco & Manco (liked Mack & Manco better) on the Ocean City boardwalk. Not many left of the family, but the Pizza is still the best I've ever had. Depending on timing this year I might be able to give you a shout and a drive-by. Keep posting, I for one really enjoy your comments.
My mother used to go to large events and just watch the people for fun
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. :shrug: 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. :catfight: 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. :yikes: Very dangerous.