Annoying things people say to motorcyclists

[bikerbob5864]

Sure..........I get that.........I live in a resort town. In the Summer I like to sit down by the Lake (Downtown) by the City Park/Band Shell and watch the World pass by. Really relaxing.
(I'm retired BTW, so I don't really have anything to do on my lunch hour)LOL  Anyway, when I'm sitting there........I get asked a lot of questions from tourists. The town I live in is where Buddy Holley played his last concert, and then died in a plane crash about 3miles Northwest of town, so..............people want to find the ballroom where he played and the crash site. Lots of bikers here too........and tourers, so talk eventually turns to bikes.............and then the fun begins!!!!!!!!!!

[LarryInSeattle]

I don't like to be rude to anyone........but like 49Reo said.........for some reason alot of Harley riders feel they have a right to comment on everyone's ride. I like to talk to people, talk about bikes, cars, engines........anything with gears, grease, gas and goes boom!!!!..................so when I'm talking to someone I just met, I want to talk about our mutual likes..........not what I don't like......especially about him/her, or their ride choice. I don't have so many friends that I can afford to alienate a possible............besides.............I like to be nice......that's why my Wife calls me Honeybear!  Reo, it'll be okay.............bad moods are like farts.......they may stink for a little while.......but if you don't stay with them...........you leave them behind!!!

I understand what you are saying.  I am talking about a spectator buying gas for his tattered 96 Ford Explorer.... and wants to talk to me about my motorcycle when I am trying to get something done over my lunch break.  I like to talk motorcycles too, but when I got time to do so and it is with someone whom I might have a 2nd conversation sometime. 

[bikerbob5864]

I don't like to be rude to anyone........but like 49Reo said.........for some reason alot of Harley riders feel they have a right to comment on everyone's ride. I like to talk to people, talk about bikes, cars, engines........anything with gears, grease, gas and goes boom!!!!..................so when I'm talking to someone I just met, I want to talk about our mutual likes..........not what I don't like......especially about him/her, or their ride choice. I don't have so many friends that I can afford to alienate a possible............besides.............I like to be nice......that's why my Wife calls me Honeybear!  Reo, it'll be okay.............bad moods are like farts.......they may stink for a little while.......but if you don't stay with them...........you leave them behind!!!

[LarryInSeattle]

My answer has become very standardized whenever someone approaches me on my bike.  "I would stay and chat, but I am already behind.  I gotta split now."

If someone is on a motorcycle and starts up a conversation with me at the gas station, I might just say, "Nice day for a ride."  I no longer really care what they think of me or my bike.  I like the style of the bike, so that is all that matters to me.

[49Reo]

Getting advice from most Harley owners, whether solicited or not, and usually it is not, on what it's worth, what is right, etc, is usually going to end in a not good way. Opinions are like q$$holes; everybody has 'em, mostly they all stink. Go with what you like, and  to he!! with everybody with a half-baked opinion.

Oh, by the way, did anyone notice I'm in a lousy mood?

[bikerbob5864]

With my Custom softail, because it is a Handbuilt, I always get the "resale" thing from the Harley faithful. I built mine, and it stops people all the time.........even had the paper write an article about it........yet........it "ain't worth nuthin', cause it ain't a Harley". I'm new to the Drifter scene, tho I've always thought they were cool as can be. I bought a Classic !500 for 2up riding a few years ago, and wound up riding it more than I did my Custom! The Kawi was just more comfortable, easier to ride and less nerve wracking than my Big Inch S&S. Like Troll, I'm a converted Harley rider, and the Drifter is for my Dad.......because he rode and Indian Inline 4 years ago,as well as a Duo Glide. My 1st Bike was a BSA, then a Triumph...........love'em all................

[moosewayne]

Had a good one the other day.

Guy gave my ride the once over, said "real pretty....but ya know, they still make real Indians"

Me (former Gilroy Chief owner): "Yeah, but I wanted a bike that started"

[chief]

Oh heck!  Forget those religions.  I ended up starting my own cult and I make the rules up as I go along.   

Sounds like half the religions out there right now...

[ratze]

LOL, missed you guys.

[DC]

spit my tea all over the rec room reading this....DC I never realized you were a Muslim, or is it a Mormon, with more then one wife at a time, no wonder you want to have a bike to get away from them.....

Oh heck!  Forget those religions.  I ended up starting my own cult and I make the rules up as I go along.   

[CDNRatMan]

with one of my wives at the time

spit my tea all over the rec room reading this....DC I never realized you were a Muslim, or is it a Mormon, with more then one wife at a time, no wonder you want to have a bike to get away from them.....

[DC]

You shop at Wal-Mart......lol.......last time I went to Wal-Mart with my sister and her family, I was sent to the car after about 15 mins in the store......because I kept pointing out the Wal-Mart people from the internet to my sister's kids.......she did not thin k it was funny, but the kids did....and they are like 19 and 20.....lol....

Good come back, you older people always have good come backs.........

Funny WalMart(tm) story .  .. . . Some years back I was in the check out line with one of my wives at the time and the 20-something cashier starts hitting on me with my wife standing right there.  The cashier didn't care.  She meant business!

Cashier:  So what are you doing tonight?

Me:  Um, I've got stuff to do.

Cashier:  You want to party?  We can party somewhere.

Me:  No, I don't think so.  No partying for me.

Cashier:  Why not?  Let's party.

Me: By!

[CDNRatMan]

     Nothing more satisfying then arriving at a gathering of bikes, and on purpose park away from the main stream of bikes, then sit back and watch the people doing the walk by but I ain't looking at your bike to see what it is. then the double take......lol.....pretty cool

My favorite however is the people who insist on telling me I don't own a real Indian, then act surprised and confused about it and say really.....

[dakuhosu]

Nothing annoying yet, but I'm still pretty new to the biker scene. In the Harley vs The World of other motorcycles you have to give it up for Harley. It's all about the Harley, even in here it's not Drifter vs Indian, it's Drifter vs Harley. We all want the respect of Harley owners. I'll admit it I get a special sort of feeling when some guy on a kick-ass Bagger almost breaks his neck to get a better look at my $3500 bike. That was the whole purpose of my build, to beat a Harley out in the visual impact arena. I must admit I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Almost every stop results in pictures o video, funny the only time I was ever left alone was when there were about 30 bikers at a gas station in Pagosa Springs, I was desperate for gas so I had to stop, I got not a single look from a group of the loudest looking Baggers you ever saw, and one Indian Chopper. I think they were too busy working on the bikes to notice. I revved up on the way out and heard laughter over my exhaust note. I think they were savvy to my scam. 

[Troll]

The prices are good, and then there is always the free show.....

[CDNRatMan]

  You shop at Wal-Mart......lol.......last time I went to Wal-Mart with my sister and her family, I was sent to the car after about 15 mins in the store......because I kept pointing out the Wal-Mart people from the internet to my sister's kids.......she did not thin k it was funny, but the kids did....and they are like 19 and 20.....lol....

Good come back, you older people always have good come backs.........

[Troll]

  Soooo, I ride over the the local Wal-Mart to do the weekly grocery shopping this morning. I have my tunes playing, and as I pull up to park, this guy asks me what radio station I'm listening to. "South Rampart Street Parade" by the BBC Big Band is playing. I tell him it's an old bike with an old radio...he seemed satisfied with that.

[greenbarn]

at the gaspump, from the rolled-down window of his cage:   What year Indian is that?

me:  It's not an indian, it's a Kawasaki drifter

him:  Oh, so you just got indian fenders and stuff on it.....

[ChilliDrift]

Excellent info.. think I'll leave well enough alone for now...  the previous versions of the Cobra tuner required the o2 sensors had to incorporated in the wiring. The new one does not, as you said.. it basicly disables them. It makes real time infinate adjustments. I'm looking forward to seeing what it will do.. 2nd to 3rd will now lift the front wheel off the ground.. almost pulled the grips out of my hand. Had a kid on a cbr try to blow past me tonight on the on ramp... end result was him watching me leave him standing. This bike is fun to ride. Heck they all are I guess.. but having tunes is great for sure. I know you are enjoying that yourself.
Thanks Troll..

[Troll]

Yeah, well. here's an annoying thing. The fuel system on the Vaquero is VERY different from that of the Drifter. There are O2 sensors on the new ride, and it's called a closed loop or feedback system....like a car. \The Drifter uses an open loop or mapped fuel system which has values for each operating parameter preprogrammed in. From what I have read, the fuel tuner boxes all disable the O2 sensor and essentially take it back to the old days. You have several things to consider, now with this new bike...first and foremost is what will, and what will not void your warranty.

[ChilliDrift]

LOL....youth is often wasted on the dumbasses..lol thank God your there Brother.. glad you out riding.

Since your reading this can I pick you brain?,.. I've drilled 4 1/4 inch holes in the baffels of my vaquero.. I don't want to have to buy that cobra power pro unit yet, but wanted to see if I could improve what I had. I've added a k&n air filter... can I drill too many holes and have it running too rich. Or too lean I guess. to where I would need to buy the fuel processor in order to compensate for my drilling. 1 hole was good,.. 4 ended up great.. I'm wondering what 10 will do?... n

[Troll]

I guess this actually doesn't fit perfectly here, but... I was out running an errand for the Wife this evening. I had the stereo on the bike playing "No Moon at all" by Kai Winding and JJ Johnson. A car with some kids pulled up next to me at the light. The driver yelled...What the hell is that? I smiled and replied...It's music, I'm not surprised you don't recognize it.

[jmbo]

Two Harley Snob Stories:

I live near Milwaukee so I expect a little attitude from the guys who have a "God only made one REAL Motorcycle Complex" but even they surprise me sometimes.

(1) A couple years ago I stopped in at the bar that my son managed and joined a group of his buddied. Before I had my first barley pop, the guy next to me threw me the keys to his new V-Rod and told me to give 'er a rip. Who am I to say no.  We all went outside. I hopped on, fired it up and off I went.  Fast forward to the next day at work when I told the card carrying HOG member who worked for me that I rode a new Harley and thought it was a pretty sweet ride. She floored me when she turned her nose up and said, "WE don't consider THOSE (V-Rods) real Harleys."  This is a woman who road an 883 Sportster and had more invested in her riding togs than the bike.

(2) Durring the Hundredth Milwaukee went nuts.  So many Harleys you could hear the thunder 20 miles away.  Bikes parked handle bar to handle bar covering every inch of Milwaukee.  Since there was no room for cars, I rode my '74 Triumph Tiger in to check things out.  I found and open spot and parked on a side street between a couple of dressers.  Most old timers love Triumphs because it's what they all started riding on back in the day.   Guess there weren't any old timers in the crowd because when I returned a couple hours later I found my bike still parked in the same spot. Nobody touched my bike.  In fact no body parked near it. In fact there was a thirty foot on either side of of my bike.  Judging from the looks on the faces of the guys standing around, it was not out of respect.  Undaunted I hopped on, kicked it over, it popped right off (thank God) and I went off to enjoy the rest of my evening.

[45 Bravo]

49, I would have never gone that far..

Close, but not that far...

[CDNRatMan]

  WOW BC backwoods man...that is so old that Troll heard it back in 69..........