Apparently, we "don't get" motorcycling...

[chief]

Driving home from a business trip... on the interstate "at speed", good amount of traffic, but not bumper to bumper... I can see a sport bike weaving through traffic behind me... it gets beside me at about 80+ and pops a wheelie. Idiot... gets down the road passes an 18 wheeler and does it again.  This wasn't the first time we've seen this sort of behavior on the interstate. A pack of the them did the same thing in very busy interstate traffic going through Birmingham.

From my perspective this is the sort of person who "doesn't get" motorcycling and who gives the rest of us a bad name. (Back in the old days we invented the 1% deal because it was 1% of bikers who got us all labeled as misfits, etc.) This is another group who gets us all labeled.

[Troll]

I'll have to try harder, then    I dunno, I never thought too much about whether or not I "get" motorcycling. I ride. I ride a lot. I've put 52,000 miles on my Drifter since I get it up and running in 2010....I've put 14,000 on my W-650 during roughly the same time...do I "get it"? I suppose that's more dependent on what you are "supposed" to "get"....The one thing I get is that I can ride all day and be totally relaxed and happy at the end of a long trip. I love the challenge, and as mainly a solitary rider, I love the individual accomplishment. My first long trip was on a borrowed 250 Triumph in 1963....W. Palm Beach, FL to Key West and back in one long day....that was the beginning...so far, there is no end!

[kfoster]

The piece from Jalopnik is a rant for sure. However, there are lots of people on bikes in the U. S. who are very annoying to others. Rolling Harley roadblocks are annoying. Hoards of squids on sportbikes are annoying.

A couple of riders just minding their own business never gets any press. Why should it. Polite people never cause a ruckus or attract attention.

Let's face it.....there are lots of bikes bought on credit that languish in garages all over the U. S. An image was sold that people purchased before 2008. Once times got tough, people stopped purchasing bikes unless they really wanted to ride. Hence, the sport-touring guys and adventure riders stayed in the game. People who ride Drifters stopped buying before that

Now....where do we fit? I don't find anyone here annoying!

[kawasaki.addict]

The only people.who don't get motorcycling are the people who keep creating restrictive laws against them or the people who support such laws. In some parts of new england it is actually illegal for a group of 5 or more bikes to ride together without purchasing a group event permit. I understand the need for people to wear helmets but making laws forcing it to me is just anti american. Forcing your opinion on a group of people as law is bullshit. If you ride you get motorcycling jmo

[John Hopkins]

I don't think you can slot a "biker" into any category, or any perameters, many bikers ride because it is the only form of transport they can afford to get to work..

Motorcycle dispatch riders probably ride more than anyone else on the planet.

It really comes down to if someone owns a bike, and rides it, he can call himself a biker.

As far as I'm concerned we all "get motorcycling."

John.

[gdrudd13]

Chief, very well put, I like it.

Sorry, this was kind of a mini rant. I actually deleted quite a bit of what I was originally going to say with the initial post. It just kind of rubbed me the wrong way from the start. It didn't end well either. A guy commented that he won't ride because he had two close friends die on motorcycles. Fair enough, I can't blame him, that sucks. The author took a different point of view and said they died because they were riding like idiots. Really? Yeah, that paints motorcyclists in a great light as unemotional a$$holes. He narrows down what he considers the "true motorcyclists" to the point where it includes no one. Only people on THESE motorcycles wearing super high dollar safety gear from head to toe "get motorcycling". That got me thinking about what my definition of a true motorcyclist is. Here's a not very organized definition.

I think a true motorcyclist is someone who rides because they truly want to, and enjoy it. They may ride alone to get away from people. They might ride with a group of friends because that's the only time they spend together. They may ride just to ride and don't care who with or where they end up. They may ride for the memories and stories of the open road. Whatever the reason though they all have one thing in common, they ride. They don't have to like every bike, or every rider, but they'll stop to help if they can if they see a rider in need. They may not ride year round, but they'll ride every chance they get. They don't ride for any one reason, and some of the reasons may not make sense. When someone asks they either can't find a way to put it in words or it takes so long to list all the reasons people think they're crazy (although in some cases that might be true as well lol). They ride however they're comfortable riding and accept the risks associated with that decision if that means not riding with certain pieces of safety gear. But no matter what, they enjoy it.

Kind of long, but you guys get the drift. I know everyone has they're own definition, but that's mine.

[chief]

People ride for a million different reasons. Those few who think they are the only true "bikers/motorcyclists" usually are neither.

[John Hopkins]

Don't get excited, it's just one mans rant probably written because he was paid for it, I skimmed all the way down to Harleys electric bike but I couldn't read it all..it was too boring.

Biking for most of us really started after the second world war, because the goverments had their usual cutbacks and sold off hundreds of thousands of motorcycles to wholesalers who filtered them down to the public..we all bought big ex army bikes because we could afford them and most of us still like the old twins..we had BSA's and Norton's, the Ruskies had Urals, the Nazi's had BMW's and you had Indian's and Harley's..all twins.

We have a joke question over here..

What is a biker?

John.

[gdrudd13]

http://lanesplitter.jalopnik.com/why-no-one-will-sell-you-the-bike-you-want-1641411378/1641776874/+damon

I just read this. So irritating on so many levels. And as for the subject, if you read it you'll get to the part about how apparently only people on adventure bikes and sport tourers "get" motorcycling. If you weren't already irritated, read some of the stuff he writes in the comments.

Obviously I don't agree with him on a lot of points. Just thought I'd share.