Being a rider.. fact or fiction

[rodburner]

Thanks man...Its depressing....Can't work on the Pontiac either due to the damm injury, so I'm stuck with no toys to play with & just the commuter cars to drive

I feel your pain Ace. I put 23,000 miles on my Bonnie in the first 4 years,riding after work and weekends only,and put,MAYBE 2500 miles on, in the last 2 years of Jeri's life. The bike became totally secondary in importance,as far as just jumping on and going for a ride. I have nearly destroyed the thing with my continuous tinkering,but damn it ,I was still a "biker",even if my biking experience was only a 20' radius from my garage door. I like bikes,going for an occasional longer ride,or just a spin around the block. Its all biking to me,but it pales in comparison to being there for your wife. I hope you both get better soon.
Steve

 

[Nick Morey]

I am also sorry to here of your slump, Ace. It sucks that sometimes life gets in the way of our own plans and all, but things do turnaround. Here's hoping that things turnaround for you & your wife, as quickly as possible!

 

[Sal Paradise]

I know Pikey has a facebook page,you might want to try that..

 

[T-boy]

I haven't ridden my Bonnie in a YEAR due to a very sick wife & then hurting myself at work & being unable to ride....

But, I am still a biker....

Indeed you are! Best of wishes to you & your wife.

 

[steamfitter]

you know what kills me is that people think you are only a "biker" if you own a harley. i call myself a biker, not because of what i ride, but because i ride. i guess in a way, i consider myself an outcast all the way around. i don't fit in with the harley guys cause i don't have all of the leather, tassels, and bags, but i maybe don't fit in with the triumph guys either. all i know is that i am a triumph bonneville rider who loves the Pabst, loves the rockabilly, has WAY to many tattoos, and does the TON more than my wife needs to know! does that make me a biker or just an individual?-keith

 

[B06Tang]

I don't know if I can agree with you on the Pabst but I definitely agree with you that it doesn't matter what you ride. Triumph, HD, Indian, Norton...whatever. I agree as well that saying you are a biker has a strong element of individualism to it for me as well. I am out by myself the vast majority of the times with a map tucked away in my back pocket and checking things out. I'm definitely not a pack rider but with that said, I will join up with folks every once in a while for the hell of it. Truth be told though, it is the rides out on my own when I am by myself that I always look forward to the most.

 

[Sal Paradise]

I think there is too much emphasis on the lifestyle crap. $500 jackets, aftermarket this or that..who fuking cares? I sometimes have more fun riding my old beat 250 down to the store wearing a tee shirt and sneakers than anything else. You should see the looks of envy from the old dudes in their cages at the autoparts store. They stare and stare... yes its all that much fun...pure fun.

Maybe just finding a real use for your bike would do it. Erands or just a short run into town in the evening can be great..

It doesn't have to be epic cross country riding.hundrds of miles... just don't worry about it, its a bike .Just ride it around.

 

[Nick Morey]

:scooter: I couldn't agree with you more Sal, I fell in love with riding with my first mini bike, riding all over on back dirt roads, all over the friggen place up here. Don't know just when it became about image or ATGATT (although that is probably a good idea), but it's really about just whether you enjoy riding or not, not if you are a rider or not. :cheers:

 

[pepper]

I don't concern myself if a guy is all covered in tattoos and on a kick-start Harley or if he's a weekend warrior rider, or a sport-bike rider or a dirt rider. Whatever. If you're riding and enjoying, that's great.

+1

I don't care what you look like, what you ride or how long/often you ride. I'll still wave to you, help you if you're broke down on the side of the road and talk bikes over a cold beer if given a chance. It's a lot more fun to share the common love of motorcycles than to go negative over the differences in how people live their lives.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Pepper, thats the perfect segway to this- I just rode down to the auto parts store on the old 250 Suzi. This old African American guy getting out of a car sees me pull up and he yells out in a deep southern voice "she run good or what?" He comes over and we just chat for 15 minutes about bikes. Turns out he has a late model Road King in his garage but just picked up an orphaned 1980 Honda CB900 with 7000 miles and he is fixing it up. We ended up going into the store talking about carbs and stuff and it suddenly struck me - he was just the absolute coolest old guy. So I stopped for a moment and I just listened to him. It was so great to hear him talk about jets and pitot tubes and so great to see a guy well up in his 60's excited about bringing a dead old bike back to life.

I don't exactly know what point I'm trying to make, but you probably understand. It was just cool.And no biker image BS...

 

[musicswapshoppe]

Talking 60+ yrs reminded me of a sketch in the film freebird, I keep raving about. Joe is probably more like 70+ tho

JOE "God man I almost wish I was coming with you. Firing up the old bonneville heading up in the mountain country"

FRED "Didnt know you could ride a bike Joe"

JOE "Its in here fred. I put some miles down right in here (pointing at brain). Thats where most people do there journeys. In here"


I guess at the end of the day thats where all are rides end up. In our memory. If never seen Freebird I recommend it as the best bike film ever. http://dev.freebirdmovie.com/website-rebuild/synopsis/ But my mates would probably tell you I have some weird ideas of good films

 

[Slick Willy]

Sal,
I had a similar experience at the flea market yesterday.
An elderly black gentleman approached my wife an I and asked me if he was too old to be riding a motorcycle. He said he was 69 years old and hadn't ridden in a few years, I was wearing a Triumph t-shirt and carrying my jacket.
He appeared to be in good physical condition and seemed to have a good mind.
I told him he should consider the motorcycle course at the local community college and make his decision after that. I mentioned that was the route I took and I'm 60.
He thanked me for the advise. I certainly don't look like a stereotypical biker, don't want to be called a biker, but I sure enjoy getting out on the Bonnie.