Thursday, August 04, 2005

Respect the Two-Wheeled Traveler

There's an unwritten code among motorcyclists: respect is shared among two-wheeled aficionados only if you can prove you are worthy of it.

I've mentioned before that I don't really "fit-in" with most motorcycle clubs. I ride what marketing types have labelled an "Adventure-tourer"; in other words, a motorcycle built for long distance travel over various types of terrain. I'm not limited by the boundaries of asphalt roads and highways; dirt and gravel suit me fine. My bike has a large fuel capacity, which allows me to cover about 600kms before taking a break to fuel-up (which I often do). Because this whole adventure touring thing isn't really the norm here in North America, I often get strange looks from the "Biker" crowd... They don't really know what to make of me and my too-tall half-faired steed. The squids sort've brush me off too; since they can't figure out what exactly it is I'm riding. This all suits me fine, as I didn't get into motorcycling for the "cool" factor.

What I have found, however, is that most motorcyclists - regardless what flavour of bike they're riding - tend to show some curtesy and respect when I meet them. Maybe this is because they can tell by looking at my setup that I'm not just in it for "show". The tankbag, sidecases and topcase, GPS, heated grips and full rider gear are there because I need them; they all serve their intended purpose. I log some serious miles on my bike; often doing over 1200kms per day. For some reason, other motorcyclists respect this, and I've often found myself sitting with the leather-chaps-with-fringe crowd at a roadside diner in some forgotten town.

Here's my personal breakdown of motorcyclists according to what they ride:
  • Harley Davidson: You'll meet really great people who ride Harleys. You'll also meet complete assholes who are nothing more than poseurs. The nice folks are almost always the ones who actually ride. The assholes are the ones who add bling and trailer their precious chrome collections to rallies.
  • Crotch Rockets: You'll meet really great people who ride sport bikes. You'll also meet complete assholes who are nothing more than poseurs. The nice folks are almost always the ones who actually ride. The assholes are the ones who spend thousands trying to get an extra 7hp out of their precious inline-4's and carry dyno charts in their wallet to prove it.
  • Luxury Tourers (Goldwing, K1200LT, etc.): You'll meet really great people who ride luxury tourers. You'll also meet complete assholes who are nothing more than poseurs. The nice folks are almost always the ones who actually ride. The assholes are the ones ride but somehow believe that the fact that they paid the price of a small house for their two-wheeled Camry gives them the right to be whiney geriatric diaper-fillers.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

Rule of thumb: be good to your fellow motorcyclist. Doesn't matter what you ride - as long as you ride.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't really agree with you. I've got a Vulcan 1500 that I ride purely for fun on weekends and around town - does that make me less of a biker than you? I don't think so. If you flip the coin you'll see that bikers like me also get annoyed when bikers like you pull that old elitist bullshit out of your saddlebags.

Lucky said...

Whoa! You must've misunderstood what I was talking about. Didn't mean any disrespect - if you ride and you're happy with it (regardless of distance) then thumbs up to ya!

Let me try and condense my previous entry into a few words: poseurs are bad, riders are good. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I was going to write a long speech but intead I decided to go for a ride.
enjoy your bike's, japanese, europeen on made in f..... usa, it's the ride...

Lucky said...

"it's the ride..." - my point exactly.

Anonymous said...

Agree with your whole point. Hate most Harley riders who generally just go from bar to bar because the piece of crap they ride is too uncomfortable to take on a real trip. Chrome on a motorcycle is a waste of time, money and chrome.

Lucky said...

Anonymous - I think the key word in your comment is "most" Harley riders... I've got a few friends who ride HD's and they're a great bunch. I simply have a real problem with people who add thousands of dollars worth of bling to their bikes, never really ride, yet come off with some attitude like they're the real thing. I don't care how much somebody paid for their bike, and if it's a HD, Jap or BMW, if that person doesn't actually ride then they can't justify having an attitude.