Go Buy a REAL Motorcycle!!!

[WOWSkunk]

I was down in the south when filling up the gas tank on my 750 Maxim with about 100,000 miles on it, heading home to New York. All of a sudden I hear some guy yelling from the back of a pickup truck "you should be riding a Harley". I just ignored him. The next year I'm heading home from Arkansas, still on the 750 Maxim with more then 100,000 miles on it. I stop for gas out in the middle of no where when an Harley riding 1%er pulls in. I got nervous right away about what was going to happen next. Guy comes right over to me and starts a conversation about how great it was to see a lady traveling alone such a long way and how he wished his wife would ride her own.

To this day, I worry less about people actually riding a Harley talking to me then guys in pickup trucks.

 

[TPadden]

My standard Harley answer is:

I could afford the bike couldn't afford the wardrobe !

 

[Shane Stump]

While I don't have a FJR1300 yet (coming in May), a lot of HD riders try to razz me on the GL1800.

I just tell them I would love to own a HD but I ride about 45,000 miles a year and I can't afford that kind of mileage trailering my bike in the back of a pickup that only gets 10 mpg !

Best Regards,

Shane

 

[zzkenoman]

Just ask then who holds there balls? Bet there is a "made in china" label under them leathers..lol Or just tell them its not a rice burner its a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious bike!

 

[vagabond]

Three of us rode to Sturgis from Houston, last august. Fjr, goldwing and cbr1000f. 3500 miles roundtrip in 7 days. NO mechanical failures. Coming back, the highway was littered with "Hardleys" stuck with mechanical issues. But as their sticker reads, "I'd rather walk than ride a Honda."

 

[bikerskier]

TWN

Have seen some of your pals leaning against their faded red pickups here on some of Oregon's back roads. Would not want to stop to ask directions and have to discuss the merits of 'sickles. These characters are not restricted to AL.

Thanks for the laugh, you do have great library of photos to match the thread of the moment.

 

[Silver Penguin]

My standard Harley answer is:
I could afford the bike couldn't afford the wardrobe !

But you can pick up chaps and a vest at the booze/breast/bike shows for dirt cheap. Add a ratty t-shirt, a novelty helmet and $1.50 for a DOT sticker...... or did you want the little orange logo that adds $100?

Jill

 

[FlyingLow]

This is almost as bad, or maybe worse. I used to have a Sportster model. I never referred to it as a "Harley", and I had to endure similar verbal abuse about not being a real Harley, etc.

One time a girl Harley rider underestimated me and said something like "Well, maybe one day you can move up to a Big Twin". [!!!]

 

[airboss]

I can't have an HD, not allowed to ride without a helmut & att the gear. aladin:

 

[radman]

I just smile, then kill them.

 

[MSLPILOT]

My story - sorry, I just gotta share:

Riding my Roadstar, stopped at Coldstone Creamery in Warrenton, VA. Let me preface it by saying the in-breading, illiterate, cow-tipping, sheep f------ you speak of are not all "hunkered down" in 'Bama.

Ok, so this guy gets out of truck with two boys - ladened in cowboy gear, smelling like a pig factory - and says: "Daaaaaamn boys. Take a look at that bike. Now that's a REAL bike boys."

Me: "Thanks."

Guy: "Y'no, I kint undastand why them guys keep buyin' them Jap bikes an' dressin' em up to look like a Hardley (Ok, he said Harley but I can use creative license if I want.). I mean, that's one perdy bike. Eh boys?"

Boys: "Yes diddy."

Me thinking, but too afraid to say: "I can tell you ride - *******."

Guy: "You been ridin' long time?"

Me: "About 15 minutes." (Ok, I admit it. I lived there "for a spell".)

Guy: "Kin you start 'er up so my boys can here it."

Me: "Yes, but only because it's a Yamaha..."

Guy: Confused. Confounded. Dumbfounded. - Can't speak. :fool:

I start my bike and beat feet out of there before he can grasp the situation and reach for the shotgun in his back window...Went back 30 minutes later for my ice cream. :erm:

 

[JimLor]

Well said Radman.

Rule #5 - Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet!

 

[evil_henchman]

My snotty brother in law asked why I don't ride a harley. I said "same reason I don't drive a model T and by the way, how's that pile of harley parts in your garage? Oh it's a bike. Sorry".

He's had a "real bike" since the 70's and it's been in pieces for as long as I can remember.

 

[SkooterG]

same reason I don't drive a model T

That's great. I am going to have to remember that one.

 

[panthercity]

I never cease to be amazed at the amount of time and energy folks waste slammin' HD and NASCAR. Is it jealousy? Is it because they are more popular? Is it insecurity? Why is it?

 

[MSLPILOT]

I never cease to be amazed at the amount of time and energy folks waste slammin' HD and NASCAR. Is it jealousy? Is it because they are more popular? Is it insecurity? Why is it?

I think this thread deals more with the insurgency of stupidity in the world than with bashing HD. Problem is, HD and stupid people seem to go hand in hand - not across the board mind you, as I have some great friends with Harleys and they're just as respectful of my bike as they are of theirs.

Unfortunately for them, the only bikes stupid people know anything about are Harleys. Reality is, they don't know squat about them and probably couldn't tell the difference between a Road King and a Roadstar - oh yeah, that was the point of my story!!! :erm:

 

[huchieglide]

My standard Harley answer is:
I could afford the bike couldn't afford the wardrobe !

Don't you mean "costume".

The knuckleheads are just a minority of riders or people that don't own a motorbike at all.

 

[exskibum]

I never cease to be amazed at the amount of time and energy folks waste slammin' HD and NASCAR. Is it jealousy? Is it because they are more popular? Is it insecurity? Why is it?

I think this thread deals more with the insurgency of stupidity in the world than with bashing HD. Problem is, HD and stupid people seem to go hand in hand - not across the board mind you, as I have some great friends with Harleys and they're just as respectful of my bike as they are of theirs.

Unfortunately for them, the only bikes stupid people know anything about are Harleys. Reality is, they don't know squat about them and probably couldn't tell the difference between a Road King and a Roadstar - oh yeah, that was the point of my story!!! :erm:

Exactly. I have Harley owning friends with whom I can share a true love of all things motorcycling. But then, they're simply guys who own a Harley because it fits their riding tastes and abilities and don't do it for the "Harley lifestyle" thing. Personally, I won't spend that much money for a bike whose price is dictated far more by the marketing of an outlaw image and a faux gang lifestyle perception than its engineering or performance, but if I had unlimited funds, I might buy one for the Sunday trip out for brunch -- that torquey power pulse is cool enough and different enough to be fun for the occasional short ride.

The thing that does piss me off about Harleys is not the bike itself. I've ridden several over the years, and they have a feel all their own -- kinda like an old pickup truck -- another thing I've owned and appreciated for what it is. But it's the arrogance of too many Harley dealers and the subset of morons who ride them or worship them as the only real motorcycle. You get my respect if you ride and understand this addiction we all have. If it's about compensating for the size of your ****, though, then I'll feel free to disdain you and your chosen phallic surrogate.

 

[MSLPILOT]

The thing that does piss me off about Harleys is not the bike itself..... But it's the arrogance of too many Harley dealers and the subset of morons who ride them or worship them as the only real motorcycle.  You get my respect if you ride and understand this addiction we all have.  If it's about compensating for the size of your ****, though, then I'll feel free to disdain you and your chosen phallic surrogate.

Well said.

 

[madmike2]

I never cease to be amazed at the amount of time and energy folks waste slammin' HD and NASCAR. Is it jealousy? Is it because they are more popular? Is it insecurity? Why is it?

I think this thread deals more with the insurgency of stupidity in the world than with bashing HD. Problem is, HD and stupid people seem to go hand in hand - not across the board mind you, as I have some great friends with Harleys and they're just as respectful of my bike as they are of theirs.

Unfortunately for them, the only bikes stupid people know anything about are Harleys. Reality is, they don't know squat about them and probably couldn't tell the difference between a Road King and a Roadstar - oh yeah, that was the point of my story!!! :erm:

To second exskibum's answer, a little story.

A friend of mine, who rides a Dyna Lowrider, and I, on my XS1100SF went for a littl ride on a Saturday. 100+ miles up the Feather River Canyon to Quincy for lunch (Those from NorCal will understand). From there we called a mutual friend and asked what time dinner was. "Hmmmm, 3 hrs? We can make it!"

70 miles to Truckee, another 70 miles to Auburn, another 30 miles or so down Hwy 49 and Salmon Falls Rd. to the backside of El Dorado Hills.

We parked out front and one of the other guests said, "I see there's a real motorcycle and a Japanese wannabe."

My friend said, "Let's see, we've been on the bikes all day and have ridden around 300 miles and we're here for dinner and have yet to ride home. How far did you ride today?"

He responded, "Well, my soft-tail is in the garage, though I haven't ridden for 6 months."

My friend says, "Soft-tail. Your bike makes about 45 horse, his makes 85. Yours is parked in your garage while his is ridden almost every day. So just who owns a real motorcycle?"

Like those above, my riding friends own many different brands of bikes. We just love to ride! I suppose our attitude towards most H.D. wannabes is born from the input of those who want to experience the mystique without any of that bothersome application, i.e., actually owning and riding a bike. I don't have or need the swagger or attitude, and neither do my Harley-owning friends.

So who is dealing with their inferiority by denegrating those of us who ride the bike of our choice? As exskibum so aptly expounded, its the attitude propogated by the "company" and their advertisement that is adopted by those who have little idea of what it means to be a motorcyclist.

Theys is bikers, they gots one'a dem T-shirts wit duh "Oh-fishul Winged Emblem" en wunnah dems wallits wit da chain danglin outta dems pockits. Dat gives'em da rite tuh talk smack about dems "riceburner" wannabes tryin' tuh be a reel motorsickle. Yeah, roight!