• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Are you a motorcyclist?

My experience of trying to pigeonhole people into classifications is that someone will always come along and prove you wrong. It's like saying "now I've seen it all," when someone does something crazy. There will always be someone who will show you that you haven't seen it all.

Story time:

There's a motorcycle club associated with my profession, and even for the specific city in which I work. A bunch of years back they were doing their toy run for our toy program, so I went. As they're all standing around drinking coffee before the ride I was approached by one of the retired guys with whom I had a great conversation about the club, the age of the members, how younger guys weren't joining, that they needed more membership to keep it going etc. It was a really, really long pitch to join. So after a while he asks me what I rode. I pointed to my BMW and about as fast as he could he says, "ah, nevermind" and walks away.

I laughed out loud. I had no intention of joining anyway, but still.... the irony.
 
I tell people I live with 4 dogs and 8 motorcycles. So yes.

To my mind "Biker" is short for "Outlaw biker" and all that goes with that patched club 1%/13/FTW etc lifestyle. As for Harley riders that are not outlaws and don't care about motorcycles outside of the Harley scene, I just call them "Harley riders".
 

Attachments

  • motorcycle coming.jpg
    motorcycle coming.jpg
    73 KB · Views: 39
I think it goes both ways. I usually like talking to other riders about everything ranging from their resto-mod projects to trackdays to MotoGP. I'll be honest though, I will usually check-out if the conversation goes down the rabbit hole of how they're hitting 200mph on some famous stretch of road on their highly tuned R1.
 
boney said:
My experience of trying to pigeonhole people into classifications is that someone will always come along and prove you wrong. It's like saying "now I've seen it all," when someone does something crazy. There will always be someone who will show you that you haven't seen it all.

Story time:

There's a motorcycle club associated with my profession, and even for the specific city in which I work. A bunch of years back they were doing their toy run for our toy program, so I went. As they're all standing around drinking coffee before the ride I was approached by one of the retired guys with whom I had a great conversation about the club, the age of the members, how younger guys weren't joining, that they needed more membership to keep it going etc. It was a really, really long pitch to join. So after a while he asks me what I rode. I pointed to my BMW and about as fast as he could he says, "ah, nevermind" and walks away.

I laughed out loud. I had no intention of joining anyway, but still.... the irony.
Click to expand...


Are you a Shriner?
 
I consider myself to be primarily a bicyclist, but also a motorcyclist secondary. The identity attachment is primarily transportation based, so you would most likely get a blank stare from me in response to any question regarding a race series based on either vehicle.
 
I guess the real question is: Are you a motorcyclist, or a motorcycle enthusiast? I went a year or two where my only street motorcycle was an MB5. Didn't stop me from reading all the magazines, drooling over the new bikes at the dealerships, and watching all the racing I could (not much in those days).

As for striking up conversations... it's interesting how many different kinds of riders are out there. I can have an enjoyable conversation with pretty much any rider as long as they aren't completely full of shit. When a guy (it's always a guy) tells you his 600 pulls 5th gear wheelies and goes 180 that's when I try to change the subject.

My wife tells me I'm a motorcycle snob because of some of my prejudices towards slower riders or bikes that might as well be cars (heavy and slow) but she sees a side of me that most won't see in public (no reason to be rude, right?)
 
most of the 3 patch mofos I've run into have a gixxer squirreled away in their garage, need for speed brah. you ride I ride we ride. we all motorcyclists, riders or bikers.
If some poser wants to wear the gear lure 'em into the lifestyle
 
When I see someone wearing a HD shirt I like to start the conversation with, “So do you still have the bike?”


The other thing I noticed is I often see posts about how the HD riders are snobs.

But I find the HD owners are more likely to talk to me then not when on my BMW, but when I’m on my HD the BMW riders ignore me and if they do talk to me it’s in a downward style.
 
If you’re not riding a Ducati don’t bothering me. I have no interest in your inferior junk.
 
I would consider myself a motorcyclist and motorcycle enthusiast. I only have my R12R as my primary vehicle right now but I also really enjoy hearing about every single kind of bike, even if I will most likely never ride one. On the other hand, I want to ride every single bike out there, even if it is only one time. I love reading and hearing about other people's experiences and trips all the time. I love the community and people I have met through it; some have been influential in positive ways and some have shown me the perception I don't want to put out there but both are good in their own ways.

I like it here. I think I stay for a while.
 
If you ride it for the pleasure the riding gives you, you're a motorcyclist.

If you ride it for the image and the reaction of others is more important than the riding, you aren't a motorcyclist.

If you get a motorcycle because it gets better gas mileage and/or you can get to work faster splitting, but it's just a means to an end and you don't ride it other than getting from point A to point B, you aren't a motorcyclist.
 
KrustyKruser said:
I usually try to strike up conversations with people warring moto related shirts/gear. Most times it's pretty brief and they don't really have the same enthusiasm about talking bikes.
Click to expand...

I might be on the flip side of that experience - I just ride the things. I try and fix them when they break, and I'm always interested to hear about routes or destinations, particularly where food is involved, but I zone out hearing about iconic 70's Hondas or the peculiarities of vintage Ducati valve trains.

Maybe I'm just a guy who loves riding motorcycles and not a motorcyclist? :dunno
 
We were all motorcyclists

Years ago I toured the country several times, for weeks on end with my wife on our ST 1300.

At a gas station in the middle of nowhere, bikes would roll in to fuel.

Everyone looked at each others license plate and gaze in awe of the distance some riders had traveled.

Conversations were struck on... Where did you come from? Where are you going? How was the road going east? How do you like your bike? How hot did it get coming here?

At that point in time, there were no better brands, no snobbery, no attitudes.

Just a feeling of brotherhood sharing the same heat, the cold, the rain, eating the same road bugs, a flat ass and the fatigue of long distance riding. At that point in time all were equal, all were respected.

We knew that we were all motorcyclists.
 
Last edited:
ST Guy said:
Like it or not, you're a motorcyclist. :afm199
Click to expand...

Appreciate the compliment.

Climber said:
If you get a motorcycle because it gets better gas mileage and/or you can get to work faster splitting, but it's just a means to an end and you don't ride it other than getting from point A to point B, you aren't a motorcyclist.
Click to expand...

Now I have an identity crisis.

People resist stereotypes and change over time and that's Ok - "I'm not like those nylon-clad snobs" or whatever. No offense to the cordura segment, gear is gear, attitude is key. I'd settle for enthusiast, hobbyist, or just "a guy who rides bikes."
 
I consider myself a "rider" - we ride for the enjoyment, but we like to have a destination in mind. I don't follow racing, or the latest models, have no clue how to identify most bikes, although I can tell a Goldwing from a Harley, but don't ask me to identify a Harley model: to me they're all "a Harley" :teeth
 
Alan_Hepburn said:
I consider myself a "rider" - we ride for the enjoyment, but we like to have a destination in mind. I don't follow racing, or the latest models, have no clue how to identify most bikes, although I can tell a Goldwing from a Harley, but don't ask me to identify a Harley model: to me they're all "a Harley" :teeth
Click to expand...
That's why they don't wave back at you. :twofinger :laughing

I think that love/enjoyment of riding which doesn't have to include racing, brand recognition, etc to make you a motorcyclist.
 
The question is not what you think you might be, but what another person might think you are........

You might think you are a motorcyclist......even if you ride a Harley, but then there can be those that think you are not....because you ride a Harley.....

So, is the opinion of someone you meet randomly really that important to you?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top