The General Public's View of Motorcycles - Your answer is RIGHT HERE!

[ntula]

i have had cagers take attitude with me when i am just riding relaxed around sf.

i have had a few time persons try with their cars to split lanes, when i am the middle of a lane with a car in front and there is nowhere for them to go, and intentionally cut me off or steer into me, as if to cause me to overreact and drop it or just harass me with a statement of might and mass, because they obviously disliked bikes and had an issue with lane splitting.

i had this happen again last week by some jerk in an SUV and when he saw me annoyed and starting to follow him, fled insanely nearly causing a wreck.

 

[ntula]

XRsick50, I do agree.

My belief is that motorcycles will be made illegal in the next 20 years, or possibly non-insurable allowing only the wealthy to ride them on the street.

I also believe that we have been and are in the height of motorcycling history.

I disagree that people say, "look at that guy, he's gonna kill someone." I believe they say, "look at that guy, he's gonna kill himself".

i have already had a bike that was nearly uninssurable because of mods.

i think internal combustion engines will become illegal in some areas in the next 20 years and unless alternative motos are made, so will performance moto's.

the reaction seems to be more that people who drive crotch rockets are kwazy and have a death wish.

 

[Mount'n Goat]

I ride with my highbeams on. So the cagers can see me and realize how courteous I am by making sure that I am visible.

 

[ntula]

maf

 

[SVsick50]

I'm with budbandit on this one, I think you're making something out of nothing. There are plenty of people who have family members who ride. I know for a fact my family and friends became a lot more observant of motorcycles when I got a bike. Before, they wouldn't even notice them, now they're seeing them at a distance, moving over to accomodate them, and later calling me to ask about the "red ninja" they saw on the road

I think your efforts are misdirected. Yes, a lot of riders are selfish and self-centered but that doesn't mean we should just wash our hands of the problem and go along our merry way. I don't understand what the point of your post is, to throw your hands in the air and cry, "The end is coming!" ? Not fight the current, just go along with it?

*sigh*

I never said we shouldn't keep the effort up in education.

Just got through talking to my GF about this.

BARF is a small speck in the scheme of things. And while we continue to bash each other, such as YOU do on a constant basis as a "sportbike asshole" we get further and further away from real results.

I said earlier that motorcyclists (that means asshole sportbikers, supermoto riders, cruisers, dirt riders, etc.) have ZERO political power - making an example that we can't even get the red sticker/green sticker off road issue resolved in our favor.

Motorcyclists, hidden behind screennames on boards, are so quick to call out a mistake made by another rider, yet do nothing to educate the general public through awareness via the political forum. I don't see bikers at public events passing out pamphlets about awareness to cagers. I don't see bikers at the local churches or community centers doing lectures about car vs. motorcycle safety.

The public does listen if we present it right, as said in the post about a discussion about a rider's leathers with a lady.

Every single one of us should have "Share the Lane" stickers on our bikes and cages, yet we don't.

We need to go beyond these boards and truly speak to the people that need to hear us. Don't mistake my post for bitching. It is a post about awareness and the truth of the matter: the general public does not look at us with kind eyes. Look at shows like "Superbikers". This show is broadcasted across the nation... and many people think we are all like that. Be aware of that, respect it, and let's change it on a grand scale.

Maybe you've surrounded yourself with your cool supermoto elite and what happens to the rest of us sportbike assholes doesn't matter to you, but as a part of this community, I don't differentiate between who rides what, and I think it's our responsibility to help all people who need it.

*rant*
Miran, I think it's time you get off this high fuckin' horse of yours about SuperMoto riders. The shot you take at me has nothing to do with this thread aside from your self serving ways and in no way contribute to this thread. I was riding motorcycles while you were crapping your diaper; I've ridden everything - and I continue to ride an array of discliplines with SuperMoto being the least ridden. Again, while you continue to call riders out, as you did me, you stray further from actually accomplishing an uphill battle we all have to face, no matter what you ride. My post includes all riders as I use the term "motorcyclists" - how you somehow infer that I'm singleing out sportbikers is beyond me. How can I take you serious and respect what you have to say when you pull that bullshit? Your first paragraph was enlightening, made sense and got my attention, and then you crapped it away and lost credibility.

Get off it already, your SuperMoto bullshit is getting real stale. Come up with something that sounds slightly educated, and maybe people will stop looking at you like a total tool.

 

[Wesley]

Sorry Dion,

BULLSHIT.

Yes, the forum is invisible.

No, my actions are not.

When I go out and ride, I usually try to be considerate to others. Not just because I want the little peds, cagers and citizens to view bikers as something other than assholes, but rather because it is the right thing to do.

Ped in a crosswalk? Stop and let 'em go. More often than not you get a reaction of surprise and delight as the badass biker fiend has shown respect to the humble walker.

In traffic? Pass sanely, wave your appreciation, don't dazzle and blind with unnecessary highbeams, especially in the dark or close to others.

Splitting? Take it calm and smooth, wave thanks when they move over. Are they thinking "Lookit that motorsickle asshole" or are they thinking "Hmmmm....that looks pretty cool, lookit that guy, he waved thanks to me. I remember riding my friend's dirt bike when I was a kid, that was fun, maybe I should think about getting a street bike"?

Horses in the road? Clutch in, coast and give 'em lots of room. Oh, look, the cute girl on the horsey has changed her expression from fear and horror in anticipation of the bike spooking the horse to gratefulness and appreciation at you having made an effort to accomodate her.

Each encounter can be a positive, a negative or a neutral. Overall impressions are a composite of cumulated encounters.

No, the public doesn't read BARF but lots of riders do. Should lots of riders do some simple things that help improve perception then it is likely that perception will improve.

Then again, it is a lot easier to rev like an asshole in a full parking lot, sit behind low slung cars with my brights on, punch mirrors, kick doors, wake the neighbors and act like a shithead. They already h8tn an profiling us anyway.

WORD!

 

[Eisernkreuz]

Get off it already, your SuperMoto bullshit is getting real stale. Come up with something that sounds slightly educated, and maybe people will stop looking at you like a total tool.

*sigh back* I'll just PM you and maybe this thread can stay on track

 

[Gixxergirl1000]

I think there's a lot of really thoughtful comments posted in this thread... as a girl who rides both horses and bikes, I can tell you that I'm always very appreciative of the motorcyclists who clutch in and coast by when I have my schitzophrenic horse, Jimmy, out on the road... and I have had much more consideration from sport bike riders than Harley riders, who- as a general rule- seem oblivious to my horse. Just an observation!
Also, as a girl on a sportbike, that seems to make me less threatening, and more approachable by people who don't ride bikes. I look at that as an opportunity to be an ambassador for the sport, being pleasant, answering questions about leathers, about riding, about bikes. People walk away smiling, mission accomplished.
When lane splitting, I've had dickhead cagers in their SUVs veer in to what- crush me?? I don't know... but when the chance to get up next to them presents itself, I do, and look right at them. Every single time, without fail, when the driver sees they were trying to mangle a girl, they get embarassed, and mouth "sorry!" at me. I nod, and move on- middle finger never flying (tempting tho it is!). Next time, maybe they'll think twice before trying to mash the guy lane splitting.
However, in the words of Gregg Alman, "I'm no angel"... so I figure the good deeds above help to balance out the stuff that I've calculated to be safe, which the cagers I'm passing at speed probably wouldn't agree with... 'cause when it's all said and done, I'm riding a 1000 gixxer for a reason...

 

[mbsv]

on politics:

the governor of this state rides a motorcycle (now: with proper licensing!), as does the guy who won about 50% of the vote in the 2004 presidential election.

 

[SVsick50]

I think there's a lot of really thoughtful comments posted in this thread... as a girl who rides both horses and bikes, I can tell you that I'm always very appreciative of the motorcyclists who clutch in and coast by when I have my schitzophrenic horse, Jimmy, out on the road... and I have had much more consideration from sport bike riders than Harley riders, who- as a general rule- seem oblivious to my horse. Just an observation!
Also, as a girl on a sportbike, that seems to make me less threatening, and more approachable by people who don't ride bikes. I look at that as an opportunity to be an ambassador for the sport, being pleasant, answering questions about leathers, about riding, about bikes. People walk away smiling, mission accomplished.
When lane splitting, I've had dickhead cagers in their SUVs veer in to what- crush me?? I don't know... but when the chance to get up next to them presents itself, I do, and look right at them. Every single time, without fail, when the driver sees they were trying to mangle a girl, they get embarassed, and mouth "sorry!" at me. I nod, and move on- middle finger never flying (tempting tho it is!). Next time, maybe they'll think twice before trying to mash the guy lane splitting.
However, in the words of Gregg Alman, "I'm no angel"... so I figure the good deeds above help to balance out the stuff that I've calculated to be safe, which the cagers I'm passing at speed probably wouldn't agree with... 'cause when it's all said and done, I'm riding a 1000 gixxer for a reason...

This is great and valiant!

But you did mention that Harley riders seem to be less considerate, and this is what I'm talking about.

Harley Riders is the way you phrased it. Lumping it all into one group. I'm not bagging on you for doing this, I'm just pointing out that this is what people do - and that is take an experience and lump it all into a generalization.

If you posted that on a Harley Forum, LOTS OF HARLEY RIDERS would get upset and you'd see posts similar to Budbandit's, "Well, that's bullshit, everytime I ride I do this and that..." Well, guess what? For every Harley rider who was considerate in traffic, there are thousands who are not - across the United States. You wouldn't have mentioned Harley Riders if that negative experience wasn't on your mind.

You're not a bad person for feeling this way, but I would think that everytime a group of Harley Riders aaproached you while you were on your horse, you'd roll your eyes.

 

[slydrite]

*can't hang head in shame any further*

 

[mlm]

Driving and acting like an idiot does not require a motorcycle and I think most people understand that.

I'll continue to be courteous to other drivers on my motorcycle AND in my car. Not because I'm some sort of ambassador of motorcycling, but because it is the right thing to do.

 

[mlm]

...But you did mention that Harley riders seem to be less considerate, and this is what I'm talking about....

...If you posted that on a Harley Forum, LOTS OF HARLEY RIDERS would get upset...

But if you post anti-Harley comments on BARF it's just the norm. Come to think of it, the worst discussions I hear about bikers in general seems to be isolated within this forum.

 

[Lazerus]

Because we focus a bit more on the finer points and speak from experience. Most folks have a stereotypical view of riding, and when confronted in person with a rider, their argument flags quickly due to lack of knowledge. Additionally, most conversations outside this forum do not provide the intraweb force field.

This, however, doesn't mean that we aren't frowned upon in general, just that we aren't able to do enough by getting at eachother to really impact public opinion. Only way to do that is to educate John Q. about what they disagree with, but dont completely grasp. Quite an undertaking, admittedly, especially considering the average IQ... but I think the OP is really onto something.

 

[Shooter]

My eyes glazed over when you started talking about slavery...after that it was game over. Atleast avoid random meaningless tangents when pumping out a Feanor.

 

[Lester Green]

Horses in the road? Clutch in, coast and give 'em lots of room. Oh, look, the cute girl on the horsey has changed her expression from fear and horror in anticipation of the bike spooking the horse to gratefulness and appreciation at you having made an effort to accomodate her.

I did that very thing this weekend on China Grade.
I saw them in the distance and I stopped down the road and let them get their spooked horses under control, then shut off my bike and coasted by. You wouldn't believe how grateful and thankful she was. She yelled " gosh that was so sweet and considerate of you to do that, I had no idea". I waved goodbye and was on my way.

 

[Hooli]

Blacks have been discriminated against, tortured, terrorized and oppressed since the time they came to the United States.

This must explain the low number of brothers and sisters making cruise resrvations.

 

[Feanor]

I did that very thing this weekend on China Grade.
I saw them in the distance and I stopped down the road and let them get their spooked horses under control, then shut off my bike and coasted by. You wouldn't believe how grateful and thankful she was. She yelled " gosh that was so sweet and considerate of you to do that, I had no idea". I waved goodbye and was on my way.

It's so INSANELY easy to spook a horse! Not many people realize. I'm not certain if its because when they are with rider quietly on the trail if they are in a zone, but I've accidentally spooked a horse and rider, by riding by (on my mountain bike) slowly and then locking up my rear tire momentarily on the dirt. The quiet "scrunch" sound of the tire on the dirt sent the horse bounding!

I caught up with the rider farther down the trail and apologized profusely, but he was completely understanding and said he knew I was trying to go slow and be careful, and alot of riders don't.

In many ways the mountain bikes and horses on the walking trails is a model for cars and motorcycles on the road. Yes, there is tension, but there is also recognition of when you try to do something conscientious, and unlike cars and motorcycles on the road, you can actually meet the person and chat or apologize if you need to instead of just speeding off into the distance.

Stefan

p.s. Jocelyn says "It's good you are not a woman because then this pumping out thing would sound rude!"

 

[J O K E R]

im not sure who exactly i agree with here but we are indeed put in one lump sum as motorcyclists no matter what we ride by the cagers or "normal people" as it was put, as hoodlums or basically bad guys. the fact that we put on gear to protect ourselves puts us in a category of not safe but THAT GUY or GIXXERGIRL1000 is going to speed and ride wrecklessly.

I have an old friend on 9 on a BMW bike that goes to italy every year to ride all over. He with two of his friends on an Italy ride caught up with an italian cop. his two friends decided to pass the cop on a windy road and be gone. He decided the better of it and did not. he ran the speed limit for several miles until he came upon his friends chairs outside an italian cafe, parked plain as day in a parking spot on the side of the road. He thought oh boy, now they are going to get it, the cop slowed and wayved to the guys eating in front of the cafe they wayved back and the cop kept driving. They did not know the cop they were just looked at as normal humans having fun.

That instance will never happen in the USA because we are the bad guys, in EVERY OTHER COUNTRY motorcyclists are thought of possitively not as bad guys at all, respected even. Have we done this damage or is it just an American way? I think we have done a lot of the damage us as riders, not necessarily the old timers but the new riders that appear in droves every year. in every other country it is required that you start on a smaller bike and EARN your way up. so if you came upon a person on a 1000, they would have earned it, know how to ride it, have a fairly good record and not just before even a permit have handed their money over to an eager salesman that isn't required to check anything but is more than happy to take your money and hand out the key and look forward to the first crash damage repair bill to come soon there after.

It makes sence, limit the size, have them start on a bike that doesn't make them feel like they can't make a mistake, like they can't screw up and be introduced to the oncoming delivery truck because they honestly were not yet ready for a bike with that capability...........

a smaller bike say a 250 doesn't handle nearly as well, doesn't give the confidence or forgive you for mistakes anywhere near as much as a larger more advanced bike does. You LEARN from it, you learn to read what its telling you, you learn to ride over its troubles.

Gary rides one, he rides one far above the skills of the masses, and because of this (and of course racing history etc) he is very talented on bigger bikes. how many people on new 1K's do you think could hang with Gary on his 1986 technology 250 on a windy? Not many

This forum does indeed give us nothing in terms of voice in the real world, but it takes organization and comunication like this to form a plan and gather the troops per say to actually get things voiced where they will make a difference.

 

[SVsick50]

Great post, Scott!

You can even look further down and look at examples in the Mass Media. I don't think it's necessarily the GixxerN00Bs that are entirely the problem that creates this public view. I think it's been around longer:

The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film. It is remembered for Marlon Brando's portrayal of the gangy leader Johnny Stabler as a juvenile delinquent, dressed in a leather jacket and driving a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird 6T. Acting opposite of Brando was Lee Marvin as a rival gang leader. This low-budget production had Brando playing a rebel without a cause two years before James Dean.

The film version was based on a January, 1951 short story in Harper's Magazine "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney that was published in book form as part of "The Best American Short Stories 1952." The story took a cue from an actual biker street party on the Fourth of July weekend in 1947 in Hollister, California that was elaborately trumped up in Life Magazine (dubbed the Hollister riot) with staged photographs of wild motorcycle outlaw revellers. The Hollister event is now celebrated annually. In the film, the town is located somewhere in California.

We've been looked at as "bad guys" for a long time. Now, here's another example, but in modern times:

Henderson plays biker Cary Ford, who is framed by an old rival and biker gang leader for the murder of Trey's (Ice Cube) brother. Ford is now on the run trying to clear his name of the murder with Trey and his feared gang looking for blood.

These are the images that are associate with motorcycles, and it's not our fault - or is it?