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What is a Motorcyclist?

What about the guy (or gal) who buys a bike to emulate a perceived "cool" mystique? Saw a Ducati poster with some :boobies, a patched up 1% or just loves Top Gun. Buys a bike and manages to get it off the lot. Within the first few rides he realizes he's way over his head. Bike ends up sitting in his garage collecting dust. To lazy to sell it. Declines all advances for help or advice, but still manages to work the bike into any moto conversations with his friends?

Is he a motorcyclist? And there's no way I'm asking about a specific person I know:|
 
Lucky13xx said:
What about the guy (or gal) who buys a bike to emulate a perceived "cool" mystique? Saw a Ducati poster with some :boobies, a patched up 1% or just loves Top Gun. Buys a bike and manages to get it off the lot. Within the first few rides he realizes he's way over his head. Bike ends up sitting in his garage collecting dust. To lazy to sell it. Declines all advances for help or advice, but still manages to work the bike into any moto conversations with his friends?

Is he a motorcyclist? And there's no way I'm asking about a specific person I know:|
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I have a piano in my house and can play a few tunes. I am far from a Pianist.
 
FourT2Infinity said:
I have a piano in my house and can play a few tunes. I am far from a Pianist.
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So how much skill does one need in order to become a motorcyclist? It shouldn't be as difficult as being a musician.
 
And here is where I think a Lou quote is absolutely eloquent ~

Those who know...know ~ Loumc

:teeth :ride :love

My personal feeling is that if they own a motorcycle...they are, somewhere in their being, a motorcyclist. :twofinger stats
 
VicTim said:
So how much skill does one need in order to become a motorcyclist? It shouldn't be as difficult as being a musician.
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I took piano lessons for 2 weeks when I was 9.

I took lessons in baritone and trumpet for 6 weeks when I was 12

I can still "play" a few keys worth of a tune on a piano but with no finesse or skill.

I make everyone wince as I try to do more because it is horrid.

Am I a musician? I don't think so. I have no desire to play music.

I took art lessons for a summer when I was 10 or 11.

I can barely draw stick figures.

Am I an artist? I don't think so. I have no desire to try to communicate or express myself through drawings or paintings etc.


IMO being a motorcyclist requires commitment and desire to actually ride and having the skills to ride or at least the desire to acquire the skills to actually ride.

If you are no longer able to ride and still have the desire, then maybe you still are a motorcyclist.
 
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I am a modern motorcyclist.

If this were 70 years ago I don't think I'd be a motorcyclist because back then you had to know how to fix the damned things on the side of the road.

Couldn't just call AAA for a pick up!

I can change the oil/filter, air up the tires, change/charge a battery but that's about the extend of my "wrenching" skills.
 
VicTim said:
So how much skill does one need in order to become a motorcyclist? It shouldn't be as difficult as being a musician.
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Rhetorical question Tim or are you here defining or at least delineating the parameters of what it is to be a motorcyclist? Good thread btw
 
GAJ said:
I am a modern motorcyclist.

If this were 70 years ago I don't think I'd be a motorcyclist because back then you had to know how to fix the damned things on the side of the road.

Couldn't just call AAA for a pick up!

I can change the oil/filter, air up the tires, change/charge a battery but that's about the extend of my "wrenching" skills.
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:thumbup Totally True, on several counts.

The bike may not of even had a dealership, in your state.

And there were No cell phones getting a ride in a pocket.
 
GAJ said:
...Couldn't just call AAA for a pick up!..
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Like I said I'm in deep. Back in the day we made sure the Dunlop K81s were made in England and not the other two plants because the English ones were better. And of course we changed our own tires/tubes, everybody did.
 
the tao that can be spoken of is not the true tao.
If I have to explain it to you you wouldn't understand.
if in your heart of hearts there is the desire to ride, then you are a motorcyclist.
It doesn't matter what, where or when you ride, it only matters that you ride.
 
Honey Badger said:
IMO, it's someone who is riding for the love of the sport/open road/freedom/whatever vs someone who is primarily doing it because it makes them feel "cool." Now, there are plenty of times that a "motorcyclist" will "feel cool" but that's not WHY they ride.

I've known a few people who I don't think would ride a bike if they didn't get to feel cool doing it. It's not the love of the machine and what it brings, but the social aspect. Nothing wrong with the social aspect, but if that's your only purpose in riding, then I don't really consider most of those folks "motorcyclists."

Owning a bike and occasionally slabbing it over to a bike night is not the same as really being a rider IMO.

But, that's just my personal definition, I'm sure the people who I would lump into those categories would disagree with my statement :laughing
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That is pretty much my definition. Although you do not have to ride in the rain and cold to be a motorcyclist, you are if you do. Posers never ride when it does not look cool.
 
what tux said
 

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FourT2Infinity said:
I have a piano in my house and can play a few tunes. I am far from a Pianist.
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From dictionary.cambridge.org:

pianist noun [C] us /piˈæn·ɪst, ˈpyæn·ɪst, ˈpi·ə·nɪst/
› someone who ​plays the ​piano
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motorcyclist noun [C] uk /ˈməʊ.təˌsaɪ.klɪst/ us /ˈmoʊ.t̬ɚ-/
› a ​person who ​rides a ​motorcycle
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:dunno
 
Reli said:
I'd estimate that 60-70% of riders would stop riding if roads and sidewalks were empty and there was no one to see them ride.
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Does that describe you? If not, what makes you think it applies to the majority of riders?
 
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