[borzwazie]

Ok, so I need to vent:

WHAT the FUCK is it with the "me too" Harley crowd? Do you really think buying a Harley endows you with respect?

Do you have any idea what "one-percenter" really is? No? Get the stupid patch off your Harley-branded vests, then. One-percenters aren't billboards for Harley marketing.

Do you feel like you're a Hells' Angel wearing your Harley Lifestyle leather bandana?

When you and your fat fuckhead friends block lanes of traffic, and I finally manage to fit my car in between you idiots, I'm not cutting you off - I'm getting away from you bloated sacks of non-helmeted filth.

Does it make you fuckers feel big to scream obscenities into the windows of my car where my 4 year old and 1 year old are sitting?

Lastly, did you ever consider that I am driving a 2 ton vehicle? I know that chrome-laden cock extension is heavy, but you are NOT going to win if I ram you into the Jersey barrier.

I hope you scrape your faces off on the pavement.

 

[2smokeTyler]

did somebody have a bad day today? the best relief from 99%ers is to blow their doors off with a cafe bike. i went by 2 harley's thursday on the back wheel of my RD after they wanted to block me in traffic and leave me in the wake of their coolness. i really haven't figured out why harley is such an icon. don't get me wrong, i ride the old 71 from time to time and i love doing it, but i don't see the "cool" in a fuel injected pushrod motor that looks the same as it did in 1981. for God's sake, EVOLVE OR DIE! after the twin cam 88 and the porsche v-rod, the only thing that has evolved is the wannabe status of new harley owners and their salaries.

 

[bmartin]

Nothing wrong with the HD - its the duch-bags that end up buying them. Actually - I've seen the same type on rice-rockets too. Oh well - better to be pissed off than pissed on...

 

[coolatula]

Look just find out where these Asshats work,barge in on them while they are with a Patient or Client
and tell'em "If you ever even look at me again I'll cut ya...Bitch" and then break some of their furniture as you storm out of their office!

 

[coreyjdl]

douche-bags come in all shapes and sizes, but douche-bags sure are over-represented w/ in the harley crowd. I actually ranted on them earlier, there is certainly over-representation of douche-bags on racer replicas. That m-f er doing stoppies on his nitros equiped honda who cannot adjust his own chain really really irks me.

 

[bcr]

WTF?, I got 1% off my chrome skull acorn nut accessory pack, so you know I'm a bad ass.

No excuse for that crap. Seems like solo or a few guys out no big deal, you get a nod or a wave or not, whatever. 15 to 20 of them together and they just get stupid. same for sport bike squids. Sorry your kiddos had to witness that pathetic display.

cheers, bcr

 

[Dart7383]

Hey, It's been a while, but I couldn't agree more. Every shithead that ever thought he was cool is riding a Harley these days. This year I've been commuting on an enduro (TW200). Any real bike guy waves to anyone else who is on a bike as far as I'm concerned. I can't count the number of Poser Harley guys that have ridden past me with their noses in the air without any sign of comradery. I see that they don't matter. They can just keep thinking that are cool and we can just keep laughing at them.

 

[Pete Casper]

Reminds me of a story.

About 4 years ago my wife purchased a Suzuki Savage 650 single. As it was her first bike, she was a little nervous to drive it the 160 odd miles up the Thruway from Tarrytown to Albany. So, I happily volunteered to bring it upstate. I am 6’3”, 6’4 on a good day. So needless to say, I fit kinda ackwardly on the super single. About Tuxedo (Exit 17 area), a full blown heard of Harley types come by me. I grin, give them all the most enthusiastic thumbs up I could muster and chuckled when not a one of them responded. The frowns sunk deeper into their scowling faces. A like to call those type "Frowners". They believe that smiling on a HD or any motorcycle is a sin.

Well, I see them pull off at the Plattekill service area and figured I might as well have some fun. I pull up to the opposite fuel island as the heard of HD bros and energetically pull of my helmet. I start talking it up with them. “Hey man, ain’t it great to be on the open road!” “BOY, those are some great bikes you got…what are they – Indians, Hondas….hummm?” "WOW, You guys are so cool.” After filling up with about a $1 worth of gas, I get back on the Savage…rev the engine real loud, which purrs like my trusty lawnmower…give them all a thumbs up… and yell, “you f-heads could be a little nicer to folks.” Laughing again, I slowly pull away leaving them in stunned silence. I don’t know if they pulled off the Thruway, but I didn’t see them in my mirror for the rest of the trip up to Albany. Too bad to, it would have been fun to wave at them again.

 

[UngaWunga]

Ya know what, fuck em. Who cares what they think? They want to play dress up and wobble around slowly, more power to them. Free country, do what you want. Bike week in NH is the week I don't ride much. Too many idiots riding around. Sometimes it looks like I'm the only one wearing a helmet in the state.

I like to wave to them when I'm riding Ann-Marie's scooter around town. I passed a 1%er on the highway last weekend with it. Beeped and waved.

They are surprised when I pull over to check if they're ok when they break down on the highway. Rider in full gear on a hot day? Showed a cute blond where her petcock was once... that was fun..
"What's it called?!?!"
"A pet-cock."
"What?"

 

[JAM614]

[email protected] bike week. I used to park the bike due to rolling road blocks and a high percentage of people trying to ride to impress
(insert squids here too). It is painful to say so but I have actually come to respect Harleys for what they are. Great American iconic vintage bikes. Yeah even the new ones are vintage IMHO. Maybe the Vrod is an acception.
It's just the majority of idiots that take a nice factory bike that runs decent, puts accessories that actually decreases performance( i.e. open pipes, ape hangers, lowered, etc,.)that I find bothersome.
Having said that, it is amazing what a 883 can do in the hands of a good rider on a twisty road. Damn those Flachs are fast on the track!
BTW, I've found that Canadian riders wave to everyone.

 

[coreyjdl]

i ride a vino 125 (a yamaha vespa like scooter) to work occasionally, its my parts getting machine, all that underseat storage at 96mpg i'd be stupid not to pick up carbs, headers, fill up gas cans, etc on it. i get so many looks and certainly no waves from the fat bloats on their hogs.

 

[HackAsaw]

if it makes any of you feel better

plenty of boneheads on HD's think this is a Honda and several have also asked me what year 'knuckle head' my Triumph bobber is...

it's always really funny when they do it in front of their new gal fiend and no matter how kind and polite I am

so many of them seem to get really edgy when I tell them the truth

a guy on a new whatever MoCoMobile was in my shop just about two weeks ago and called me a liar when I told him this was actually a Harley

two year old picture but pretty much still has the same basic lines and layout

 

[Seattle51]

Not necessarily a rant but an observation... I live in a helmet law state so everyone here wears a helmet, surrounding states are also helmet law states so,in 10+ years of riding I'm pretty sure I've never seen anyone on the freeway without a helmet on.

A couple weeks ago I was in my buddies wedding in Wisconsin. NOT a helmet law state evident by the all the Harley riders with their wives/orcas on the back without helmets on. Seriously, I think in the three or four days I was there maybe 2 or 3 Harleys had riders with helmets. Sportbikes and tourers more often than 80/20 had at least a helmet on and oh-my, maybe even a leather jacket on!

Seriously blew my mind that at 11pm on a dark freeway some asshat could be dodging traffic at 80+ with a passenger and neither one could be wearing a helmet...

 

[Camelhairy]

Almost 50 years ago an old-timer told me that HD wasn't a motorcycle, it was a way of life. Now the yuppies are trying to get in on it.

FC

 

[UngaWunga]

quote:Originally posted by Camelhairy

Almost 50 years ago an old-timer told me that HD wasn't a motorcycle, it was a way of life. Now the yuppies are trying to get in on it.

Heck, even the geriatrics crowd are riding Harleys these days!

How's the 883, Frank?

 

[Geeto67]

I had one of the best laughs I have ever had yesterday...

One of the Atty's I work with went out and bought a new sportster 1200 about 6months back. First motorcycle ever. Bought it brand new from Long Island City harley davidson.

In the last 6 months of my working with him, I laughed really hard when he complained that he got passed by a couple riding two up on a new Vespa GTS 250.

I laughed again when he parked the thing on the street and the car he parked it behind backed over it and took off (in my entire riding history of 16 years I have yet to have this happen to me).

I laughed again when the bike had a wobble and the dealer couldn't find it for THREE MONTHS because they rebuilt the front end after the "back over" incident, and forgot to check to see if the rear wheel was damaged (which it was).

no...I laughed the hardest at this situation yesterday....

said "biker" (let's just call him RUB) and I run into each other on the way out of the building. He starts asking me questions about my ducati, then about some newer bikes. So I ask him what is up:

RUB: "I don't think my Aircooled Harley is a good city bike"
Me: "Why not?"
RUB: "Well, when she gets hot in traffic the shields burn holes in my loafers and pants, so I had to buy these boots <a really expensive pair of HD engineer boots> and tuck my pants into them to keep things from burning"

hmmmm....I ride a 33year old AIR COOLED motorcycle into the city everyday and this never happens to me. At this point I am having a hard time keeping a straight face, but I hold it together.

RUB: "So, I was thinking I need to get another bike to commute with - what with my harley always being in the shop and all"

I really wish I could have made that up....but i didn't. it "amused" me though.

what I really found funny is that the first bike he gravitated toward after thinking he needs to get rid of his "hog" was a ducati. I told hom to buy a honda 599 or an sv650.

 

[parks61]

again you make me laugh and think g-man, thanks.
it's a bit of a glass house we're in ourselves...even the anti-image mentality (i'd like to think i subrscribe to) non the less carries an image to some degree. in design school/college i was always amazed by how much alike many of my student peers looked "presenting" themselves to the world by trying to look different. to many (of us?), the cafe 'look" is their alter-ego when not buttoned down at work or out shopping for groceries.
point taken on the wave thing...i like to wave to other riders both to be nice and to tweek those who won't wave back...often harley guys but modern squids too. the tourists/gullwing/bagger crowd always seem to be nice i've found as are the "real" commuters (dirty bikes often).
-parks

 

[parks61]

and one more thing.
hackA...i always love your stuff (posts&bikes)
-parks

 

[2smokeTyler]

nothing satisfies the sould like blowing by a brand new harley on my 32 year old yamaha 2 smoker...i just love it. hack, you really should get one of these things! LOL!!

 

[joe c]

i have countless times had people ask me what year my harley is. when im riding my 68 bonneville! it has no obvious identifying marks, and its loud. so people just think its a harley. i guess maybe anything made before 1975 was either a harley, or indian to most people.

as for the douche bags, well, the harley guys are bad, but the sportbike guys are worse. most of them dont have a clue, think they are fast, dont know what they are doing, and have to take their bikes in for things like a new chain, (if they now when its shot even)or to have the windscreen replaced. "can i get a fender eliminator and tail light turn signal integrator from my r1?" yeah, thats such an improvement in how your bike performs. makes me want to get one and just leave all that crap on there. just to irritate those ass wipes. then i see guys running pilot power races on their street bikes. why the fuck would you do that??? do you want o buy tires every 6 months?? wtf?? i guess if you can affors to do that, well, fine, but its kinda dumb i think.

there is a section of highway here that is very twisty. jersey wall on both sides, 3 lanes wide, no real shoulder. 3 or 4 corners are all blind and there are always car accidents there. like flipped over cars, and ones that have pin balled back and forth. it also happens to be the main highway out of the city from the local bar district. so fri and saturday nights look like a junk yard sometimes. i should really take pics. and when it rains, just lightly, its awesome. literally piled up cars sometimes. but i love in the spring, when the boys all get their bikes out and rail through there. there are always guys walking back towards traffic, with gear on, to pick up their buddies bike. and him. fucking losers. and i have to hear that noise all night long, back and forth up the streets nearby the house in the summer when the windows are open. id bet they are probably a mile or more form here and i can hear them clear as day. do you have to pin the fucking thing through 5th gear from this light to that one?? i have real issues with the poseur sportbike crowd. probably more than i do with the loser harley crowd.

i had a guy pull up next to me on the 550 today. he asks me where i get my bike worked on. i was almost dumbfounded. like, everyone has to take their bike someplace to have it fixed. like "you cant possibly work on that yourself". fuck off.

im just full of hate.

i said it the other day, i hate those people who are more worried about how their hair looks, or if this jacket is cool, or if their jeans are rolled up, than they do if their bike runs right.