| Author | Message | ||
     Lost_in_ohio |
At my favorite gas station and I hear a ruckus of honking horns and swearing......... Look over and here is a couple of guys and chicks blocking traffic trying to make the turn into the gas station on their brand new Vrods and sportsters. hmmmmm, I thinks. Each of the takes a gas pump......and the lady on the vrod almost dumps it. Novice riders to say the least. Then I notice her helmet a pink german army replica.....no dot sticker.....hmmmmmm. They were really loud shouting back en forth between the pumps. I mention to her that helmet would not do a very good job of protecting her head if she had an accident......her response was that she only needed it till she got good. I guess that means next week. Hubby/boyfriend came over and got in my face and told me in 4 letter words to mind my own business. My response was ashame you don't love her enough to have her wear proper protection. Boy you should have seen the veins sticking out of his neck. On the way out I noticed all 5 bikes had temporary tags and only 2 of them where even wearing helmets.....I beat none of them even owned a bike before that......IMHO from the way they rode in. Explain to me why HD owners think they own where ever they are at? Bars, parks, roads. I guess gas stations too. Just can't believe it. Pardon my venting. I just see too many guys and gals on bikes making my insurance rates higher. Pardon my rant | ||
| Diablobrian |
There is a high level of bluster involved with many H-D purchases. Especially RUBs. | ||
| Xb9ser |
Three weeks ago i rode up to ride Deals Gap.It started raining on I 40. I kept on riding, Under every bridge was one or two Harleys.I blew my horn and waved and kept rideing. The diffrence between a harley owner and a BUELL rider. | ||
| U4euh |
Think about this-if you come across like a father or mother, you get the teenage rebellious attitude, no matter the age. Problem with is most teenagers screw up! her response was that she only needed it till she got good ouch!! Darwin at work again | ||
| Djkaplan |
You think HD owners think they own where ever they are at? Bars, parks, roads? That's absurd. | ||
| Oldog |
makes you wonder what gets into folks heads? | ||
| Tramp |
you're lucky you didn't get knocked on your ass. who are you to tell these dipsh*ts what to wear? worse yet, who are you to tell this guy he doesn't love his woman? that's their business, not yours. if you're really into protection and safety, don't lecture women out riding with men. | ||
| Tom_b |
I just look at them, smile and keep my mouth shut unless they are on my toes. I figure they will learn, most likely the hard way. yes, I also get the we own everything attitude from newbie harley riders. Just ignore it, consider it thinning the heard. | ||
| Diablobrian |
A little chlorine in the gene pool. | ||
| Smoky |
You are telling adults what to wear? I'd tell you to mind your own business. Maybe a little helpful advise to kids, but anybody old enough to get a drivers license, is old enough to decide for themselves what to wear. What if you were at the gas station, and a car driver came over and told you that your motorcycle was too dangerous, and you should be in a car? What if he asked you if you really loved your wife and children, you'd not ride, so you'd have a better chance of being there for them? I'd tell him to mind his own business too! | ||
| Lowflyer |
Unsolicited preaching to complete strangers about their PPE is more dangerous than riding w/out a helmet, IMHO. | ||
| Tramp |
perfect analogy | ||
| Lowflyer |
"I'd tell him to mind his own business too!" I'd kick his panzy ass.  | ||
| Luvthemtorts |
Man you guys can be harsh. If this was somebody who had bailed a Gixxer while wearing a tank top, shorts and flip flops ya'll woulda been all over it. Whats worse, making a well intentioned recommendation/observation before a tragedy happens or saying they deserve it after it happens. Now granted the "not loving his woman enough" line was a bit over the top, I think LIO had good intentions in his heart. Course then again maybe he was just trying to hit on her  !! | ||
| Jon |
Lost in Ohio, I'm with you. She needed to hear what you said. Be glad they're not in your club! | ||
| Jon |
Smokey, Your counter point is excellent, but even if you were told that it wouldn't warrant violence. | ||
| Diablobrian |
While I agree that gear is needed, the "just wearing it until I get good" attitude tells me what i need to know about their attitudes toward their own personal safety. I hate to see anyone go down. Not wearing proper gear is only adding to the tragedy in their near future. Everyone falls over, especially when you're new to riding. If they don't learn from their own mistakes they CANT learn from mine. I can't save everyone from suffering, but maybe I can save someone from some nasty injuries and even death. If I can do that just once I'm a happy guy. However some people don't want to learn, or to be saved, and you'll never be able to force them to do either one. | ||
| Hans |
Lost_in_Ohio, That was a brave, but stupid, thing to say. Glad you came undamaged away with it. Sometimes your mouth goes another way than your mind: Three weeks ago, my son came over for a long weekend, without his girl friend. He proposed to make a short trip on my bike to keep it active, because I rode it so seldom last year, due to my physical condition. "I supposed you would ask, the battery is pampered and I pressurized the tires already." There he came with his leather jacket, helmet and gloves, but: Jeans and phantasy shoes. My mind went: "Come on, he is grown up and very skillful and prudent. The weather is ideal, the road condition is excellent and there will be almost no traffic." But my mouth went independently: "NO WAY you can climb on my bike with that outfit. Take my riding boots and trousers." He did so. He came back within 10 minutes, more or less upset. He went down on a very narrow traffic circulation place, which are build now in large quantities here, to keep the traffic speed low at road crossings without traffic lights. (He did cut half the curve off and lost grip on the natural stone pavement of the inside, which have a queer slope toward the center of the circular place.) He came off with a painful finger and knee and 100 Euros for spare parts. The trousers are heavily scavenged at the left knee. Sometimes it pays, to interfere with others business. Hans | ||
| Patrickh |
"ashame you don't love her enough to have her wear proper protection" funny. it's fun to stir it up every once and a while, espically if it makes someone really mad. I would NEVER let my wife on the back of my bike without full face, gloves, jacket. What does "RUB" stand for? I know what it refers too but forget the meaning of the acronynm | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Rich Urban Biker. or my favorite mocking line: "Look what I bought with money!!!" It pays to ignore those tools. Just leave them in the city where they belong. | ||
| Jackbequick |
Nate beat me top it, RUB = Rich Urban Biker. Sort a two-wheeled yuppie. I invented an acronym when I lived in Sonoma, CA but it never caught on. It was SADYS. Meaning of was "Sons and Daughters of Yuppie Scum". When you were driving over in Marin county and had a fat faced teenaged girl in a new Miata on your bumper who was talking a cell phone in her left hand and twirling her hair with the index finger on her right hand, that was your female SADY. And if you were in the fast lane, bumper to bumper and moving with the crowd, and there was a teenaged male in a nicely restored 1965 Mustang (or maybe a brand new BMW) about 6" off your bumper and 1/3 of his car width out to the left (in case a passing lane should appear out of nowhere?), that was your male SADY. These are progeny of the people that loved the message when CSN&Y said "teach you children well" but then exempted themselves from the process. I have been accused of being a yuppy. For the record, yuppies are post-war brats and I was born during the Battle of Midway. Jack (Message edited by jackbequick on July 31, 2006) | ||
| Southern Marine |
Lost, good on ya. | ||
| Light_keeper |
I learned something new this weekend. As I pulled into the MC parking area at Owls Head Transpertation Museum The Guy on the New Soft tail in front of me (Yes the one in the tank top and wrap around sun glasses No oter protective gear in sight) Said to his girl friend ( The one in halter top, shorts ans flip flops no glasses) loud enough for everyone in hearing distance to over hear. "I didn't ride my dirt bike today, I rode a real bike." I just smiled and said nothing. Nothing I could have said would have made any sense to him anyway. As I walked towards the Museum A guy on a BMW pointed at him and smiled and said " Ignorant Prick." My question to you all is, does a Blast really look like a dirt bike?  | ||
| Regkittrelle |
Fortunately for many of the posters here, we Harley riders--apparently--hold an exclusive on the inability to ride and protect ourselves accordingly. But, given that we're usually drunk (and we understand that god protects drunks)we can rumble off the roads and remain unscathed. I recognize that opinions to the contrary are not to be countenanced here, but humor me as I offer a couple of what are surely anomolies.... In nine years of staging BattleTrax events (Yes, I know.. an event of little consequence that beares scant resemblance to the real world) some of the most competent of riders were FL pilots and (brace yourself) some of the worst were aboard Buells. These brief observations mean absolutely zilch... somewhat akin to the value of other observations hereabouts. | ||
| Jaimec |
Too many people think the machine they own automatically turns them into superstars on the road and track. Thankfully, there are people like Valentino Rossi who prove almost every day it ain't the machine, it's the rider... | ||
| Court |
>>>>some of the worst were aboard Buells. You call me? If you get banned, don't say I didn't warn you. You....you....heathen!  | ||
| Bomber |
wow -- I've got a couple of friends and acquaintences and extended family members that don't wear gear while riding -- if asked, I tell em why I gear up -- if not asked, I don't say anything -- personal choice, personal responsibility folks with whom I disagree ride all manner of bikes, or none at all and life's rich pagent seems to proceed just fine without my wise counsel (go figure ;-} ) as for Btrax, hey, I was always one of a faster slow guys! specially when I remembered to turn on the petcock! | ||
| Lowflyer |
"Thankfully, there are people like Valentino Rossi who prove almost every day it ain't the machine, it's the rider..." Seems he's been blaming it on the machine lately. | ||
| Road_thing |
Reg: When you ran the Btrax at Republic HD here in Houston a few years ago, I ran it on my Road King. But I was still one of the slowest. Your clocks must have known I ride Buells, too! rt | ||
| Regkittrelle |
Funny thing about BattleTrax and being a competent rider... I came across dozens of very fast riders who, in my estimation, couldn't ride worth a damn. Yes, they were fast, but they were usually on the verge of disaster; the type of rider that makes a young, good-looking corpse. The riders that always impress me the most are the smooth ones. I always keep an eye on the suspension; the less it works. the smoother the rider. And, the smoother the rider, ultimately the faster the rider. I was actually run over a couple of times by riders who were suffering under the illusion that they knew how to ride a motorcycle. One, of them, even after knocking me on my can, bragged about how quick he was. I estimate that 10 to 15 percent of the riders I watched on a BattleTrax court should not be allowed to hold a motorcycle license. |
