cafe life in a hick town...

[dgrady77]

Well, it was a little painful, but I made it through this thread. I'm a bike guy, but I own a Harley Road King. I admit, even when I ride up to a Hardley Boutique on my Harley, I get some stink-eyed looks. I don't fit their own stereotype. At only 5'8", 150lbs, and looking 10 years younger than I am (and wearing a helmet, for crying out loud), they seem to think IF I'm on a Harley, it should be a Sporty. Honestly though, I've gotten as much attitude, both good and bad, from one side as I have from the other. Like others have said, it's all up to the individual person.

 

[Big R]

I think it's safe to say we all know some Harley owners that are just overall great people. Sometimes people just forget what kind of image they are actually displaying.

 

[matie69]

Interesting read guys......Here in the U.K its totally different....I think we're quite lucky by the sound of it.
whatever bike you ride tourer,fireblade esc,rat,cafe,cruiser........there's always a friendly nod as passing on the roads.

A fellow biker will be happy to look at and talk about each others bike and appreciate the work that has gone into it regardless of make. Lots of Zs,Rds,GSs,Cbs and such like on the roads and you seem to all be part of that biking family.

Do find it off putting to advertise your bike make with matching jackets and accessories but hey thats their choice. Just cause its big, noisey and flash doesnt make it the bee's knees.

 

[baader]

It´s the same in Finland, I´ve never seen a biker put another biker down, no matter what they rode.
Around here even the middle age leather guys (who all ride japanese customs here, not harleys) are cool enought to wave on the road and shoot crap on rest stops.

I do get weird looks sometimes, as no-one else rides cafe, and no-one else rides in full leathers and open face helmet.

 

[motrhd]

Big Rich, I totally get what you feel toward your sister-in-law, it's like an on-off switch for some people. I remember when my second wife hated my closet full of black T shirts, I agreed that I needed to get different colors of Harley shirts.......LOL
Seriously isn't it great that here in the good ol US of A we are all allowed to be individuals ? I refuse to advertise for any company............but I do look for the unusually cool stuff depicting my brand of choice from differing areas that I visit.
The clothing that I buy is usually pretty unique, my wife has owned a silkscreen and embroidery business for over twenty years. Many times she will design and print event shirts for her and I and a few friends, and they are far more killer than what I could buy at the event. I don't try to impress or intimidate anyone by how I dress, I just do my own thing, hell I even own and enjoy a Ford Racing leather jacket ! Yes, Ford is also one of my brands of choice...........my choice, not anybody elses, it is what makes the world go around, and just so you know, I like any brand of automobile, if it strikes my fancy.
We all have different ideas of what we like, but, here is where the cool part comes in, we can appreciate what someone else thinks is great, even if it isn't what we would do.

 

[VonYinzer]

Right on.

I wont lie, I have a black Dickies jacket that I wear all the time with a small vintage Honda patch and a small vintage Yamaha patch. Because I own a Yamaha, and a few Hondas. Hell my sis-inlaw and her fiance bought me one of the rad Honda hoodies from Metro racing for Xmas. And I wear it all the time. Its a super high quality hoodie.

 

[KrashManhatten]

I am from Central WI, (home of HD) and it just like most of you say, unless you have the most efficient way of converting gasoline to noise, you are just the stains on the road.
Most of the time i don’t acknowledge the HD guys, because most of them are just Yuppies with super deep pockets and an ego. However i do get enough attention to the 74 360 i tool around on.
I also do just cruise around in a Duluth trading jacket with a hoodie under it with my full face helmet

 

[duggyb]

i find it amazing to read all these storys, i am from Regina Saskatchewan Canada, a city of about 190,000 and never see any resistance of any type from anyone! i ride my bike everywhere(just got it) its just a stock CJ360T with nothing done to it, i don't even have proper leathers right now and i wear a motocross helmet until i buy another.

Every biker i pass on the road gives me the 2 finger wave down low, and i do the same, harleys to enduros,super motos, even seen a guy on an electric GIO scooter give me a wave, juts overall everyone's pretty nice.

Pretty much every time i fuel up i have someone comment "nice bike", i have only seen maybe 5-6 other 70 era hondas in the city, so maybe people appreciate them because they are rarer? not sure.

i havent outright talked to harley owners face to face but i do get a nice wave or nod whenever they ride by if i am stopped/parked somewhere.

sorry you guys have to deal with that stuff.

 

[Basement rat]

Regina... My truck broke down after missing the turn off for the ring road or circle drive? forgot which. Anyway, I stoped in to what looked like a bike shop where you take a left turn to continue on to highway 1 East from missing the turn. There were a few bikes outside, and tons of jackets and shirts hanging inside. I was looking for a simple electric fuel pump to limp my way home. The lady running the shop said they dont have parts or bikes for that matter... just clothes...

 

[duggyb]

not sure what place your thinking of, there is lots of shops in town with great parts/etc

and yes its ring road

 

[Chimera Moto Works]

I must say, after being one of the first posts in this thread, its been really interesting to see the different lifestyle's of bikers in different countries, but also just in different towns. Acceptance should be for everyone and anyone on two wheels, but this thread shows you how opinionated the world is sometimes, including my town.

 

[montessa172]

Two stories from today, went for a new carb shake down run, lasted for 1/2 hour and had to stop a timmies to warm up, there was a group of 20 or so sport bikes / standards just pulling out as I was parking 2 of them were commented on my bike and half of them gave me the cool guy nod. So they pull out and some other guy who was sitting in his car finishing his smoke walks by and says of all the bikes in the parking lot yours is the coolest. Hit up a quick run down the local twists and as I'm waiting to turn on to the highway buddy in a mini van is hanging out the window giving me the thumbs up. It's stuff like that that validates my efforts and makes all my work worthwhile, and I haven't done all that much really, I'm just the guy on something different not a cookie cutter bike that looks the same as the next. I would like to experience a 10000 K redline of a modern 4 cylinder sportbike, I would love to own a flat track Harley ( XL 750 ? ). I can't justify the expense though. So life has taken me down the path of the xs 650 and I'm glad it has.

 

[Big R]

Montessa, that story reminds me: last year for the Mods vs Rockers VonYinzer rode my CL175 down while me and the wife followed in her car. At a redlight, we see Von looking at the car stopped next to him. There was a little kid in the back smiling ear to ear waving their hand like crazy. That's the best: seeing that smile.

 

[pawn]

i gotta add, as much complaining as I do about Miami, one thing is cool that cops pull up to me just to ask what kind of bike I'm on. Motorcycle cops have pulled up to me and said I could split lanes if I want since they think it's safer for the rider. The biggest problem here is the cages filled with landscapers or old women from central america or Cuba. They love to drive like shit and they think their hair dye and overuse of perfume will get them out of anything.

 

[Mr.E]

I certainly agree about miami riding. Its a madhouse there. I even hate driving there! But... I love the ride out to key west, and ppl there seem to be cool with whatever moves ya.

 

[jimmiejoe]

l Emptied The Bar Working on the cental coast in CA at Morro Bay l'd enjoy a cocktail at the Ol Tavern ...Wallk in sat down in my leathers enjoying a beer when l started a chat with some local guys...They wanted to know what l was riding so explain my Bike is outside have a look
They came back in and bought me another beer and wanted to know all about it...l was so in heaven knowing thses guys like my bike and wanted to here it when l left...
Two beers are my limit so finished and grab my helmet as a signal l was leaving,,,their grab there beers walked out with me....l started my Bumble Bee up, with my Super Trap just a singing a sweet little Buzz...
Looking back at them they all gave me a thumbs us as l kick my Bee into first gear and let it ripe down throu Main St...
Wow l thought to myself how fun that just was....
Back the next eveing and a few of the same gus were there,, complementing me on a fine Bike...Not to mention my helmet almost didn't fit when l went to leave...
l've run into Harley rides before with similar respones as l've see here in these notes posted,but when l meet others that enjoy seeing this style of bike it seems to ease the other thoughts l get from Harley riders...
For me it's albout 2 wheel fun no matter what you ride...Just don't snub me or your'll be listiening to my Super Tap as it blows bi you...

 

[bobjohnson]

Quality rant.
Can't say I've had any extremely negative experiences here in Toronto. It's a big city so there's lots of different kinds of people and of those people that like motorcycles, they like lots of different kinds of motorcycles. One incident that bemused me was when I pulled into a popular weekend destination and was talking to a guy with his wife. He liked my bike and all but at the end of our conversation, referring to the size and age of my bike, said something like, "Well, at least you're riding something." WTF? Anyway I caught the highly embarrassed look from the wife and let it go.

I know this is from page 1 but i get pretty much the same experience here in Toronto. Theres like a divide where you bike is small and unique enough that everyone thinks its cool (my little CB125T) or huge and insanely fast so everyone thinks its cool (R1, big 1.8L harleys, etc), and then theres that middle ground where a lot of people look at it and go... well, its ok i guess but its kinda small and old (almost all the CB's fit in this bracket) and you really only get the dudes who had them as kids or wished they had them coming up to talk to you. The good part though is that if your bike is unique, everyone thinks its awesome, and if you do your own wrenching, almost everyone has respect for that because most of the car and bike guys in this city cant. But overall the bike culture in toronto is pretty cool, everyone with a bike is friendly, aside from those harley riders you get everywhere that wont give you the time of day unless youre wearing the HD gear and riding an HD.


But up where my parents live (near algonquin park), its brutal. Riding anything other than a harley just makes you a target of ridicule lol. Even the big japanese cruisers get no respect up that way, its go harley or go home.

 

[Basement rat]

I think I would shit myself riding Toronto. I want to ride to Newfoundland one day in the next near years and the part that has me most worried is the 400, 401 east and I dont know where to begin about Quebec...

 

[DrJ]

I think I would shit myself riding Toronto. I want to ride to Newfoundland one day in the next near years and the part that has me most worried is the 400, 401 east and I dont know where to begin about Quebec...

Well you can bypass the 401 from Bowmanville all the way to Cornwall by travelling on Hwy 2. It's much nicer but takes longer.

 

[Ringo]

I have to say, I hoped I wouldn't have anything to contribute to this thread. But after today's ride, I do. T71ford and I went for a short leisurely ride this afternoon, and stopped for a cup of joe at a main street coffee shop part way through the ride. We were sitting in the outdoor patio when a man with his son pulled up on a mid '90s Ninja 250. We got to chatting about the bikes for a while when two bandana-clad jokers cruised by on their harleys. We all gave them the wave and they responded by revving the shit out their bikes, practically blowing out my effin eardrum. The guy on the Ninja summed it up perfectly: "dickheads".

I do try to give Harley guys the benefit of the doubt; I've had plenty wave at me. It just seems like a lot of them revel in the stereotype.