I'm sure glad that my commuting experience hasn't been like the rest. Most of the responses I received were of the wow or wish I could variety. Very few were of the you're a nut variety. When I decided to do the MS150 I raised just shy of $1500 without even trying hard, $500 of that was from the CEO. I kind of miss that job...

Ok, I'll play devil's advocate.

How subtle or open are you about how you feel about their lifestyle?

If you come off as disrespectful of the way they choose to live their lives, it's not surprising that you'd get some of that same disrespect in return.

In the 25 or 30 motorcycles Ive owned two have been Harleys.
I work on Americas Fastest Supercar (really) and ride a folding bicycle to
work. I hear the word 'fruit' more than I see it written at the store.
"So What" is the only effort I put into caring what other people say or think of me.
In fact, taking into consideration some of the people who issue these
wittisisms and comment on how strange I might be only reinforce I am
doing something right :) In fact, today I got admonished for goofing on
#3.....Yeah, The Intimidator. Only a kommie *** goofs on the intimidator !
Really, live and let live. ........

Ride safe and have a nice holiday !!
Peace out ! :)

I must live under a rock.

What is Americas Fastest Supercar ?

My Sportster gets 65mpg on regular, it's got Buell Lightning heads and a bunch of other performance crap that the prior owner had installed, isn't as bad in snow and ice as my Honda St1100s were. I thought the loud pipe thing was BS, but I've never had a problem with the HD lane splitting or just minding my own business. It's funny because I got the Sportster over a K1200LT, I thought though that BMW would be coming out with a newer touring bike soon so I didn't want to get screwed over resale like I did with my two ST1100s which had been keeping their value just fine and then a year after I get mine they surprise everyone with the ST1300. I was ticked, and since I had always looked askance at HDs, their owners and the whole thing altogether I figured what better way to be able to knock them than to speak from experience. So far all my suspicions were false and I've run out of bad things to say other than the location of the ground post on the battery is very unfortunate and requires an extra step to tighten. The backrest and luggage rack on the sportser are just right for sticking a bicycle on, something I found out the other day at the Salvation Army!

My favorite bike to putt around on was my Ducati but it would make my balls numb after riding it for over two hours in a day. My favorite bike to ride fast in the twisties was the Ninja 250 and the ST1100 is just a great bike overall but is very heavy and likes to get stuck in sand, gravel, mud and snow. I've dug more holes with the rear wheel on that thing than with my 4X4. I think my next bike will be either a KZ1000p or Road-Glide.

Most people are posers regardless of what they are into. I've found it's best to ignore them, it seems all they want is negative attention anyway.

My feeling is that if it has two wheels it works for me. Except for that Segway nonsense, who do those guys think they are..?

(speaking for myself...): not really. They're clearly morons, and what they hell do I care what a moron says? It's like getting something like "***" yelled at you. How can you possibly get mad about it? Either it's true, in which case, so what, or it's a lie, in which case, so what?

People spend too much time worrying about what other people think of them.

No one's ever hassled me about riding my bike to work. Why would they? I would rather ride a bike in winter than a motorcycle. I'm generating a lot of heat, which keeps me warm. No such luck on a motorcycle.

No one's ever hassled me about riding my bike to work. Why would they? I would rather ride a bike in winter than a motorcycle. I'm generating a lot of heat, which keeps me warm. No such luck on a motorcycle.

[QUOTERhetorical question....if you did you wouldnt
be questioning why they didnt ride in. [/QUOTE]

The conventional wisdom on true motorcyclists is: If you don't ride in the rain, you don't ride. That's what rainsuits are for. I love the question from people who are non rider.(MC or bicycle), "What do you do when it rains?" I always answer, "You get wet!?"

I wouldn't blast all Harley riders. I am friends with and used to work with a guy who has been riding motorcycles for years. He's owned a Harley along with a number of other motorcycles over the last 30+ years and when it comes to motorcycles he's a guru. I have a lot of respect for him. He's kind of a cruiser guy while I'm more into the sport touring bikes and I think my next bike will be a BMW. He currently owns a 1976 Honda CB750 and a 2005 Honda VTX1800 (which basically looks and sounds like a Harley). He has never given me an ounce of crap about riding a bicycle to work and I've known him for almost 5 years now.

BTW-Both of my bikes have Italian groupos and I almost bought a barely used Moto Guzzi a few years ago. I may be a member of that forum in fact. :beer:

My state (Tennessee) is #6 according to that list, and I don't doubt it at all. I have a good 10-15 pounds I can't seem to lose, and I look like a skeleton around here!

Ever hit a hail storm at 70 mph on a bike with an open face helmet? I was in the fast lane and slowed down to about 45 in a micro second as I tucked in behind my faring, man that hurt for days.

And I rode a Yamaha 700 all the time I went to college in Redwood country where it rains anywhere from 40" to 100" a year.

Yeah, when it rains, you get wet. :)

Steven

So THAT'S who's been messing with my '97 Malibu ;). Anyway, Everyone I work with, save one or two, think exercise is for girls. There's one total H-D dude/ our truck driver (double whammy) that is for real and I would definitely not mess with. We get along great, but I've noticed that he won't even acknowledge me when I'm in cycling gear or already on my bike heading out. Even if I debated him to death (which I'm sure I could), I know I still could never convince him of anything he didn't already believe. Therefor, I ignore the behavior and continue to live my happy life :)!

Heh! I love this thread. I work with a large number of very large people in Miami Fl. There is a KFC on the other side of US1 and next to it is the Harley dealership, formerly a Circuit City outlet. It's big.

One of my favorite coworkers rides a sportster,I think. We had our first cold snap last week and temps got down into the 50's. He showed up without his HD.

My coworker is the re incarnation of the Smiling Buhdda. In form, word and attitude. He is a cool nice guy.

I don't berate him about his belly that, historically gets rubbed and he never inquires about my spandex shorts left out drying on my commuter ride.

Other coworkers catch me while I am unloading and locking up the bike and ask me some questions.

The best revenge is to carry a half gallon of ice cream to work and eat it in the break room or other conspicuous place for breakfast. You shouldn't talk when your mouth is full. Revenge is best served cold! ;)

One harley wannabe guy started harassing me about putting "baseball cards in the spokes", I just said to him "kinda like you put mufflers on that make it sound 10 times louder than if needs to be????", he stopped pretty quick.

I think I detect some envy!

My experiences with Harley riders while on my bicycle are much like evblazer's. They greet me, I greet them, everyone's real friendly. It's really the car drivers I watch out for, for the most part.

Agreed, same goes for trailering a bike IMO. When I was riding I frequented a motorcycle motel in the mountains and the owners would always goof on the people (behind their backs) who showed up on a trailer, most of them coming from much shorter distances that I did.

Motorcycles aren't very much different than bicycles though, in that they're a weekend hobby for the vast majority of owners. There's little difference between the Saturday Fat Boy and the Saturday Cervelo. Hell, I used to have a dedicated track car that got driven about one weekend a month.

I'm genuinely trying to simplify my lifestyle, so all the weekend hobbies had to go, but I can certainly understand the appeal of it. The shame is that our culture seems to encourage this type of behavior, asking us to make entertainment and expensive and infrequent event. Fun is rarely proportional to money spent and is often an inverse proportion.

Oh yes...the Harley. The conformists' idea of be non-conformist. They're no different than the garage queen pickup truck drivers.

Generally no one does. In my experience, most people show their intolerance of cyclists while they (those intolerant) are in their cars where they feel safe to honk and yell obscenities. Out of their cars, where they can't just yell something and then speed away, they don't have much to say because they're just as vulnerable as the next person.

The people who do make derogatory comments usually do so by making indirect comments but direct or indirectly, they're showing that that they're just bigots. I loathe those people but they're a fact of life.

I know what the OP means. There's a reason why they call it the Harley OWNERS group and not the Harley Riders Group. This is a photo of me at the Arctic Circle on my Harley Superglide. Two leather saddle bags, a 7 gal can a of spare fuel, tools and a sense of adventure was all I took.

Allan

Now THAT"S what I'm talking about! A rider with a sense of adventure. Not some weekend warrior who trailers his ride to Daytona every year so that he can fantasize about being a 1 percenter Outlaw or Angel for a week.

Quoted for emphasis. When people find out that I bike everywhere and I'm standing right next to them, they either give a fake (or sometimes genuine) "That's cool" or they get really quiet and uncomfortable. Most likely they want to crack some sort of joke but there's no way they'll saying anything with me standing there. But put them in their car and oh boy! They suddenly have nerves of steel, especially at night. Not quite as much during the day, probably because their faces can be seen more easily.

I totally forgot about this story. One afternoon I was commuting home from work. I was riding a flat black Townie that I'd put a straight bar on, so it had a bit of a custom look to it. This guy on a Harley passes me in the next lane and you could tell he was the real deal, old dirty Flathead with ape hangers, the guy has the long beard and looked as greasy as the bike. The cool thing was, he gave me the salute as he passed, arm upraised without the finger. I thought that was pretty cool.

I've been riding bicycles from the age of 6 and motorcycles from the time I could get a motor driven cycle license at 14. My first motorcycle (sort of) was a Sears Allstate Moped. I rode it until I could get a real motorcycle at age 16. I've had just about of every sort of motorcycle imaginable, including one Harley. Everyone should have at least one Harley experience. It helps if you have two so you have one running allowing time to repair the other. I found a bad day of riding a Harley consisted of not being able to get it cranked and out the garage door. A good day of riding consisted of getting it cranked and riding far enough away from home that when it quit the "old lady" would drive the truck so you could get it home. my fastest motorcycle was a Honda VF750FR I purchased in Japan while in the Navy and brought it back to the US on a Destroyer. That bike would do an honest 195 MPH (personal testing. I rode it from San Diego, CA to my home in Anniston, AL. I went north to Las Vegas and then rode as much of old route 66 as was possible in 1985. It became too fast for my age and I sold it before it killed me. I've never stopped riding bicycles. Several years ago I rode back to San Diego on the same route as the motorcycle trip only on a touring bike. It took me a lot longer but enjoyed the ride much more. I consequently boxed the touring bike in SD and took a Grey Hound bus back home, one way was quite enough!

It's funny to hear all this Harley bashing, you guy's sound like car people *****ing about cyclists.

It's all just stereotypes isn't it. I had a customer in the other day that rides a Harley to the tune of about 30,000 miles per year. He loves 'em all. There's a difference between the hard-core posers and the riders. Just like on bicycles. Some own bikes and do a trail once in a while and others are compulsive...like some of us here. It's all fun. I do about 2000 per year on my bicycle and 10,000 on the Guzzi. One of my Harley friends calls me a true biker and he admits he's just a hobbiest. Some of it with him is his work won't let him ride his harley that often because of the tools he has to carry. We're good friends anyway. He loves his harley image stereotype and plays it up just to get to people!

Funny... I get just the opposite. I've only ever had one bad encounter at night (And that was at a stop light)... all the rest were during the daytime.

Mostly at night people just move over and leave me alone. :)

Yeah, you don't live in Nascar country. :p I was in Denver for a wedding back in March, and I was amazed at how friendly most people were. I didn't get to ride while there, unfortunately.

Oh and back on topic, I've never had any trouble from folks on Harleys. In fact one even waved to me once.

They may be sheep, but they're black sheep. Hilariously, this is not a parody but an actual HD commercial.