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. 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.

Lots of people ride motorcycles here. We have rich suburban bikers, BMW riders, hooligans, 1%ers, and retired bikers. Lots of beards and tattoos. Everybody waves but the Harley yuppies. Even the Pagans wave. But not the yuppies. No. Even motorcylists in their cars are cool----except the SUVs and trucks with Harley stickers. Why?

Exactly.
Only the people who want a Harley (and nothing but a Harley), but Harleys.

Same thing with Nissans. Nothing special, but they have a following...

Some thoughts, purely anecdotal:

I haven't owned a motorcycle in some years, but when I'm not riding a bicycle, I ride a scooter, a nice green one with whitewall tires and cream highlights. To make it even worse, my scrubs match the scooter.

1. Harley riders tend to be really stupid about thinking nothing else is a "real bike," and do seem to be really ******** about image consciousness. Crotch rocket guys don't seem to act silly in this way as much.

2. I don't know where Harley riders have been for the last 30 years, but horseshoe moustaches and leather are only worn together by one other group-Frisco Leathermen. Unless you're a Navy SEAL or something, it might not be the look to sport. I'm not homophobic at all, but find it ironic simply because the typical Harley rider, even the dentist and CPA ones, usually hate queers.

3. They're overpriced and get crappy mileage. I'll take a Honda over a Harley any day, because I like them better, and because I don't want to feel expected to shoot the bull with Harley 'tards all the time.

Seriously, I find most Walmartian status objects, from Hummers to Harleys, fairly ridiculous, due to their inefficiency and sheer fuglitude. But hey, if you have your pitbull airbrushed on the back of your leather riding jacket and you can't understand why guys at the Waffle House keep hitting on you, it's whatever floats your boat, right?