Making a "Harley Wannabe" back down...
 

This post sounds like what I ran into last week at the office:

I work in an organization full of engineers. Nearly all of us are middle aged, and I'm one of only about three who are fit and healthy. One of the prime reasons is my 20 miles of daily commuting coupled with morning runs 4 times a week. I'm that odd guy who rides the bike to work. And I typically avoid lining up at the office coffee pot... I affectionately call it the "Donut Buffet"!

Now... with all of the middle aged males in my office, it seems that they all want to own a Harley Davidson motorcycle. They like to wear all of the leather clothes and special boots with the proper logo on them... and then call me odd because I wear spandex and shave my legs to make my cycling more comfortable!

Well... last week's weather was cold and drizzly... and I rode anyways. Why not? As I approached the community refrigerator to retrieve my lunch, I overheard three of the "Harley Boyz" idling near the coffee pot and talking about me.

"Riding that bicycle every day is just weird. And in this weather... he's just acting like a freak."

So I looked at him and asked, "Did you ride your motorcycle today?"

"No... it's raining."

"Well then, Mr. Hardcore Harley... you think I'm a freak for not letting a little rain stop me from doing something that I like, but yet you can't bring yourself to ride your motorized vehicle for 30 minutes a day to get to work because you may get a little wet. I may be a freak, but it sounds to me like you're a p***y hiding behind a leather vest. Go ahead and stick your hand in that donut box again... it suits you."




Yeah... over some things I have a short fuse... and this just pissed me off.

When you're off the bike, what kind of people give you a hard time about your cycling?

reminds me of this attitude, seems the biggest complainers about us bike commuters are the ones that need it most. This comic says it all, Frazz is a great comic, he bike commutes, mountain bikes, does Tris, and has a great relationship with kids.

http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/a...6690071119.gif

Harleys don't really have anything to do with practical transportation. They're more of a 'conspicuous consumption' choice. As such, if one rides it in the rain, then one must detail-clean all the shiny bits, or else it will look utilitarian and thus, lose its cachet.

I don't know if it is just where I live but I can't imagine anyone ever having issues with me riding in all weather. Luckily I live where I see at least a few other cyclists no matter what time of the year/weather is going on.

Reminds me of a guy here at work. He makes fun of cyclists and any "alternative commuter" (largely due to his ultra-conservative mandate and Napolean complex rather than reason) while bragging about his super-macho "HOG" - it's not even a real Harley. I thought it was funny that he didn't ride after our recent snow, nor does he ride when it rains. I love pointing out that his really tough, 40-something hp, "imitation Harley" is grounded by rain and an inch or two of snow whereas my bike with all of .25 hp easily negotiated the "treacherous" conditions and kept me rolling to and from work. The sad thing is that I don't think any of it sinks in.

Not defending him but there is no way I'd ever ride a motorcycle in the snow. That would be downright treacherous on a motorcycle with street tires.

I do own a motorcycle and I grew up driving cars in the snow...lest anyone simply dismiss my post because I currently live in sunny San Diego. :D

Riding home from an interview the other day it was about 28 degrees and getting dark... and I still passed more than 10 people on bikes. :D

I remember riding in after the blizzards last year and noticing another set of bike tire tracks in the snow... There's at least one person out there as crazy as me! :D :D

Agreed with SDRider. I don't want to defend obnoxious motorcyclists, but riding a street bike, such as my SV650, in the snow is crazy. I've done it once on snow and ice, and that is enough for me. I nearly dropped it taking a turn after an ice-covered bridge at 5 mph.

I rode in the snow for the first time on my Trek 1000 the other day, and it was much easier to handle. 25 vs. 400 pounds and much lower power makes the bicycle worlds easier to ride in slick conditions.

I live in Georgia... we get snow every two or eight years!

These Harley wimps that I deal with are the ones who only ride if it's sunny and 70F outside...

I'm both a cyclist and a motorcyclist...currently not commuting on my bicycle because of some time constraints that don't permit it, but I ride my motorcycle to work as often as possible (considering it gets 55mpg!).

That typically means anytime the temp is above freezing OR even when it dips down into the 20s, but there hasn't been any precipitation that could have frozen. Way too much of a risk riding it at speed (between 30 and 60 mph on my commute) when there is a chance of hitting ice...

Harley-Davidson is to motorcycle as AOL is to Internet.
http://www.goingfaster.com/angst/harleysticker.jpghttp://antiprotester.com/Glenn.gif
http://www.goingfaster.com/angst/BMW%20sign.jpghttp://www.goingfaster.com/angst/harley_ad.gif

My little 50+mpg Kawasaki 500 regularly roosts on Harley Baditude rebels with noisy, gas-guzzling 1300+cc engines. AND police everywhere have been so utterly conditioned to equate speed with NOISE that I routinely fly past speedtraps at 15mph over the posted speed limit without even raising an eyebrow. It's as if the majority of the gazelles on the Kalahari have volunteered to wear belled collars to announce to the lion that dinner's on the way.
-Chris in C'bad

Exactly. I know how dangerous it is on a motorcycle, I used to ride and wouldn't dream of riding taking it out in the snow. But I'm not the one bragging about how tough I am, it seems that if his motorcycle were so tough and bicycles so whimpy, it would be the bicycles stuck at home on snow days. My point is that many people only look at things through a singular, popular perspective, they don't examine the alternatives and their pros/cons.

Yeah, I own an old Honda CB750. I've spent too much time and money fixing that bike up to drop it doing something as stupid as riding it in the snow. Don't get me wrong, I ride it year round and enjoy it very much but snow is something I know I'll never ride my motorcycle in.

Dude looks like the inspiration for Southpark's Mr. Slave...

Heck, me and my friends from my old scooter club wouldn't even take our 200cc (and smaller) Vespas out in the snow and ice. Most of us would ride our bicycles in the snow, though.

Hey this is fun - us pedal-pushing fools are usually made fun of as the "freaks", but we can look down at Harley folks! :)

at work a few stereotypical middle-age, middle-management types bought Harleys. They took over a parking space or 2. They even got the facility manager to get a sign that said:

MOTORCYCLE PARKING ONLY

I printed a label & stuck it on the sign so now it reads:

Fair Weather
MOTORCYCLE PARKING ONLY

Not sure if anyone else in the office got the joke, but I thought it was hilarious ;)

I'm on a motorcycle forum for Moto Guzzi (Italian like my groupo!!). I thought it was only there that Hardley riders were castigated. This thread has been fun! I have to share some of this over there. Thanks for the laughs.

I grew up in south Texas, and if somebody rode a motorcycle, they just rode a motorcycle. We moved up to Colorado for a few years, and found out motorcycles there are very much a Summer activity. Get a nice day and everyone's out riding their Harley. The other 10 months of the year, you just don't see any motorcycles. Of course, it was like that with bicycles, too. I hiked a lot on trails that were mainly used by mountain bikers. The first time you got 1/4" of snow on the ground, all the mountain bikes disappeared and you didn't see 'em again till next spring.

Ever hear the song "Hotrod Lincoln"? From the late 50's or early 60's, I think. Anyway, in the song, a Cadillac passes the guy up. So I assume back then a Cadillac was thought of as a reasonably high-performance vehicle back then. And now, of course, it's a geezermobile, used by people driving 45 mph with their blinkers on. Well, the Harley is the Cadillac of the next generation. I notice you seldom see any Harley riders under 40, not too many under 50, and average speeds have dropped, too- drive 65 and you don't have many Harley's passing you. Give 'em another 20 years, and they'll all be going 45 with the turn signals on.

chh, try 760 lbs (my Road King) lol

Pot-kettle-black.
Sounds like youre your own problem.
Take some anger management classes and learn to how to keep non-issues, non issues.

Did you ever ride a motorcycle in the rain ? Rhetorical question....if you did you wouldnt
be questioning why they didnt ride in.

Well now... talk about making some assumptions there Lem!

Yes... as a matter of fact, I've ridden motorcycles off and on for most of my life. Bought my first Yamaha when I was 10. It had a frozen motor that my Dad and I rebuilt. I rode it until I was 13 when I sold it to buy my first car. And in 1982, when I was a poor enlisted man in the U.S. Navy, I couldn't afford a dependable car... guess what? I rode a motorcycle as my primary transportation. After that carless stretch, I swore that I'd never have a motorcycle as my sole transportation again.

And yeah... riding a motorcycle in the rain sucks if you don't have a windshield and proper clothing. I'm well qualified to make that statement. But you missed the entire point of what made me mad about this guy. He was reveling in his "Harley Goodness" and bashing me because I didn't have the clothes and habits that he thinks are studly. On the other hand, I think that he has no room to talk because he won't even ride his motorized, windshield-equipped, heated-seat, alarm-systemed Harley if there's more than a 20% chance of rain.

As for anger management... how would you feel if you turned the corner and someone was talking trash and insulting you? Might you want them to stop? Eh?

(edit: BTW... Do you own a Harley?)

Not anymore. After 70,000 miles on my Sportster and several big-twins FXRs and a Fat Boy, I was ruined when I rode something that had enough power to pull the string out of a cat's @$$.
With their 'user-friendly' amount of horsepower and squishy handling, Harleys would make terrific beginner bikes, ~IF~ they weren't so colossally overpriced.
Glad I got the Baditude Lifestyle(tm) out of my system before they became kitch.
http://www.calamarichris.com/images/sportstergc.jpg
Circa 1994

I have a huge barn-door of a windshield for my Vespa and it keeps me surprisingly dry so long as I don't stop moving.

I don't know, if some co-workers gave me that much crap I would think it would violate some kind of policy or something. At the very least it would warrant an icy "MYOB" from me.

Not surprising given that the OP lives in Georgia, which is currently rated the 14th fattest state in the US.

Folks can say and do as they wish, but really, the fat middle aged cube rat on a H-D has become a huge cliche' anymore.