the only ones people seem to have a problem with are the ones who portray themselves as having been riding for 100 years....they know everything about everything and act like ******** while TRYING to look cool and they make themselves look even more the fool when they try talking about **** they have no clue about......these are the noobs that are reviled and despised.

a shiney new bike and new leathers and a skull cap with 30 miles under their belt does NOT make a person a biker.

 

Or maybe it's because "the real bikers" just tend to bitch and moan about new riders instead of welcoming them and teaching them the way ?

Old Fender Guy put it best :

I doubt that in the 70s, when you bought your first harley, you were anything more than a guy with some cash. No one is born a biker, everyone has training wheels at some point. Welcome the newbies and teach them your values and they will listen just like you were welcomed and taught. Rag, call them names, and they will just ignore you as that grumpy old man down the street.

I see a lot of young guys on here that work on their bikes on their own, break parts, strip bolts, do wiring, engine work. The dyna and sportster sections are full of these. Yet the "old guys" most often complain that new owners don't work on their bikes... I wonder why that is ? It seems it's mostly older guys that go to the dealer to get stuff fixed...

 

I bought a Harley for 2 reasons:

-To get laid

-To spend the afternoon taking it apart and putting it back together again with my son


So I'm a rub. Oh well, guess that means the beer is on me? ha ha

 

I'm always happy to help a newbie and welcome them to the MC world, however, it is a two way street. I've worked the shops, they're not interested in listening, they know it all already. Oh, they are not all that way, there are some who get it right off, they are most welcome in my circle. I don't care what you ride, what you wear, if you work on your own stuff, whatever, I'll give respect from the get-go until you give me reason to stop.

 

man its funny how reality takes a back-seat to fashion.

my old man rode. i was jst a wee lad but i was always on dads bike or hanging with his friends.

there was two county cops on our block and a lot of dudes came and went wearing patches w/ rockers. the group was the same mix of regular working-stiffs as there are now.

i think some people want to portray a false past so they perpetuate the BS teevee feeds us.

kinda like all those vietnam vets who never was in vietnam: some people just gotta be part of a scene.

 

Agreed on that one. Theres 2 much wiring for the old guys on the RG's and EC's! It takes a lot of electronics and wires to run the air conditioning, gps, cell phone charger, air horns and back massagers.

 

HEY! I don't have no air conditioning, gps, cell phone charger or air horns, BUT DO YOU HAVE A PART NUMBER FOR THE BACK MASSAGER?

 

I have been riding since the early 70ts and one thing has changed for sure for the better. It is a thing called biker friendly like in bars, motels, and restaurants. I can remember back in the day it was plain discrimination when trying to get a room or a meal. We need to thank some of these newer riders or what some call RUB's because they spend lots of money in these establishments and these places welcome our business actually look forward to doing business with us because we won't stiff them.

I never had any problems with LEO. I have been pulled over twice when I was younger. Once for not wearing eye protection, and once for speeding and was let off both times with a warning.

 

Dunno about the 1970. I was a plan in my parents minds, back then (not for long, though. in '71 I was here kickin' and screaming ).
Always liked Harleys. I finally bought one in '07. This surely makes me a newby.
Between my wife and me we also own a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX RS, a BMW Z4 and a Ferrari 328 GTS. Guess this makes me also a RUB, and possibly a poser. Oh, well... I'll have to live with it, I guess.
There's a lot of people who should know better that judge people for what they own and since when. And that toss around words like "respect" and "rub" and "poser" and "newbie" with equal careless incoherence.
Meanwhile, this winter I was one of the very, very few people around on their bike under the snow... I believe that counts for something.
I try to learn. I have 20 years of unsatisfied passion to recover. :P
I also try to learn from those who look at the person, and not what he wears, or drives, or rides, or own. My father tried to teach me that you judge people by their actions, not their belongings nor their words. At least in this, I believe he was very successful (I assume full responsibility for any other of my shortcomings.)

 

I think it's 'kind of funny' how someone without knowledge of a situation can claim others are telling a lie when they tell of past experiences.

(And YES, I am a real Vietnam Vet, and NO, I'm not in the habit of telling lies when it comes to past experiences..

And as I said before (no matter if you believe it or not), back in the early to mid 1970's I rode with a MC back on the east coast. Most of the riding was in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland.

Maybe the local law enforcement folks didn't bother single uncovered riders all that much, but they didn't have any problem stopping long haired bearded bikers wearing vests with club colors. They seemed to enjoy it at times, and it's just something we learned to accept.