>>Harley vs. the rest issue exists within the H-D crowd.<<

Right......Visit the Roadstar forum sometime....They even make their bikes into "Ultra Stars".

 

I like to take jabs at my friends for riding metrics and other non-american stuff, but it's all in fun. Honestly I could care less what you ride and I'm just happy other's are experiencing the joy of riding and I ride with many other people who don't own HDs. I go on many poker runs and while there are some sport bikes there many are cruisers and HD. If someone wants to make jokes about doing some good charity work all I have to say is Karma's a bitch.

 

Harleys are a lifestyle, the others are transportation. In 50+ yrs of riding I have yet to see a Honda tattoo.

 

I frequent that same board. More so than here, as a matter of fact. You've got to take it with a grain of salt, no different than any other weekly Harley bashing thread, although there are several that defend the toy run too.

And besides, in classic fashion, there are some comments in that thread that are worth a chuckle. :twofinger

 

I don't know of any "sport bike" clubs. The only charity events I can think of sponsored by a Harley entity are the toy donation the dealer runs at Christmas and they did do an event to send care packages to soldiers.
I know that HOG has rides and gatherings, I don't know what charity benefits from them.
Most (maybe all) of the charity events I attend are for the charities. The people who organize them could be members of various organizations. Seems that ABATE is involved in quite a few.

 

Bikes are often judged by the riders. In the case of Harleys, people used to think of the Hells angels type scary biker. More recently Harleys are sometimes judged based on the so called "wanna be" biker who wears a suit by day and Bandana and chaps by weekend. Other brands, or types, certainly have their stigmas as well. Think "Squid" and what do you picture?

I recently purchased a new Ultra and you wouldn't believe the flak I received from the people I ride with. They couldn't imagine why I would go from a BMW GS to a "Hog". My explanation is that I choose the right tool for the right job. The BMW is a fine bike. But, imo, there is no finer machine for covering a lot of ground in comfort than the Ultra. As Peter Egan said in "Leanings" (highly recommended reading) buy the right bike for the map. In the case of a Harley Touring, it was bought because I chose a pretty big map, i.e. no limits.

 

I just tell them to call me in 10 yrs and see what kind of bike their riding them..

almost everyday day in the Newbie section we see, Don't know why I waited so long to get a HD and I can't take the sports bikes anymore, its killing my back

 

Most of the open HOG events/rides (at least in my area) are to benefit local charities. As a matter of fact, I can't think of any ride where they asked for a donation that did not benefit a charity.

 

I'm in a very similar boat. Most of the crap talkers are 17-18 and don't own a bike anyway so I don't bother to acknowledge it much any more.

 

Pssst, pssst... you're not supposed to trump me like that, I already have a wife!