When I was&nbsp\\; little kid, and I don't remember what age, I saw motorcycles on the highway and I just knew I wanted to ride. It didn't have anything to do with outlaw bikers,&nbsp\\; I just wanted to ride. My parents told me I couldn't have a bike until I moved out. They changed their minds and actually co-signed on the loan for my first bike. I have been riding for over 30 years and still love it.

 

When I was in college there was a Harley dealer near by.&nbsp\\; I used to go in there and look, I remember thinking Black guys don't ride Harley's.&nbsp\\; When I got older I was a service manager for PepBoys and one of my mechanics rode a hog, and was a member of the motorcycle group Wheels of Soul in Philadelphia.&nbsp\\; I went into thier club house one day and couldn't believe my eyes.&nbsp\\; There had to be about 30 bikes in there.&nbsp\\; He personally owned 3 of them.&nbsp\\; Thats when I knew I wanted a Harley.&nbsp\\; 16 years later I've finally got my harley on order.&nbsp\\; Inspired by Outlaws?&nbsp\\; MMMM&nbsp\\; I guess not.....

 

My first husband was an Outlaw, so yeah, you could say they had some influence on my choice of motorcycle.&nbsp\\; On our first date my only mode of transportation was a 400 Honda.&nbsp\\; I rode it into the clubhouse yard (yeah I have ***** LOL).&nbsp\\; When we came back, it was gone.&nbsp\\; They had hidden it from me (actually probably didn't want anyone to see it in the yard! LOL)&nbsp\\; My old man made them give it back to me.

I have friends who ride all kinds of bikes now and I could have my choice, but I love my Harley.

 

&nbsp\\;
Obviously, you never watched Bronson

 

Grew up around bikers on the Iron Range in MN during the 80's.&nbsp\\;(yes- I'm sorry[:@]) &nbsp\\;My best buddies old man had an old panhead he'd kick over&nbsp\\;and ride to work all the time&nbsp\\; and&nbsp\\; and there were other bikers around. Buncha greasy barrhoppin alcoholics mostly&nbsp\\; but they were a close-knit group.&nbsp\\; Their bikes looked old,&nbsp\\; their clothes looked old,&nbsp\\; their faces looked old.&nbsp\\; They were loud.&nbsp\\; And when they showed up&nbsp\\;at a bar or street festival&nbsp\\; people moved out of the way. To me those were bikers.&nbsp\\;&nbsp\\;
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I personally could never&nbsp\\; live up to a 1%'r&nbsp\\; image even if&nbsp\\;I wanted to.&nbsp\\; I really can't fight worth a ****&nbsp\\; if it's more than one on me, and I got a couple kids I gotta raise&nbsp\\; so&nbsp\\; the legendary criminal&nbsp\\; image&nbsp\\; some have of the tatoo'd gun-runnin,&nbsp\\; drug-runnin bar-brawlin Outlaw chopper ridin biker is something that is only cool from a distance to me.&nbsp\\; I know when to move out of their way.&nbsp\\; And at the same time I'm not afraid to be seen waving back at a guy on a rice burner.
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But I do love to ride which should be what it's all about.&nbsp\\; I barely wash my bike,&nbsp\\; it's scratched all to hell. I'm not afraid to ride through the rain and get soaked to the bone.&nbsp\\; I don't&nbsp\\; care if the thing breaks and I gotta hitch&nbsp\\; the rest of the way home.&nbsp\\; It'll&nbsp\\; get fixed.&nbsp\\; If I could ride in the snow without&nbsp\\; falling over I'd do it with a ski mask and a grin. And my pipes are stock too.&nbsp\\; I don't have to shake windows a quarter mile away to let people know I'm comin and make sure they see me.&nbsp\\; That aint why I own the bike.&nbsp\\; As opposed&nbsp\\; to rich yuppies who&nbsp\\;sit on em&nbsp\\; for the same reason they buy Hummers. "Look at me! Look how fat my wallet is...."&nbsp\\; Yeah-&nbsp\\; take your Hummer, Your McMansion, AND your tricked out '02 Heritage with 400 miles on it and burns from your yuppie sandals on the pipes and go die in a fire.&nbsp\\;
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Don't have a Harley&nbsp\\; because it's a conquest to stick in your garage.&nbsp\\; Have one because of what it represents. Even if it's not about 'made in America'&nbsp\\; anymore- it's about 'Born in America'.&nbsp\\;
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But&nbsp\\; these&nbsp\\; days&nbsp\\; sadly&nbsp\\; I see it all deteriorating.&nbsp\\; The laws are getting worse, the merchandising is getting sickening,&nbsp\\; the prices are getting beyond ridiculous, and the name is becoming commercialized.&nbsp\\; In&nbsp\\;several decades&nbsp\\; there&nbsp\\; will be few left who remember the glory days of enjoying&nbsp\\; freedom and brotherhood on the back of their Harley, not caring where they stopped, whether they leaked,&nbsp\\; what their jeans or their hair looked like-&nbsp\\; where&nbsp\\; they had to hang crap off their bikes to get it where&nbsp\\; it had to go....&nbsp\\; the breed&nbsp\\; is dying out.
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+100

While not a 1%, my BIL got me started on his '49 pan.&nbsp\\; As a snot-nosed kid I read Easyriders all the time and stuff about Sonny Barger &amp\\; HA.&nbsp\\; Where I grew up there was an Outlaws chapter and seeing them ride by while I drove my dad's Pinto made me want to ride.&nbsp\\; So yeah, they inspired me to ride for sure.

 

I dont think much of Outlaws, I guess they were a little influential.
In 1972 I had a chopped, Aped&nbsp\\;bicycle, my buddy wanted to be a Cop, so I was always the Bad Guy.
I had read HS Thompsons Hells Angels and seen all the flicks, Easy Rider being my favorite.
I built many model Harley Choppers, read Easyrider magazine.
There was a Bandido's clubhouse in my area and we stumbled upon each other on day, I thought I was gonna get killed for sure!
They always treated me right, and I called them my friends.
Later on several of them were incarcerated for various reasons and I hated to see that happen.
I respect each and every one of them because of my experience in those early years of my life, and I would still consider them friends, until one does me wrong.

 

I just like Harleys...always have.

 

If a Honda could talk,bet it was sweating its *** off when ya pulled into the CH.

 

None of the above. I got my first mini-bike well before most people (even "outlaw bikers") got theirs, at age 5. I lived in the country, and rode that 4hp mini-bike everyday. My love for riding had absolutely NOTHING to do with some guy, or group of guys "claiming" to have paved the way for today's riders. No offense to the "outlaw" bikers, but I simply see nothing there for me to emulate. JMO.