ya know. i know a guy who is the president of the local outlaws mc chapter. i come into contact with them pretty often. everyone one of them owns a car, has a job, and works 40 hours a week. more of them ride ultras than ride "one offs".

this is a truly 1% guy with a long prison history. more often than not he is wearing a plain ole t-shirt, jeans and boots. we have had some pretty serious conversations about what the club *IS* and *ISNT*.

he certainly is a roughneck that is capable of violence, but he stays calm more than most. he cant afford to do something and have a rico predicate.

he doesnt start sh*it, he genuinely hopes to avoid sh*t. he and i met by due to a conflict. he stayed calm and was the cool, collected rational one in the "discussion". i actually liked the guy for being able to talk out a difference calmly rather than escalate an already bad situation

i have never heard him call anyone a rub, or talk about a poser. i am just saying.

by the way. the last time that i talked to him on the phone, he was worried about his friend in the hospital. obviously he has human feelings too. 1%ers are people too. they dont try to live a lifestyle. they are just trying to get by... aint we all.

my point is that Sammy is neck deep in a club that is his life, and yet he is as "normal" as you and i. i some people have been watching too many movies and are trying to live up to hollywood image of what it is to ride a bike.

its a motorcyle. its fun to ride. it gets me from a to b. there is no lifestyle. its more of a personality thing. some people like bikes, some like cars, some are into airplanes or even the arts.

 

Seriously, I totally agree with you. I think if ou ride then you are cool with me. I have already apologized on other threads for being an a$$.

 

right on

 

Thanks, making ammends

 

I think it is a lifestyle to some, just not the lifestyle you are referring to.

 

I think if you ride a bike, you're a "real biker. It doesn't mean you have to be a 1% or a member of HOG or any other club. You ride because it's what you love to do. JMO.

 

An interesting topic David The Hutt. My take...

Every one of us has our own individual "lifestyle" that we've developed over the years for ourselves. All of us have developed our own via unique experiences but so often, the types of events that helped shape ours are (or were) also encountered by others. Many of us overlap on a lot of those experiences and therefore have common ground. Many of us might even have a lot of overlap. At least one particular overlap for us here on this forum is HDs.

I also bet most of us honor individual rights even though we are following our own path accordingly. If we do, then why should we NOT respect all members of our larger community. How much larger or smaller that community may be to each of us is an individual decision but, personally, I believe that all of us here on this forum are at least cousins. Heck, I even believe that anyone on a motorcycle is included someplace in my extended family but then I'm "easy".

 

i agree. the whole point to even the harley legend is "going your own way and making some friends along that route".

i think its a truly american thing. that rugged individualism.

i dont believe in "posers". some ride once a month. some ride every day. its not my place to tell a man or woman how to enjoy their motorycle nor how to dress before they get on it. (this isnt to say that i wont mutter under my breath how i think you look... but thats ok too.

i wear goggles because they amuse me. in the winter i wear full leather and my fat self looks like a sofa with eyes. i am going to get a helmet with horns one of these days, i swear. i am eccentric like that.

next week i might go riding with my underwear outside my pants just because its my right as an american to be silly on thursdays

 

You gotta post pics of that!!! BAhahahahahah

 

But will your girlfriend ride with you that day!? Popeye had it right with the "I yam what I yam!"