Buy A Harley, CHANGE your lifestyle??
#2961
11-19-2013, 04:45 PM
Banned
How about ... "Buy a Harley and change your life for 3 miles" (see below).
What his wife really said was, "I told you so".
I could have a rant on this topic but I don't have the time right now. It is interesting.
It's all about biker semiotics, the study of signs and symbols and how they are used, social entropy and the egregore.
I know it sorely pissed me off when I finally got enough to buy my first Harley, around the time the Evos first came out, and all of a sudden they went mainstream and every banker or advertising executive could finally ride one.
Their meaning suddenly changed and from being a symbol of hard core competence and mastery in the arts of motorcycling (whether as a 1% or a long distance rider/enthusiast), to become simply conspicuous consumption (the spending of money on luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power) and cheesy because all of a sudden total ******* could ride one merely because they could afford one.
Like posters above, I also pisses me off when the likes of them do stuff that makes the rest of us look bad from duck waddles to dressing/posing like a idiot. I saw an example just today of some straight guy harassing a single female driver because he was, quite frankly, incapable of riding around her.
Of course, I think Harley's imagine has also change again since then from being something virile and hard core to an old man's bike ... as only they can afford to own and maintain one.
(It not so much the bikes but the insurance costs that is killing the market. If Harley want to encourage the scene, I'd say they need to sponsor cheaper insurance).
What his wife really said was, "I told you so".
I could have a rant on this topic but I don't have the time right now. It is interesting.
It's all about biker semiotics, the study of signs and symbols and how they are used, social entropy and the egregore.
I know it sorely pissed me off when I finally got enough to buy my first Harley, around the time the Evos first came out, and all of a sudden they went mainstream and every banker or advertising executive could finally ride one.
Their meaning suddenly changed and from being a symbol of hard core competence and mastery in the arts of motorcycling (whether as a 1% or a long distance rider/enthusiast), to become simply conspicuous consumption (the spending of money on luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power) and cheesy because all of a sudden total ******* could ride one merely because they could afford one.
Like posters above, I also pisses me off when the likes of them do stuff that makes the rest of us look bad from duck waddles to dressing/posing like a idiot. I saw an example just today of some straight guy harassing a single female driver because he was, quite frankly, incapable of riding around her.
Of course, I think Harley's imagine has also change again since then from being something virile and hard core to an old man's bike ... as only they can afford to own and maintain one.
(It not so much the bikes but the insurance costs that is killing the market. If Harley want to encourage the scene, I'd say they need to sponsor cheaper insurance).
Man Dies Soon After Buying His First Bike
Barry Strang, a 59 year old resident of Wyoming, USA harboured a desire to own a bike since he was 15 years old. Later, when he got married his wife Pam objected to his idea of owning one because of the dangers involved. He complied and thus held onto his dreams for another 38 years.
Finally, when he reached a ripe age of 59 Barry's wife finally relented and the man finally got his chance to fulfill his childhood dream. He soon bought one, his choice of ride being a 2013 Harley Davidson Dyna. The man even posted a photograph of the bike, standing outside the dealership, on his Facebook page with the caption "44 years finally got one".
Sadly, fate had others thing in store for him. The man rode out of the dealership to meet his wife in a nearby casino, but 3 miles later he met with an accident. He collided with a tractor trailer and ended up underneath it, which killed him on the spot. The local police suspect a likely cause for the accident may have been his unfamiliarity with the new bike.
Barry's wife said he did what he wanted to do his whole life. She added, "It's like my son said, ‘Dad went out with the biggest smile on his face.'
Barry Strang, a 59 year old resident of Wyoming, USA harboured a desire to own a bike since he was 15 years old. Later, when he got married his wife Pam objected to his idea of owning one because of the dangers involved. He complied and thus held onto his dreams for another 38 years.
Finally, when he reached a ripe age of 59 Barry's wife finally relented and the man finally got his chance to fulfill his childhood dream. He soon bought one, his choice of ride being a 2013 Harley Davidson Dyna. The man even posted a photograph of the bike, standing outside the dealership, on his Facebook page with the caption "44 years finally got one".
Sadly, fate had others thing in store for him. The man rode out of the dealership to meet his wife in a nearby casino, but 3 miles later he met with an accident. He collided with a tractor trailer and ended up underneath it, which killed him on the spot. The local police suspect a likely cause for the accident may have been his unfamiliarity with the new bike.
Barry's wife said he did what he wanted to do his whole life. She added, "It's like my son said, ‘Dad went out with the biggest smile on his face.'
#2962
11-19-2013, 05:47 PM
exactly.
This notion that you die smiling if you wreck was spoken by someone who's never experienced sudden, intense pain.
Or wrecked on a motorcycle.
This notion that you die smiling if you wreck was spoken by someone who's never experienced sudden, intense pain.
Or wrecked on a motorcycle.
#2963
11-19-2013, 05:59 PM
Banned
And his last thoughts, amongst all the pain and confusion as his life flashed before him, were ... "oh my God, my wife was right" too.
What I don't read in the article was that he went and did any training.
Can folks really still go and buy a brand new large motorcycle without any in the USA?
I've heard of similar before whilst working for a Ducati shop. Some bankster comes in, buys a top of the range Duck, gets 100 yards down the road before opening it up ... and promptly dumps it because he had no idea what to do with all that power. That guy walked but the bike was nigh totalled.
I hope the first guy was insured and his wife is comfortable now. May be she's the one that's smiling.
What I don't read in the article was that he went and did any training.
Can folks really still go and buy a brand new large motorcycle without any in the USA?
I've heard of similar before whilst working for a Ducati shop. Some bankster comes in, buys a top of the range Duck, gets 100 yards down the road before opening it up ... and promptly dumps it because he had no idea what to do with all that power. That guy walked but the bike was nigh totalled.
I hope the first guy was insured and his wife is comfortable now. May be she's the one that's smiling.
#2965
11-19-2013, 09:36 PM
Club Member
BUT, BUT, BUT, I bought a new harley so that makes me a biker everybody knows that .................
#2966
11-20-2013, 06:55 AM
Seasoned HDF Member
#2967
11-20-2013, 07:32 AM
Seasoned HDF Member
Sweetens the deal when the girl **** with the bike.
#2969
11-20-2013, 08:53 AM
Outstanding HDF Member
Probably not for much longer. But there was a time when we didn't need/want the government to protect us from ourselves. If a man wanted to take a risk (i.e. ride a bike with no training), he could do that. Now days, folks seem to need the government to let them know what they are doing is "safe".