Hehe.... see ya can learn things in the BS forum....

 

I read it and I got the message, just don't agree with it. For a "biker' that doesn't care what anyone else thinks you sure seem to get a little "twitchy" about others opinions.

 

Since she went vegan on me a couple yrs ago figured I was better off ordering pizza anyway .

 

My daughter went Vegan, man that was scary/weird part of my xwifes life.

 

Honest answer: I think the difference between a "Biker" and a "rider" is not anything about the bike, but the person.

A "rider" rides a bike...they could ride it every day, but that's it as far as it's part in their life. It's a mode of transportation. Even if it's something they enjoy, it's still no more than that.

A Biker is someone for whom the bike (and riding it) is not only a part of their life, but a part of their personality. The bike is a part of them and "with them" every moment of the day, even if sitting in an office cube all day.

Yes, they'll typically know a lot more about the machines than a "rider" would, because that aspect of it being a part of them and not just a mode of transportation inclines them to be interested in learning the ins and outs.

A rider can own a bike for years and not know any thing about it. A biker feels so close and a part of his/her bike that he/she is always learning about it.

I'm no mechanic, but I do about 99% of the wrenching on all my machines. Because they are a part of me and I not only want to know about them, but doing the work myself is a sense of pride and (as cheesy as it sounds), a kind of symbolic bonding between me and the machine.
My wife is no mechanic.....as much as she loves her Mustang, she doesn't really know that much about it mechanically. But ever since she got her bike and got bit by the Biker Bug, she's become more and more interested in how it all works and how it's put together and so forth. Could she fix it? No....but she knows a LOT more about how a V-Twin motor works than some people I've met who've been riding longer than I have.

 

Oh fer fck sakes, you ride a bike, you're a biker.

Its not that complicated.

 

Apparently biker is not a definitive enough word for many.

What we need is a word like Squid. Squid refers to a mentally immature, although not always young sport bike rider, often judgmentally impaired, and a show off. What we need is a similar word to describe the "squids" in the cruiser world. These are the mentally immature adults that try way too hard to try and impress others they are "really cool", "bad ***", "hard core", "made in America", "screaming eagle", HD riders. They can usually be found on this forum and in bars trying to impress others with their purported inside knowledge and affiliation with the HA or other 1% gangs and spend way, way too much time contemplating and trying to emulate the biker lifestyle and not enough time actually riding.

 

I think you guys were a little hard on the guy. Of course,if he were a "real biker" he would've had a thicker skin & told all the smartass responders to go **** up a rope. I don't know what a real biker is, but consider this. Some guys need to prove themselves by riding in freezing cold & rainy weather. When it's cold (yea, it does get cold in Florida) I take my truck, with it's toasty heater,great tunes on CD, and a cuppa coffee. I won't ride below 65-70 degrees. Yea, I could do it, but it ain't fun. But I have NO PROBLEM ADMITTING IT! Does admitting I'm a cold weather wuss make me more of a biker than the guy that rides to work in 30 degree temps? Does admitting that we DROVE TO DAYTONA last year because temps were gonna be in the low 50's every day make us wusses, or badasses for having the sack to not give a damn what people thought & admitting it? Actually, I don't even know why I'm writing this--just that WHO CARES what a real biker is? I think the best definition of real biker is someone who isn't afraid to admit that they're not a real biker! I own a Fatboy. I ride it once in a while on nice days only. I have nothing to prove. Does that make me a real biker? I dunno. But I also don't care!

 

OMG I just read his entire post, after only skimming through it before--YOU GUYS WERE RIGHT!!--go back to your criticisms!

 

I rode 25 years ago and not again until the spring of 2010. Circumstances and other interests kept me from getting back on. Always wanted an HD and finally, the opportunity came and circumstances allowed me to buy one (50th birthday present to myself). Am I a "biker"? According to OP, I should probably be shot. By definition... yes. My opinion... no. I am not a RUB either. Do I care.... no. I am just a guy who sometimes rides right by my house more than once when heading home because I am not ready to get off yet. In a hundred years will anybody care? Nope. Life goes on.