I can't help it....

I'm not a biker.  i saw some "bikers" almost twice my age acting like they were some kind of knuckle dragging specimen of pure manliness escorting scantily clad teenage girls at a bike show handing out cards for their 1% club asking for support. Seen one of them grab one of the girls ass and give it a good rub. wander if he has a daughter. 

I have ridden in every state east of the Mississippi (and yes I sang the little song under my breath to spell that right) and a few west of it. I've ridden 500 miles in blazing heat and 400 and some change with snow on the ground. I've ridden from VA to Ohio in the rain the whole way. Did the west Virginia Turnpike once from Beckley to Charleston in 23 minutes and had to buy a front tire when I got to Charleston. I've had several crotch rockets and just did a total restoration on my Sportster and no body but me and my kids and wife touched it except for the guy who bead blasted the frame cause my stand up booth wasn't big enough.  I've never slept on the ground while riding except for one time i did sleep under the wing of a Piper Cherokee 180 at a small airport when i was too tired to go on.  But i've slept on the ground, ate bugs, a snake, and in the end, some tree bark, and watched some of my half starved compadres rip a racoon apart to eat it when attending SERE School in the Navy.

I've been asked to join a club before but that ain't my way.  I've found that most so-called brothers and sisters have something wrong with them in one way or another that causes them to want unwavering loyalty from you.  Like it gives them a license to feck you over and you're supposed to then forgive them cause nothing comes before the club.  Well, my wife and kids come before anything or anyone. Next is my country and my duty to respect the title of American that I wear on the cuff of everything I am. My badge of honor that I try to instill in my children is the toils and sacrifices i made in fullfilling my personal calling to serve my country and those innocents who commisioned me to protect their families when death came calling. 

I've jumped out of planes, rode bulls, got a blade wound, a bullet wound, a man made fissure in my skull. A plate in my leg, arthritis in both knees and bulging discs in three vertebrea.  I didn't get any of that shit on a bike and I damned sure aint riding any distance that is gonna leave me feeling like I lost a fight, nor will i ride off on a trip like the Meet and Greet in Bowling Green without my kids. We're taking the bikes, but we're also taking a Suburban, a trailer, a Mother-in-Law, my oldest Daughters good friend, some chairs, a video camera, maybe A CROQUET SET, A FRISBEE (THAT SCREAMS DOMESTICATED) and probably my laptop and recording equipment so we can make a podcast episode to post after the trip. It's not about whether i can ride in like Lorenso Llamas from some road trip of never ending stops at watering holes, checkin out chics at gas stations that would think i was some kind of perv for staring and then they would walk inside and laugh at how I thought my bike made me more attractive or manly or some shit.

I don't need no bike to define who I am. I'm an American father (meaning that I try each day to teach, and learn from my children) of four who is a decorated veteran, grandson of a WWII vet of the South Pacific, teacher to those who refuse to be a victim, follower of the principals of God and Country and liason to the hereafter for those who missed their guess when they thought my life was something they could take. 

Ridin cross country in snow and rain and heat and sleeping outside and fixing your own shit is just some story to tell to try and make something interesting when there is nothing else to show. Who cares if you can fix it and ride it till your the last one?  "Biker".....what does that mean?  What is it worth?  I guess everything if you haven't invested any measure of personal input into anything or any one else in life that that is all you have.  To me, compared to my family and my other recreational pursuits. My bike is just one tiny little morsel of my life. It exists to serve me. To serve my family when we ride together. To bring me into contact with others like the good folks of Cycle Fish.  The bike is nothing more than a tool for some fullfillment in a little corner of my existence on this earth.  It's a trinket of folly. My honor, character, and memory when I pass mean more than this little piece of metal, conceived by some engineer, maybe even with a slide rule and a pocket protector.

Let me tell you what I think.........We're all humans.  The way you burn your gasoline has nothing to do with who you are. It's the way you burn or don't burn your bridges. The way you treat people.  I would rather be remembered for the dad or grandad who sat and watched a pack of bikers go by and suddenly forgot about them because I needed to wipe the icecream dripping off my daughters chin or stop my boy from ruining his rootbeer float by trying to add some diet Coke.  Geesh, diet coke and ice cream, what was he thinking?


Right on my Brother.....Right On !
Dragon
 

 

I can't help it....

I'm not a biker.  i saw some "bikers" almost twice my age acting like they were some kind of knuckle dragging specimen of pure manliness escorting scantily clad teenage girls at a bike show handing out cards for their 1% club asking for support. Seen one of them grab one of the girls ass and give it a good rub. wander if he has a daughter. 

I have ridden in every state east of the Mississippi (and yes I sang the little song under my breath to spell that right) and a few west of it. I've ridden 500 miles in blazing heat and 400 and some change with snow on the ground. I've ridden from VA to Ohio in the rain the whole way. Did the west Virginia Turnpike once from Beckley to Charleston in 23 minutes and had to buy a front tire when I got to Charleston. I've had several crotch rockets and just did a total restoration on my Sportster and no body but me and my kids and wife touched it except for the guy who bead blasted the frame cause my stand up booth wasn't big enough.  I've never slept on the ground while riding except for one time i did sleep under the wing of a Piper Cherokee 180 at a small airport when i was too tired to go on.  But i've slept on the ground, ate bugs, a snake, and in the end, some tree bark, and watched some of my half starved compadres rip a racoon apart to eat it when attending SERE School in the Navy.

I've been asked to join a club before but that ain't my way.  I've found that most so-called brothers and sisters have something wrong with them in one way or another that causes them to want unwavering loyalty from you.  Like it gives them a license to feck you over and you're supposed to then forgive them cause nothing comes before the club.  Well, my wife and kids come before anything or anyone. Next is my country and my duty to respect the title of American that I wear on the cuff of everything I am. My badge of honor that I try to instill in my children is the toils and sacrifices i made in fullfilling my personal calling to serve my country and those innocents who commisioned me to protect their families when death came calling. 

I've jumped out of planes, rode bulls, got a blade wound, a bullet wound, a man made fissure in my skull. A plate in my leg, arthritis in both knees and bulging discs in three vertebrea.  I didn't get any of that shit on a bike and I damned sure aint riding any distance that is gonna leave me feeling like I lost a fight, nor will i ride off on a trip like the Meet and Greet in Bowling Green without my kids. We're taking the bikes, but we're also taking a Suburban, a trailer, a Mother-in-Law, my oldest Daughters good friend, some chairs, a video camera, maybe A CROQUET SET, A FRISBEE (THAT SCREAMS DOMESTICATED) and probably my laptop and recording equipment so we can make a podcast episode to post after the trip. It's not about whether i can ride in like Lorenso Llamas from some road trip of never ending stops at watering holes, checkin out chics at gas stations that would think i was some kind of perv for staring and then they would walk inside and laugh at how I thought my bike made me more attractive or manly or some shit.

I don't need no bike to define who I am. I'm an American father (meaning that I try each day to teach, and learn from my children) of four who is a decorated veteran, grandson of a WWII vet of the South Pacific, teacher to those who refuse to be a victim, follower of the principals of God and Country and liason to the hereafter for those who missed their guess when they thought my life was something they could take. 

Ridin cross country in snow and rain and heat and sleeping outside and fixing your own shit is just some story to tell to try and make something interesting when there is nothing else to show. Who cares if you can fix it and ride it till your the last one?  "Biker".....what does that mean?  What is it worth?  I guess everything if you haven't invested any measure of personal input into anything or any one else in life that that is all you have.  To me, compared to my family and my other recreational pursuits. My bike is just one tiny little morsel of my life. It exists to serve me. To serve my family when we ride together. To bring me into contact with others like the good folks of Cycle Fish.  The bike is nothing more than a tool for some fullfillment in a little corner of my existence on this earth.  It's a trinket of folly. My honor, character, and memory when I pass mean more than this little piece of metal, conceived by some engineer, maybe even with a slide rule and a pocket protector.

Let me tell you what I think.........We're all humans.  The way you burn your gasoline has nothing to do with who you are. It's the way you burn or don't burn your bridges. The way you treat people.  I would rather be remembered for the dad or grandad who sat and watched a pack of bikers go by and suddenly forgot about them because I needed to wipe the icecream dripping off my daughters chin or stop my boy from ruining his rootbeer float by trying to add some diet Coke.  Geesh, diet coke and ice cream, what was he thinking?

That pretty much says it all

Well, last night when I read this post for the first time, I got so ticked off I shut the computer off and went to bed. Didn't want to say something I'd regret later.... Here's the thing. The title of "biker" is a pretty fluid thing. To echo Defcon's sentiments, I too would rather be remembered as a husband and father than a biker. The title isn't worth a thing. If you're going to live that lifestyle, fine, live it. But don't try to press me into your cookie-cutter concept of what it is to be a biker, and don't you dare try to push that concept off onto all the other good people here. What you're saying, whether you meant to or not, is that there isn't a single biker here. Maybe, maybe not. What we have here are good, honorable, responsible, family centered, Americans. We have a love for life, our own and others' (which means that we got no problem riding in the rain, but we ain't gonna take off in a snow storm and pat ourselves on the back for being bikers, it's not safe, and we value our lives.)

In the end, what's the point? I suppose, if I cared, I could meet your standards for being a "Biker." You obviously would have a problem with my Honda, but it would have to do for now.... I could leave my wife and daughter behind, take nothing with me but my bike, and throw my every responsibility as my family's provider away... sink every dime I have into trying to buy the parts to build the Harley that I just have to have.... I've slept on the ground before, but then, so have most boyscouts, so I'm not sure what that would gain me, but if I have to... why not? I could live a life free of responsibility, except that in the end, the gas would run out, or the engine would blow, and this "biker" wouldn't even have a home to walk back to.

Should a younger, able-bodied man trailer his bike somewhere he could ride? Not really... I'd poke fun at him. Should he pay someone to fix something that he could fix himself with a little effort and patience? No, but since we're living in an age of electronic injection and emisions controls, all mandated by law on a bike worth $20,000, I don't blame him too much. Should he cry when he sees a cloud in the sky, or decide to drive his car to work because the weather man said there's a 20% chance of rain? No.

For me, the goal shouldn't be to gain yourself a title. Just be a man. Do what you have to do. Get-R-DONE! When my family needs to eat, I go to work. When the rent is due, I pay it. When my bike breaks, I fix it. Same goes for my van, my plumbing, or my kitchen floor. If I don't know how, I ask questions until I figure it out, then I fix it. If I'm on the bike and it starts to rain, I put my head down behind my windshield and keep on going. When one of my friends just needed a little help, I got on the bike and made a quick run to Detroit, left in driving rain and 50-60 MPH wind gusts. Not a big deal, it only took 5 1/2 hours on the turnpike, and then 8 hours back riding throught the night on wet roads and wet clothes and temps under 40 degrees, trying to make it back to spend my wife's first mother's day as a mother with her... I just did it because my friend needed me, not to gain anyone's approval. My bike is a personal thing for me. She's a friend, a release from my stress, a place to go when my mind is about to snap. She's a reliable piece of transportation that enables me to go the extra distance for my friends when frankly, I couldn't afford to go in my van. She's a fun way to take my wife out on dates when we have a sitter, and a great way to see the country side. I didn't buy her for looks, I really didn't even choose the bike I have, but I chose to ride rather than not ride.

I'm willing to bet that if you stopped and asked the other posers on here, they'd have similar stories of getting things done when they had to be done. The folks on here aren't a bunch of suburban brats that one day woke up and decided to try being a biker, there's a lot of life-time folks on here, who deserve more respect and something better than to get stuck inside your box. I for one, won't be boxed in and molded to your taste. My bike is my business, my patches, or the lack thereof, are my business, and what I call myself, or what other people choose to call me..... well, I just don't care. Deep down, approval is nice, but in no way is it required, so I'm fine with being a poser. I think I'm gonna sit around for a little while, get on my bike, pick a two-lane, and go pose for a few hours. You can decide for yourself whether I'm a biker or not, but know that I won't be losing any sleep over it. See ya

Hey Hey Grasshopper!!!....   

oops i almost forgot i wanted to throw in the ol' saying opinions are like a$$holes some stink worse then others

Dragon

Thanks Dragon for posting this. I too want to make it clear I have NOTHING against Loner. I made my reponse to his post because I disgreed with much of what he said but I don't disrespect the man for voiceing his beliefs. Hell, did ya see the bike he built? It's slam up a badd ass bike and he should be proud of what he put together from the ground up; hell, I'm envious. Loner, anytime if we ever meet I'll buy ya a beer and shake your hand as well.
 

same here! i wish no ill will on anyone, well, one person but i'll leave her out of this, loner has the freedom to speak his mind and i respect his opinion whole heartedly,  if you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, i'm buyin first round