i rode for years. started in the 90s. it was good times for a while. but that’s back when there was a waiting list to buy a harley.
at some point, the folks are harley decided to produce as many bikes as they could sell....hell, more even. they flooded the market. used prices tanked. <——not necessarily a bad thing. but what i DID notice..was a change in people. you suddenly had a very different type of people.
this was best illustrated to me on a hot summer day just south of hayward, wi, on hwy 27. i was riding my 65 panhead home, and she sputtered and died. long story short- i made a phone call, and was waiting for my buddy to show up with the trailer. it was 101 degrees that day, and hotter than hell. i had more than 100 bikes pass me as i sat there on the side of the road, and NOT 1 motherfucker stopped to check on a brother. not one. add in getting run off the road twice; once by a dumb kid passing a car on a blind hill, and once by some fuckwit that took exception to the fact that i was passing him and he thought i was driving too fast while doing it.
it’s a different class of people, and unless you have your own group of like minded folks, it’s really gotten to be quite stupid. these fuckwits pay top buck to “customize” their bikes (there is no custom to it....it’s all just aftermarket trinkets that bolt on an cover up the other stuff). they buy the same clothes, they dress all alike, they put the same cheap ass made-in-china trinkets on their bikes and then jump on them and head to some place or another and pay outragous prices for a shitty hot dog and warm beer. and what’s funny, is they think they are rebels. they think they are unique. it’s fucking hilarious.
my last bike was a buell lightning. i ran into a local group on top of a hill 2 minutes from my house. they had a bike on the side of the road that quit on someone. i had the full face on, and none of them recognized me. i stopped to offer to help them, and they were almost pissing themselves trying to get me the fuck out of there because they didnt want anyone riding a jap bike around. hilarious. these are the same group of asssholes that would almost suck my cock when i walked into the bar/water hole after coming back from various rides i’d take when i had my truely myronized fatboy. typical fucking fuckwits.
i hope there are still folks out there that are real bikers; but i havent seen or met one in far too long.