What defines a motorcyclist?

[ssmotorcycle]

I attend a lot of motorcycle events and have certainly noticed a trend. About 85% (+) of the riders at these events aren't there when the temps are below 60ish. I am not out to put myself "above" them, but the fact remains, I ride when it is 30 degrees with the same enthusiasm as I do when it is 80....every month of the year. Where are these guys? How is it that they have 4 to 5 year old bikes with 3k miles on it (stretch)? Do they consider themselves motorcyclists? I ride my bike at the very least every 3 days....even when the temps drops below 20F. I have to....it is a passion of mine. I am pretty tired of seeing these rediculously clean bikes with no worn contact patch on the tires and no brake dust on the rims. Pretty bored with the stretched out sport bikes that you only see three months of the year. I would imagine that my American friends will relate to this,but I don't know that our international friends will.

Help me to understand....PLEASE!!!!!

 

[Kazza]

A motorcyclist is simply a person who LOVES motorbikes and rides them.

Could be once a year. Could be every day. No one should judge them. Circumstances define how often many people ride - kids, illness, time - lots of reasons can stop people riding all the time

If the passion for bikes is there, once you get on a bike, doesn't matter how often you ride them.

 

[Shamus McFeeley]

I attend a lot of motorcycle events and have certainly noticed a trend. About 85% (+) of the riders at these events aren't there when the temps are below 60ish. I am not out to put myself "above" them, but the fact remains, I ride when it is 30 degrees with the same enthusiasm as I do when it is 80....every month of the year. Where are these guys? How is it that they have 4 to 5 year old bikes with 3k miles on it (stretch)? Do they consider themselves motorcyclists? I ride my bike at the very least every 3 days....even when the temps drops below 20F. I have to....it is a passion of mine. I am pretty tired of seeing these rediculously clean bikes with no worn contact patch on the tires and no brake dust on the rims. Pretty bored with the stretched out sport bikes that you only see three months of the year. I would imagine that my American friends will relate to this,but I don't know that our international friends will.

Help me to understand....PLEASE!!!!!

Those are called "weekend warriors". Every great pursuit has them unfortunately. Most of them are normal people for whom motorcycling is a part time hobby, the others are dangerous, I wouldn't ride within 10 miles of them.

I couldn't have a bike so clean as some of those guys. I don't know where they find all the time to clean that chrome and polished aluminum.

 

[Humperdinkel]

There are motorcyclists , they ride rain , hail or shine just because of the pure love for what we do & the pleasure it brings us :thumbup:

Then there are Motorcycle Enthusiasts , who ride for the fun of it but dont think its fun enough to venture out in the real weather opcorn:

Then there are the Harley riders :shakehead: :shakehead: :BLAA:

 

[Nelly]

My dad told me some time ago in the 70's.
"There are bike riders, and there are bikers". "Were bikers"!
[Gump like] That's all I know about that.

Personally it's the mode of transport I consider first. For me my car is the back up plan. There isn't to much that stops me riding. Ice, freezing fog, to much beer.

Nelly

 

[Esra]

I don't think all weekend warriors are bad, depends on your attitude.

Some need a car for work etc so can only ride on the weekend.

Passion for 2 wheels makes you a motorcyclist.

As soon as I sat on one and hit friction point on the clutch I was sold.

 

[Sparkybean]

I teach people to drive cars for a living. This means I have to get in my car to go to work, sit in it all day and then come home in it. Often for 12 hours. At the end of a day I don't feel like going out on my bike because I have been concentrating on the road all day long. I feel shattered.

But motorcycles are my passion I read about them every moment I get, I love to tinker with them and mod them. I ride off road bikes and road bikes and push bikes. I have 5 bikes in my garage.

This leaves the weekends for me to ride and if I am honest although I quite like riding in the rain, I prefer not to. As this means my bike will sit in my garage wet and rusting. The atmosphere around where I live is moist so if my bike is wet it doesn't dry off at all.

For someone who gets the opportunity to ride every day to judge me because I can not, and suggest I am not a 'proper' motorcyclist, I think is missing the point. Everyone has different circumstances and can not incorporate riding into their everyday lives. Some people might find riding in rush hour intimidating and prefer to ride when it is quiet to build confidence. I do not judge these people and think less of them. I just like to go out and enjoy my passion and love to wave to fellow motorcyclists whether they ride daily or not, on a cruiser or sportsbike, male or female, black or white, human or not!!!!!!

I don't think anyone has the right to judge anyone on this subject, we are all different and no one is in some sort of elitist group because they ride daily.

As I'm British and not American I will say "That's my 2 pence worth".

 

[abraxas]

"There are bike riders, and there are bikers". "Were bikers"!

That's the best i've ever read on the subject!!! :thumbup:

 

[Tagger]

There are motorcyclists , they ride rain , hail or shine just because of the pure love for what we do & the pleasure it brings us :thumbup:

... or just people that don't have a car, makes you have to take the good and the bad

 

[agf]

My dad told me some time ago in the 70's.
"There are bike riders, and there are bikers". "Were bikers"!
[Gump like] That's all I know about that.

Personally it's the mode of transport I consider first. For me my car is NON existent. There isn't to much that stops me riding. Ice, freezing fog, to much beer.

Nelly

I sold my car ( see emphasis above) coz the wife and I decided having one sit in the drive was stupid, so I started to ride again. Now if the option of going for a ride consists of my wife saying " but you cant drink If I'm pillion" (see underlined text)
I'm happy to not drink Coz I get to ride... beats siting in a car any day
I LOVE IT:thumbup:


(thanks for the prompts Nelly)

 

[FIZZER6]

There are certainly several levels of dedication with motorcyclists.

I don't think it's fair to say that you are not a real motorcyclist if you don't ride in rain, hail, snow, cold. It's like going out in a blizzard naked when you have plenty of clothes just to say "I'm a real Eskimo!"


Personally I commute 30 miles a day on my bike as long as the temperature is above 40 degrees in the morning. For me, anything colder than that is not only uncomfortable but also dangerous. I have 5% body fat and get cold very fast, even in heavy insulated gear and once my hands get numb it makes controlling the bike very difficult...not worth the risk when I have 2 cages at home.

 

[BamBam77]

I love my bike and every time I get near it to do a real clean up, can't stand it and do a quick wash and hit the road.
But then I under stand those that know every inch of their bikes and have as much fun showing their love of motorcycles by keeping them spotless

 

[iSteve]

I don't care what people call me. I only ride once a week try to do 200 miles then I come home and clean it. I sometimes take the bike out weeknights if it's really nice out and the ride will be 40 or more miles. So definitely not hardcore. Of course got my first bike at 11 years old and I'm now 49.

 

[ssmotorcycle]

I teach people to drive cars for a living. This means I have to get in my car to go to work, sit in it all day and then come home in it. Often for 12 hours. At the end of a day I don't feel like going out on my bike because I have been concentrating on the road all day long. I feel shattered.

But motorcycles are my passion I read about them every moment I get, I love to tinker with them and mod them. I ride off road bikes and road bikes and push bikes. I have 5 bikes in my garage.

This leaves the weekends for me to ride and if I am honest although I quite like riding in the rain, I prefer not to. As this means my bike will sit in my garage wet and rusting. The atmosphere around where I live is moist so if my bike is wet it doesn't dry off at all.

For someone who gets the opportunity to ride every day to judge me because I can not, and suggest I am not a 'proper' motorcyclist, I think is missing the point. Everyone has different circumstances and can not incorporate riding into their everyday lives. Some people might find riding in rush hour intimidating and prefer to ride when it is quiet to build confidence. I do not judge these people and think less of them. I just like to go out and enjoy my passion and love to wave to fellow motorcyclists whether they ride daily or not, on a cruiser or sportsbike, male or female, black or white, human or not!!!!!!

I don't think anyone has the right to judge anyone on this subject, we are all different and no one is in some sort of elitist group because they ride daily.

As I'm British and not American I will say "That's my 2 pence worth".

My intent is not to judge...and I wasn't just talking about the one's that only ride on the weekends. What made me bring this up is that this one place I go has "bike night" the same day of the week all 52 weeks of the year. When the weather is nice, they come out in droves...but then last night it was pretty hot with a possibility of rain; guess what...numbers were low. And this is the pattern that I see....and God knows you don't see them when it is 40F out. Could count the bikes on one hand on those nights. Thanks for the replies and thanks for the "2p" Sparkybean...old mucka!

 

[outdoorsman]

I understand that people have responsibilities and don't have the time to ride but would love to. Those riders aren't in question here. It's those obnoxious riders that ride down the street from their house to the local Starbucks or Jamba Juice just to show off how much mods they got and how loud their bikes sound, these are the riders that annoy the **** out of me. They bought bikes for the attention and not for the love of riding. They do wheelies down the street and burn outs in parking lots. Showing off and being unsafe. They wear nothing but a tank top, shorts and sneakers, if California didn't have a helmet law, they wouldn't wear one. These riders couldn't ride a lick if their lives depended on it. Tires are worn in the middle and two inch chicken trips on the sides. They give the rest of us a bad rap because they draw attention to the mass public and this is what the general public think of all riders. I stay away from them because they are Johnny Law magnets. I don't consider them "riders" or "motorcyclists".

 

[MHS]

I ride my bike every chance I get, even to the grocery (when I'm not doing massive buys).

However - I don't even like being inside somewhere that it's cold out, so there's no way I'm going to put myself out in the cold on a bike. If the high is in the 50s I'll probably not be on the bike - except every now and then to keep it moving.

I also won't ride in the chance of rain. I have a car in the garage, which I can slide into, not get wet, and not worry (as much) about traction. 30% chance of rain and lower I'm probably on it, 40%-50% questionable, 60%+ definitely car.

 

[bd43]

I don't know what defines a motorcyclist because I know I'm not one.

I hate the fact the I keep my bike clean because I like to take care of my things. I hate the fact that I have to change the oil in it, check the tires periodically, fill it up every time it runs out of gas, and then have to remember to record it on this internet site fuelly thing. I hate the fact that I pay extra insurance on a mode of transportation that I can only ride maybe 6 months out of a whole year and pay for vehicle registration on it when I have two perfectly good and useful vehicles in my garage. I hate the fact that I look at other peoples bikes and get crazy ideas, maybe they're motorcyclists, I don't know, then go out and buy something else to mod the bike up and consume crazy amounts of personal time to put it on the bike taking extra care and precision doing it, auggh! Then there's numerous times I hated to get back on the bike and ride down to Home Depot or some place because I forgot to pick up one small item. On the most gorgeous summer days, I hated that I took a half day vacation from work, raced home, got into my ATGATT, freakin' takes forever because I'm such an anal safety freak, get on the bike, fill it up, again, then head out into the open road with some friends I hate hanging out with. Even worse, I have to stop along the way to take a picture of the bike or something for some crazy BOTM, scavenger hunt, or ride game; another hour I'll never get back from my life. I hate the fact that after I wash the bike, wipe it down, have to get into my ATGATT just to take it around the block to dry it off, then wipe it down again. I hate that it takes up one whole bay in my garage and nobody else is allowed to park in this designated motorcycle spot. I hate that at the end of a riding season, I have to winterize it, pull the battery out, cover it up, and have to stare at it all winter wondering why I hate it so much.

...and the worst part I hate about this bike is the ear to ear smile I get coming off this damn thing every time after a ride. I just hate that, burns me up!

I'd sure like to know what defines a motorcyclist too.

 

[Humperdinkel]

I don't know what defines a motorcyclist because I know I'm not one.

I hate the fact the I keep my bike clean because I like to take care of my things. I hate the fact that I have to change the oil in it, check the tires periodically, fill it up every time it runs out of gas, and then have to remember to record it on this internet site fuelly thing. I hate the fact that I pay extra insurance on a mode of transportation that I can only ride maybe 6 months out of a whole year and pay for vehicle registration on it when I have two perfectly good and useful vehicles in my garage. I hate the fact that I look at other peoples bikes and get crazy ideas, maybe they're motorcyclists, I don't know, then go out and buy something else to mod the bike up and consume crazy amounts of personal time to put it on the bike taking extra care and precision doing it, auggh! Then there's numerous times I hated to get back on the bike and ride down to Home Depot or some place because I forgot to pick up one small item. On the most gorgeous summer days, I hated that I took a half day vacation from work, raced home, got into my ATGATT, freakin' takes forever because I'm such an anal safety freak, get on the bike, fill it up, again, then head out into the open road with some friends I hate hanging out with. Even worse, I have to stop along the way to take a picture of the bike or something for some crazy BOTM, scavenger hunt, or ride game; another hour I'll never get back from my life. I hate the fact that after I wash the bike, wipe it down, have to get into my ATGATT just to take it around the block to dry it off, then wipe it down again. I hate that it takes up one whole bay in my garage and nobody else is allowed to park in this designated motorcycle spot. I hate that at the end of a riding season, I have to winterize it, pull the battery out, cover it up, and have to stare at it all winter wondering why I hate it so much.

...and the worst part I hate about this bike is the ear to ear smile I get coming off this damn thing every time after a ride. I just hate that, burns me up!

I'd sure like to know what defines a motorcyclist too.

:rof: :rof: Dont you just hate that

 

[Nelly]

I teach people to drive cars for a living. This means I have to get in my car to go to work, sit in it all day and then come home in it. Often for 12 hours. At the end of a day I don't feel like going out on my bike because I have been concentrating on the road all day long. I feel shattered.

But motorcycles are my passion I read about them every moment I get, I love to tinker with them and mod them. I ride off road bikes and road bikes and push bikes. I have 5 bikes in my garage.

This leaves the weekends for me to ride and if I am honest although I quite like riding in the rain, I prefer not to. As this means my bike will sit in my garage wet and rusting. The atmosphere around where I live is moist so if my bike is wet it doesn't dry off at all.

For someone who gets the opportunity to ride every day to judge me because I can not, and suggest I am not a 'proper' motorcyclist, I think is missing the point. Everyone has different circumstances and can not incorporate riding into their everyday lives. Some people might find riding in rush hour intimidating and prefer to ride when it is quiet to build confidence. I do not judge these people and think less of them. I just like to go out and enjoy my passion and love to wave to fellow motorcyclists whether they ride daily or not, on a cruiser or sportsbike, male or female, black or white, human or not!!!!!!

I don't think anyone has the right to judge anyone on this subject, we are all different and no one is in some sort of elitist group because they ride daily.

As I'm British and not American I will say "That's my 2 pence worth".

Your passion for all things two wheels certainly sets you apart. What your talking about is the whole living ethos of being a biker.
For instance, I wouldn't dream of opening up my car bonnet to clean the engine for enjoyment.
Nor would I walk up to a stranger in a car the same as mine and start talking.
Its a complex subject that can't really be compartmentalised.

In fairness to the OP I think he is just putting the question out there.

Nelly

 

[FIZZER6]

I think you hit it!

The definition of a "Motorcyclist": One who does 9 things he hates about motorcycle ownership just so he can enjoy that one thing he loves....RIDING! :rockon: