Generalizations about specific riding groups and barf

budman

General Menace
Staff member
I wanted respond with my opinion based on this thread, but felt it would be lost so here ya go.

The thread ..another about stunters:
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=213283&perpage=15&pagenumber=1


I hate generalizations... but it is a matter of fact in life.
Business, government the moto and general public do it everyday.

Guys who stunt or ride super fast on well trafficked roads will help generalize the public's view of motorcyclist . Same with guys who ride in T-shirts and no gloves, or sandals or shorts or drunk.. etc. etc..

Hell.. IMO we as motorcyclists still are seen so much as an outlaw group due to years of the Hell's Angels grip on the public perception. We know that is true right??:p

And to say that barf wants the Ruff Riders to die in the original thread above.. (I believe the intent is to die off as a group) is a generalization too. Barf is a bunch a members that are as diverse as society and just love bikes and loves to talk about them. I personally don't like to hear the generalizations about barf either, but WTF are you going to do..? That is how people are. Most of barf is actually quiet. We may have 500 people a day who post, but we have 5000 that look and read and likely often behind the keyboard they are going :rolleyes or :laughing or :wow

So who is barf?? Who are the RR?? SBF??? Just people that have a little more in common than just being a rider. To say that all are a certain way is just a generalization that is not completely true. We become more likely suspects of such by joining or identifying ourselves with those groups, but that may be likely a reality.. just not given fact.

If you are posting here on barf and a RR then you too are part of barf.

If you are posting here on barf and a LEO then you to0 are part of barf..

And so on and so on...

Do barfers vote and give to charity or volunteer at events that help our society?? Do the other groups do that?? Do we all pay taxes and so on and so on. Sure.. some do.. some don't. We all pay taxes to some extent.

Generalize all you want, but each individual is something else besides being part of a group. Each person chooses their path in life and interests.. If your reading this then motorcycling is likely a chosen path and welcome to :barf That is what WE are.

I believe that most of us want the publics perception of us to be favorable and that leads to many opinions about certain activities. I know for myself I have been on almost every side of these issues and maybe that has jaded my own opinion.

Stunted.. yup.
Rode dirt in restricted areas .. yup.
Sped on public roads...yup.
Had my Harley bad boy look and drank... yup.

I am no saint, but experience/knowledge has cooled my jets to some degree and left me with a fairly realistic view into who we motorcyclist are. Again IMO.

Share the love :twofinger

:smoking
 

Feanor

Unmasked
If I see another motorcyclist on the road, no matter what their ride, I instantly conclude that I have more in common with that person then any driver on the same stretch.

If I do something stupid, I've just cemented in driver's minds every reason they have to feel they have nothing in common with me.

Stefan
 

xgambit

Post Count +1
what i dont understand is why riders HAVE to fall into their stereotypes.

like if you buy a harley, why do they wear the same type of helmet, grow a beard and wear the same gear (or lack there of)?

why do sportbikers have to put tiny turn signals and their bike, remove the fender, and shove the license plate up what looks like the bike's ass?

Why do BMW riders wear the funny gray jumpsuits with the reflectors and a gray flip face helmet?

i know there are exception, but exceptions dont make the rule. so i know YOU dont do that, but most riders you see on the street do.

i know when i had my magna, i did everything i could to buck the trend and wore a full face helmet with full gear. now on my buell, i make sure not to use chew, wear flannels, or live in a trailer.
 

faz

Sexiest Ex-Mod around!™
great post, budman. :thumbup

It makes me chuckle when I see people generalize BARF and BARFers into one group... hell, I have never had so many disagreements with another group of people as I have had with BARFers... and I consider myself one too! :laughing

I like to watch a good stunt, a good race, a good 'spirited' ride in the twisties, .... like them all.
 

Moike

Shit Magnet
Hmm... Club creed.

Location, Corkscrew, Laguna Seca.

vamp-brick.jpg
 

Blind_Io

Exiled North of The Wall
I'm not even sure the stereotype into which I would fall. I'm not a Harley rider, I'm not a sport bike rider. I don't stunt (hell, I don't even know how). Even my riding jacket is only about 60% leather over thick denim. I wear a full face helmet, even in states that don't require one (Utah).

I guess you could stick me in with the new riders since I don't have that much time under my belt and I ride what some consider to be a starter bike (because it's so cheap).

I completely agree with what has been said here. I feel like I have more in common with anyone on two wheels than I do with anyone on four. When I'm riding I get The Wave from most other riders, no matter what they are on, and I return in kind. Yesterday I was lane splitting through rush hour traffic in The Maze behind someone on a sports bike - he moved into an empty space and let me pass. He didn't have to do that and I wasn't riding his ass, but it surprised me that a high end sports bike would want to slot in behind a slower (and much older) cruiser. It just shows that you can't make any assumptions.
 

Roundboy

THE ROUNDFATHER
UBOB TMU TCBY GTS TCK RBK

ROUND UNIT!!!!!

Dennis you are one helluv a guy. I like your enthusiasm and your love of the Game...Keep it up and you might just win a ROUNDIE!!!

hahhaha
Seriously though....

This is my Motorcycle.

There are many like it, but this one is MINE.

My Motorcycle is my best friend. It is my life.

I must master it as I must master my life.

My Motorcycle without me is useless. Without my Motorcycle, I am useless.

I must ride my Motorcycle true.

I must ride straighter than my enemy who is trying to pass me.

I must pass him before he passes me. I will...

My Motorcycle and myself know that what counts on the street is not the wheelies we ride,

the noise of our exhaust, nor the smoke our tires make.

We know it is the laptimes that count. We will win...

My Motorcycle is human, even as I, because it is my life.

Thus, I will learn it as a brother.

I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories,
its lines, and its powerband.

I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage.

I will keep myMotorcycle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready.

We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God I swear this creed.

My Motorcycle and myself are the defenders of my country.

We are the masters of our enemy.

We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until there is no enemy, but PEACE.
 

budman

General Menace
Staff member
Round1...

You should start the barf poetry book... you have one for every occasion..

Very :cool

Moike... Vampire's have it right :thumbup

:smoking
 

MyFastSV05

Well-known member
Budman----you are the man. I totally agree with every word of that.

xgambit---i know i fall under the sterotype of the sport roder, but have you seen the stock license plate holder in the SV. Im sorry to say it was just ugly. that is why i got ride of mine. But my license plate is not "shoved up the bikes ass".
 

xgambit

Post Count +1
well, really i had better examples for the sportbike stereotypes; the squids and gear nazis, but i knew people would get all defensive and start arguments.
 

Bad Kitty

Banned
That post rules Jesse!

Yup, let's ride. Just like life... in the riding community I find people I have lots in common with, and I find people I have nada in common with. It is just the brakes. It won't keep me from riding, no matter how thug-ish some, no matter how rude some, no matter how snooty, uppity, or wise....

Ride your own ride your own way, more important... living to ride another day.
 
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