Hardy har har. Seriously though, 99% of bikers are just normal folks who’ve discovered the fun, convenience and/or cost effectiveness of not taking the house with us 
Aside from my moderately tall height, if you encountered me in the wild, I’m the least intimidating fella you could imagine. And my last batch of meth came out crap anyway (that last bit was a joke…it was great…kidding!).
At one point I had a 350 Ducati single. I don’t think I ever touched either the carburation or the ignition. Of course, multicylinder bikes with carburation are a different kettle of fish.
What drove me slightly mad with the Ducati was the constant need to adjust spokes due to the alloy rims - truly an invention of the Devil.
I live in Italy where not only lane splitting is legal (at least at the stopping lights), but i think that motorcycle and scooter owning is far far more widespread than it is in the US/Canada.
Not being a motorcyclist myself (i think two wheels are for lucky and optimistic people, i am not sure if i am lucky or not, but i am certainly not optimist), i only discovered that lane splitting and filtering could be a problem to someone because i read it on boingboing, and i found it weird.
It is a staple of city traffic and helps it flowing.
I have to admit that my father is somewhat troubled sometimes, but he’s 70+ so i guess that’s also a generational thing.
BTW: I’ve made a motorcycle thread for persistent moto-related chattage.
Fuck, I hate those cock-spanks. All other bikers have my admiration and respect. The smaller the vehicle, the more right you have to be on the road.
I read a splendid piece of snark, I forget where, referring to Hardly Drivable as catering to the ‘halloween pirate demographic’ 
(not mine…but pretty, figured this thread would appreciate whatever the heck this is…)
AKA “Hell’s Accountants”.
There are some Real Bikers™ on Harleys, as well as some non-obnoxious weekend warriors (#NotAllHarleys). But there are also an awful lot of pretentious play-acting poseurs (#AccidentalAlliteration).
Sadly in the UK we have seen an uptick in asshole motorcyclists in recent years. (I won’t call them bikers.) There were a load of them going around yesterday in a convoy with (illegal) open pipes, apparently for the funeral of someone who was killed in an entirely avoidable accident - a car driver was making an illegal U-turn, but at legal speed he would have had time to stop.
Bikers who ride well have my admiration and respect, because nowadays I stick to cars but I can still recognise skilled riding. But middle aged men playing at being outlaw bikers is just plain annoying.
I believe there was a South Park ep a couple of seasons ago in the subject…
My near neighbour is one. I can look at the weather on a Sunday morning in summer and be pretty sure that the dumper truck will be starting up before long. It has to run for about five minutes outside his house before it’s ready to be taken on the road. For about an hour. Rain would make marks on the leather.
Mechanical art.
Personally I feel the Italians (for clarity, the engine is an Agusta) designed some of the most artistic air cooled engines but fell down on some of the other details. Harleys can be very aesthetically pleasing but the actual engineering seems to have been the product of an agricultural machinery plant.
Because far too many of them are inconsiderate assholes. Not sure which is worse: The ricer assholes or the HD assholes.
LOL. Of course I joke. I like the looks and shapes of motorcycles, I just have no desire to use one. At least not on public roads.
Though it doesn’t help the motorcycle PR that a small percentage are not just asshole drivers, but somehow make that fact especially clear. (Though I bet the percentage of asshole car drivers is similar.) And I hear people who are bikers bemoan other types of bikers, and there have been historical examples of criminal biker gangs. So I understand how one has to fight against negative stereotypes.
Hell, I just clicked “interested” when my manager invited me to watch him play at a biker bar I live a stumbling distance away from. You would have thought I was said I was visiting Somalia by my ex-wife’s reaction. Though there WAS a guy who killed 3 people there 7 years ago, that could happen anywhere, and when I moved in the area I did a police report check, and there weren’t even assaults at that bar. There is more to this story, but I suspect if you don’t know the people involved it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting of one, heh.
Yes. It was pretty funny.
Another reason I love riding the beemer. At idle, knitting needles, and at speed, a [well-tuned] tractor. Even if I did roll on the throttle under overpasses or in close-by neighborhoods, it wouldn’t change the sound all that much.
The ‘straight pipes save lives’ argument has never added up to this longtime rider.
I think I’d like to ride with that guy.
I am a scary biker guy? I guess in my gear a little bit but I think I look more like some extra in a Japanese sci-fi B movie space suit when all geared up. I wouldn’t murder you… not even for your signed comic books. 
Well, if you decide to reverse in traffic you’ll hit me going what, 2-3mph? I’ll take getting knocked over versus getting plowed by the driver behind me because I was in his biggest blind spot, namely not being something big enough to risk killing him. When you’re stopped I don’t care if I’m in your blind spot; don’t worry, I’m watching you. 
I have to admit, some of the race bike type armor is pretty cool looking. They even have some Star Wars themed jackets and helmets, including Boba Fett (the Jacket I’ve seen I don’t think was licensed.)
Also if the Zombie Apocalypse comes, I am running down to one of the large Harley stores near by and grabbing a couple sets of racing leathers. I figure a set of racing leather would be more or less bite proof.
Also I tried to give you signed comics in the past.
Like I said I get it. Just, you know, honk at me to make sure I caught that you’re there. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m saying add a step to account for the danger from the car ahead of you. Often times I find that riders doing this end up positioned so that if I have to swerve around an obstacle, change lanes or what have after (or because of) the stop/slow down, I could end up doing more than just knocking them over.
OH, one more thing, my shooting buddy has dread locks and is looking to buy a motorcycle. I told him he should totally get a Predator helmet. If only there was a way to have part of the back open…
