In case any of you are wondering why this is pissing me off so much
Years ago the SDMB was bike bigotry free. I never saw anybody bashing anyone else bike…not seriously anyway.
I would rather it had stayed that way…at the time, Casdave was the only one I ever saw slinging that bullshit around…There may have been others, maybe I missed them.
I havent posted a lot in the last year or two, things have been really fucked for me as of late. Motorcycling is one of the only things I have to keep me going at times, and this kind of ignorance ruins it for everybody.
What if they choose to wear the full leather outfit because of safety? Not every Kawasaki Ninja rider with a matching suit is trying to be the new Valentino Rossi.
Please tell me you know who Rossi is.
The GoldWing’s slow because it’s heavy, but at 121 BHP, I doubt there’s a lot of Harleys faster than it. Even the V-Rod has but a mere 115 BHP, although it’ll probably be a bit quicker, what with its weight of 600 pounds vs. that of the GoldWing at 800 pounds. Since no Harleys are as powerful as the V-Rod, and most weigh as much or more, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the GoldWing.
Of course, it’s all rather trivial to talk about speed and horsepower here - any cruiser will get beaten by a 250 CC racer, easily.
I will amend that, because it occurs to me that I mispoke a bit. Every body I knew who wore full leathers in 120 degree heat was a wanna be. That does not mean that there isnt somebody some where wears them in that heat and isn’t. it was wrong of me to say that, and it wasnt what I meant. I feel personally, it is unsafe to do that.
Ive ridden many Goldwings. They were slower than the equivilant harleys I rode. There could be gold wings that are faster, but it has not been my experiance. Horsepower is not neccesarily the issue.
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heh…I have a friend with an Evo based chopper…a really long one. I’ve seen him thoroughly destroy japanese sport bikes off the line, his front wheel never touching the ground through all four gears…and its not even stroked…
My full dress harley wouldnt be hard to beat, but thats not true of all harleys, in all situations.
Bullshit. That’s pure crap, and it’s “excuse making” bullshit at it’s most comical. And here’s why.
Nobody is forcing you to read this thread. By coming back to this thread more than anyone else by a posting ratio of almost 10:1 compared to everyone else, you’re demonstrating beyond all doubt that it’s you who has the hangups, not your fellow Dopers. It’s YOU who has chosen to empower the opinions of others to get you all hot under the collar, and it’s YOU who is interpreting the opinions of others as being sufficiently ignorant to hang around in this thread like a cyber thug. You’re thriving off trying to have the last word - with anyone, on any aspect, and most worryingly, you’re not accepting responsibility for your own decisions.
Bottom line? The quote above is the equivalent of the classic projection arguement - that is, something along the lines of “I was fine, until YOU made me raise my voice. I was calm until you said what you said, but YOU made me go into that room and start shouting at everyone…”
Call that psychobabble if you want, but if you have even one ounce of magnanimity in your bones, you’ll soak up what I said and take it on board for what it’s worth.
In closing, I’m sorry to hear your last year has been hell - it’s always tough when that happens. Hope you bounce through soon.
P.S. It gets even hotter than Texas down here in summer. Smart rders merely wear summer leathers with truckloads of ventilation etc. They cope. They don’t whine. So for fuck’s sake, stop talking as though Texas is the only place on earth where motorcyclists ride in the heat. That’s a bullshit arguement too because you’re assuming an air of “location based authority” which gets watered down by counter experience in a state like Queensland, Australia. Go get an atlas. Go and look at the size of Queensland, and consider that the state of Texas would fit inside Queensland 3 times. And then consider how close it is to the equator.
Open your bloody eyes man. There’s a huge world beyond Texas, and surprise! Your opinions will count for nothing the moment you’re on different turf. And most importantly, stop accusing other people of being responsible for what is ultimately YOUR lack of anger management.
In my experience, Harley riders are the ones doing the bashing. You never hear a sportbike rider talking about “Jap crap” or “rice burners”. You never see them sporting bumper stickers that say “Friends don’t let friends drive rice burners” or “I’ll push my Harley before I’ll ride a Jap bike.”
Yes, riders of Japanese motorcycles do make disparaging comments about Harleys; but it’s almost always good-natured ribbing. Either that, or it’s retaliatory. Japanese-bike riders tend to like bikes that accellerate quickly, can lean into turns without dragging metal, that have maneuverability that falls somewhere between “good” and “UFO-like”, have a reputation for reliability, and are not obnoxiously (and I mean that literally – “Very annoying or objectionable; offensive or odious”) loud. We would not choose a Harley as our primary ride, but if someone else wants to ride one, then it’s no skin off of us.
But, in my experience, many Harley riders have an active hatred of Japanese bikes and their riders. You may not, and your circle of friends may not’ but there are enough Harley riders who do display a jingoistic, antagonistic attitude that you really can’t be surprised when the object of their aggression fires back.
I don’t care if someone rides a Harley. Some people like riding slow, and some of us feel the need for speed. Freedom of choice.
I don’t care if Harley riders and Japanese bike riders, and Italian bike riders trade jibes.
But if Harley riders insist on using epithets like those I’ve mentioned, or if they insist on displaying jingoistic bumper stickers, then they should be prepared to take as good as they give.
Yeah, if a Harley rider is giving someone shit for riding a non-harley, they deserve anything they get. But especially in this thread, the opposite is happening.
And yes, its my personal experiance and thats all I to relate. For instnace. A friend of mine road his honda to Sturgis. One guy gave him shit about riding a honda, and immediately several harley riders jump in and said “At least he rode his honda here, you trailered your bike here so shut the fuck up”
