# Hotdogger on motorcycle: cool or stupid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029 "2009-09-14T14:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/1 "2009-09-14T14:24:16Z")
Driving along the outer loop of the Capital Beltway yesterday, I heard a motorcycle coming up behind me and passing me. As it passed, everyone in the car saw that the motorbike was running on its rear wheel only - the fellow was riding on a 4-lane interstate in wheelie mode. This was sufficiently startling that the entire carful erupted in a chorus of “WHOA” and “HOLY COW!”. A few seconds later, the cycle dropped to both wheels as the driver did a few lane changes (not terribly safe ones, from what I could see, but he evidently did them successfully. We were thinking that riding in wheelie position is something best left to a stunt track… not the Beltway, where the ability to, I dunno, STEER QUICKLY is occasionally useful. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/2 "2009-09-14T14:40:23Z")
Cool and stupid defy definition. Typically it’s “cool” because it’s a display of prowess–people will pay to see stuff like that at the right venue. That pretty much holds true until the performer demonstrates the limit of his prowess by overestimating his abilities. At that point, the entire act becomes “stupid.” Now if you want to bring “wisdom” into it then the display was wholly unwise if only because he was creating a potentially dangerous distraction to other motorists and modelling unsafe behavior to future riders. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/3 "2009-09-14T14:57:08Z")
I vote for both. (Now, if he’d been doing it as a stoppie, _that_ would have just been plain cool.) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/4 "2009-09-14T15:03:21Z")
I don’t object to that kind of thing on one condition - they sign their organ donor card. I may need a liver of something some day. I ride a motorcycle a lot; have since before I turned 16 on dirt and since on the road. I see other bikers do stupid things all the time. I had a guy beside me riding in shorts, short sleeved shirt, flipflops, no helmet, smoke hanging from the corner of his mouth and talking on a cell phone. When we finally hit a light together, I stuck my hand out to shake his and congratulated him for being the dumbest person I had ever met. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/5 "2009-09-14T16:20:58Z")
Incredibly stupid. Not just for endangering himself but everyone around him. He takes a spill and you have a lose bike and a lose body bouncing down the beltway. Mutiple cars breaking and swerving can’t be that cool. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/6 "2009-09-14T16:29:11Z")
My brother’s college roommate was that stupid. Broke his coccyx and literally had his ass in a sling for months. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/7 "2009-09-14T16:29:47Z")
Go to YouTube and search for “wheelie crash”. The vids pretty much say it all as far as stupid goes. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/8 "2009-09-14T16:32:21Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Incredibly stupid. Not just for endangering himself but everyone around him. > He takes a spill and you have a lose bike and a lose body bouncing down the beltway. Mutiple cars breaking and swerving can’t be that cool. Not to mention the lingering smell if you don’t do a thorough job at hosing his guts off your car’s undercarriage. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/9 "2009-09-14T16:48:59Z")
BTW, in Ontario, doing wheelies on the public road is illegal stunting: [http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws\_regs\_070455\_e.htm](http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_070455_e.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/10 "2009-09-14T17:16:48Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > BTW, in Ontario, doing wheelies on the public road is illegal stunting: [http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws\_regs\_070455\_e.htm](http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_070455_e.htm) Interesting. I actually saw someone do this last week. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/11 "2009-09-14T17:42:28Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Not to mention the lingering smell if you don’t do a thorough job at hosing his guts off your car’s undercarriage. Judging by our experience with a skunk a few years back, a full-service car wash should be able to handle that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/12 "2009-09-14T17:49:01Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Judging by our experience with a skunk a few years back, a full-service car wash should be able to handle that. 😉 I read that and thought, ‘drunk’. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/13 "2009-09-14T18:08:58Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I read that and thought, ‘drunk’. :eek: BWAHAHAHA!!! Well, it’s entirely possible the poor thing had gotten ahold of some fermented fruit, which was what led him to stagger across a fairly major road. We didn’t attempt to breathalyze the remains 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/14 "2009-09-14T18:22:26Z")
In addition to “stupid” I have to add “assholish.” I saw a jerk doing this a couple of weeks ago…he was in the middle lane of a three lane highway, popping a wheelie. All three lanes behind him were filled. (I was going the opposite direction.) And I couldn’t help thinking that if he fell, not only would they be scraping him off the highway with a shovel, but some poor innocent driver behind him would forever have to live with the memory of running over his body with their car because they had nowhere else to go. Something like that is a major burden to carry. It’s one thing to be foolish with your own life. Have some consideration for what you might put others through in the process. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/15 "2009-09-14T18:51:08Z")
Things quite often can be both incredibly cool and incredibly stupid at the same time. This is one of them. My outward reaction is “jeez, what an idiot,” but at the same time a little part of me is kind of going, “oooh, neat.” ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/16 "2009-09-14T18:53:28Z")
Dibs on the bike when the rider no longer needs it. I might be able to use some of the parts. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/17 "2009-09-14T19:16:07Z")
Dibs on the rider when the bike no longer needs it. I might be able to use some of the parts. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/18 "2009-09-14T19:22:35Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Things quite often can be both incredibly cool and incredibly stupid at the same time. This is one of them. My outward reaction is “jeez, what an idiot,” but at the same time a little part of me is kind of going, “oooh, neat.” Or, it falls into the category of ‘cool if you can get away with it; stupid if you can’t.’ ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/19 "2009-09-14T19:43:48Z")
A classic example confirming we don’t have enough chlorine in the human gene pool. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029/20 "2009-09-14T19:47:03Z")
And let’s not forget that people doing that (what the OP said) is one of the main reasons why insurance on sport bikes is sooooo much higher then on cruisers or touring bikes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotdogger-on-motorcycle-cool-or-stupid/510029.md?page=2)