Potato/tomato...
One man's bitching is another man's conversation...
Thing is so far everyone in this thread seems to own/ride, bikers baby.
I kind of think that if you don't own one or never owned one that would be a poser... N' yeah I know how peeved "Tourist" gets with them... but someones got to be the bottom tote on any totem pole... LOL.
I have to admit, I laugh at them not with them...
AND
the internet seems to be the place that "they" feel safe... PLENTY of key board Kehoneys...

Tourist you probably saved a few CyberBikersButts... but the thank you they offered was a typical little girl/cyber biker response. Chicken Sh*t as usual.

I just met my girls Biker Uncle... As we stood out front of his house, he told me she was his favorite niece and that he's heavy handed as he gave my shoulder a shove... I looked him square in his eyes - grabbed his hand and squeezed it like I wanted to make it POP and SAID STRAIGHT TO HIS FACE - ONE BIKER TO ANOTHER- I've got nothing to worry about we're on the same side.... as I let go, He shook his hand out, and said that was good to know. He invited me to have a beer and we stayed for a couple hours just shooting the breeze.

On the way home she asked me what happened when we shook hands?, I told her, when 2 men meet they greet. When 2 bikers meet the gauntlet gets thrown down and if you flinch you're a weak sister...
I told her I never flinch and that I earned her Uncles respect because I countered his threat with one of my own, she said he was rubbing his hand when I went to the restroom... I told her I would have broken it off if I had to. No one gets to shove me/touch me, or threaten me, and he was a hare's breath away from eating a right cross... he gave me the THUMBS UP and told her she had a "keeper'.

Being a biker isn't something you can buy, or wear. Its in your heart and your soul.

It's earned.

Yup.

See, that's where you and I are different. I always let a guy shove me/touch me, or threaten me.

Who am I not to give a dying man his last request?

Hey tourist I like where your coming from! My sentiments exactly.

Glad you liked the idea. Just a part of my overall way of living.

I heard another good come-back a few weeks ago. Someone crafted a wussy attitude about doing virtually nothing by stating, "Things aren't all black or white." There was a response of, "Why not?"

We all know what is the right thing to do. Most folks knuckle into complying from peer group pressure. My response to that is to get new peers--seems like consorting with a-holes was a lousy decision from the first.

Good outlook on life! Where have you been haven't seen you here for a while. Did you go on biker vacation?

Its the answer that is under your nose that is the hardest to see.
Some people just don't get it. or worse they get it a day too late.

In short, I believe if you have to shout "biker" you're probably not one. And I don't believe in 'hype' for anything, be that a man, a motorcycle or a new washing machine. If it's good, people immediately know it.

Granted, I am extremely hard on twenty-somethings who use a sneer, an armful of tattoos and straight pipes to be a biker. What about brotherhood, being a mentor, supporting a friend when you know your action puts you on the losing end. How about actually building a decent bike, which makes a personal statement, instead of jumping onto a trend?

I have said many times that my handle derives from an old biker insult. A 'tourist' is just a guy with a bike. My riding has changed, no question, but so has my opinion. If this culture we see most often is now what passes as being a biker, then I don't want to be one. Using the name 'tourist' is my insult to this fraud culture. Flatly, it means, "I am not one of you, and I don't want to be one."

In all the years I knew real bikers, not once, ever, ever, ever in bars, on runs, at parties or in jail did I hear this "who's a biker" drivel. If the guy wasn't genuine, he was sifted out long before any debate started. And if he became a 'choir member'--and screwed up--he got his 'sheet music' yanked.

Plastic men, plastic bikes. Hype and tripe.

....OK, I read all this and some of it i agree with and some of it i don't get. I ride and have for over 40 years. I like my harley. i got my first one back in 1976. I have never belonged to a club. I would not belong to any club that would have me! I am just a guy that likes to ride. I have been called a biker. i just laugh, because i am sure our definitions are completely different. I am 6'1" and weigh in about 250. I like to drink beer and laugh at dumb stuff. I see a lot of dumb stuff getting off of bikes... I don't like to be talked down to. I don't like to have people try and push me around. I will get testy if necessary. I would rather just have a beer and laugh. the other option makes my hands hurt the next day. this is a nice place and i like the people i have read here. i think this is the same group i run with in the real world. we have all seen most of the dumb stuff, participated in a lot of it. now i just enjoy the ride....

Then you're probably a biker.

You have a passionate opinion, and you're not afraid to vocalize. You have refused to join a choir, despite having the credentials to read all of the sheet music. You don't like to be patronized, and that eludes to your understanding of this crappy peer pressure view of modern motorcycling.

In short, you have goals and ideals, and you live them. That's a biker.

I am not a biker, however. I have a good voice for a choir, and sang a bit in the past. I can no longer stand the sheet music. I seriously doubt my own involvement and dedication to fine classical opera. I prefer to sing alone, and no longer care for harmony when performing. In short, I steadfastly and realistically admit I am not a biker by anyone's standard, and prominently, in my own honest assessment.

See, guys? The world did not come to an end. Live your own lives.