So I'm a mean nasty outlaw biker

[ABikerSailor]

Interestingly enough, gang members have a pack mentality, where as most bikers are pretty self sufficient people.

And........fwiw........it takes more guts to ride from Amarillo to Sturgis and back by yourself than it does to beat down someone with 30 of your closest friends.

 

[High_Gravity]

You don't even have to say something wrong.... if they think you look the wrong way...you move your eyes in the wrong way....anything. Sorry...they are just garbage. They do nothing to help the communities they are selling drugs to and ruining the kids.

They do nothing for anyone...


That is not the case with bikers.

I have to agree, I hung around them when I was a kid in high school and its really nothing but trouble, alot of those guys are very cowardly and can't even step to anyone head up except for the top guys in leadership positions.

I agree..... though ive not hung out with them.

You don't want to, when I did that I was young and very niaeve.

 

[High_Gravity]

Interestingly enough, gang members have a pack mentality, where as most bikers are pretty self sufficient people.

And........fwiw........it takes more guts to ride from Amarillo to Sturgis and back by yourself than it does to beat down someone with 30 of your closest friends.

You pretty much nailed it, there are of course gang members than can hold their own, mainly the people in leadership positions but alot of the average guys on the streets are pussies, alot of these guys need to call their friends to beat up an old lady or a kid.

 

[bayoubill]

in my travels, it's been my experience that bikers are the closest thing we have to modern-day good Samaritans... they'll stop to help a motorist in trouble when even the cops don't...

as one guy told me, bikers just wanna be left alone to ride their scoots whenever they're able to squeeze time away from the mundane crap in their lives...

 

[syrenn]

My first contact with biker gangs was when i was babysitting when i was younger.... It turned out the father was in one gang ... They told me as they were leaving "now if some other gang rolls up here looking for me... dont you be afraid, they wont hurt you one bit"

Well shit, that scared the crap out of me! How the hell did i get roped into a situation like this??!!??

And ... yes indeed they came rolling up..well thundering up. The were not mean or vicious to me in any way.... they saw he was gone and left me and the kids i was watching alone.

 

[High_Gravity]

My first contact with biker gangs was when i was babysitting when i was younger.... It turned out the father was in one gang ... The told me "now if some other gang rolls up here looking for me... dont you be afraid, they wont hurt you one bit"

Well shit, that scared the crap out of me! How the hell did i get roped into a situation like this??!!??

And ... yes indeed they came rolling up..well thundering up. The were not mean or vicious to me in any way.... they saw he was gone and left me and the kids i was watching alone.

I guess bikers tend not to bother family, kids, old people etc. now gangs on the other hand? not so much, unless you are lucky to run into one of them with a conscience.

 

[syrenn]

My first contact with biker gangs was when i was babysitting when i was younger.... It turned out the father was in one gang ... The told me "now if some other gang rolls up here looking for me... dont you be afraid, they wont hurt you one bit"

Well shit, that scared the crap out of me! How the hell did i get roped into a situation like this??!!??

And ... yes indeed they came rolling up..well thundering up. The were not mean or vicious to me in any way.... they saw he was gone and left me and the kids i was watching alone.

I guess bikers tend not to bother family, kids, old people etc. now gangs on the other hand? not so much, unless you are lucky to run into one of them with a conscience.

I agree.... they are nothing like the new gangs of today.

 

[Ernie S.]

Biker guys used to be intimidating decked out in leather riding en masse. Then you look at how much those bikes cost, and you realize that these guys must all be professionals in order to even afford the bike, and all the extra bells and whistles. Then you have to laugh to yourself quietly so you don't embarrass them. They go to all this trouble of trying to look tough and unkept. Their hair is long and beards are white if they have them. At work they wear suits and are clean. I guess it's their fantasy and they should be allowed to live it any way they choose. IMHO

We call the biker wannabes, "posers" We'll likely let them buy us a beer, maybe return the favor, but if you want to be accepted, there's a whole lot more to it than a 20 grand machine that carries you from bar to bar.

Yep, had a sticker on my shorty helmet that said "18 grand and 18 miles DON'T make you a biker".

Matter of fact, one day a friend of mine named Tinker and I were sitting outside a local biker bar here in Amarillo (Boondocks when it was still open) and saw some dude drive up in a beat up pickup and get out.

He was wearing a leather vest, chaps, boots and jeans. Tinker looked at him and asked what happened to his bike (we would have helped him load it if needed) and he told us that he didn't have one, he was just hoping to meet some biker chicks.

We laughed the ****** outta the bar.

Most dangerous large group of wanna be bikers you'll ever see? All the people that go buy a Harley and then decide to learn how to ride while at Sturgis. Saw lots of wrecks by people who just got their scooter a month or so before.

And.........as far as patch holders? Depends on if it's a 1 percent group or not. If you see a 1 percent patch on the front of their vest? Don't **** with them, and they won't **** with you. I've even rode for a club for a couple of years, but after that experience, decided to ride independent from then on, because I didn't like having my life run by others.

However...........as someone who has ridden a lot of the US on a scooter, I can tell you that the best information that you can get for an area is generally from the biker bars, and, if you've got car problems, most of 'em are pretty decent wrenches, because if you ride a Harley, ya gotta be able to know enough to make it home if something goes wrong.

Nope, bikers are pretty decent people. I know, because I are one, and so are many of my really good friends.

Side note about people being scared of bikers.........was riding up Pikes Peak with a friend of mine named Danno one summer (celebrated July 4th by riding Pikes Peak), and we'd come back down, stopping at where the pavement started again, and some tourists from Canada came up and asked if we were real bikers. We said yeah, and the 2 little old ladies came up and put their arms around us on either side and took pictures of us with them.

Great time.

And bikers are the only people who know why dogs stick their noses out of the windows of moving vehicles.

Great line!

 

[Ernie S.]

Last Wednesday, I loaded up the Harley in my toy hauler and headed back down to South Florida.
For the 10 years I lived in the Fort Lauderdale area, every year on the second Sunday in December, I've gone for a ride with 30 or 40 thousand of my closest friends.
The ride is called "Toys in the Sun" and last Sunday was the 24th time South Florida motorcycle clubs and organizations have come together to raise money for the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital and collect toys for kids that wouldn't have toys under the tree if it wasn't for thousands of mean, nasty, ugly, long haired, bushy bearded outlaws.
It rained Sunday for the first time in my years of attending, but we still managed to get 35,000 motorcycles and approximately 70,000 people.
We collected a bit north of $1,000,000 and 9 semis full of toys.
Not bad for a bunch of reprobates, huh?

So, I guess what I want to discuss is what people think of bikers.
I've ridden Harley Davidsons for 43 years now and have watched the perception the general public has of my brothers and sisters change some over the years, but there are some still out there that view us with disdain.
35 years ago, I rode up on a motorcycle accident where a car had purposely cut off a bike. A local patch holder was riding with his wife, He was killed instantly and his wife died a few hours later.
The man who cut them off told the investigating officer that it was no big deal, they were only a couple of biker scum.
The officer, who was a biker himself, got suspended for 2 weeks for beating the crap out of the bas&*%d.
I've had people try the same crap on me as well, though only once in the last 10 years or so.
These days, it's not nearly so blatant, but I still see people roll up their windows and lock their doors when I pull along side.
So, I'm a biker. Do you feel threatened? How do you react when me and a few of my friends pull up a stool at your favorite watering hole?
I guess

I wouldn't mind if you and your crew come to the bar I go to, I am ok with anyone if they are good people.

Baltimore is a hell of a haul from Gulf Coast Alabama, but next time I head up North, I'll buy you an adult beverage.

 

[bayoubill]

Biker guys used to be intimidating decked out in leather riding en masse. Then you look at how much those bikes cost, and you realize that these guys must all be professionals in order to even afford the bike, and all the extra bells and whistles. Then you have to laugh to yourself quietly so you don't embarrass them. They go to all this trouble of trying to look tough and unkept. Their hair is long and beards are white if they have them. At work they wear suits and are clean. I guess it's their fantasy and they should be allowed to live it any way they choose. IMHO

We call the biker wannabes, "posers" We'll likely let them buy us a beer, maybe return the favor, but if you want to be accepted, there's a whole lot more to it than a 20 grand machine that carries you from bar to bar.

Yep, had a sticker on my shorty helmet that said "18 grand and 18 miles DON'T make you a biker".

Matter of fact, one day a friend of mine named Tinker and I were sitting outside a local biker bar here in Amarillo (Boondocks when it was still open) and saw some dude drive up in a beat up pickup and get out.

He was wearing a leather vest, chaps, boots and jeans. Tinker looked at him and asked what happened to his bike (we would have helped him load it if needed) and he told us that he didn't have one, he was just hoping to meet some biker chicks.

We laughed the ****** outta the bar.

Most dangerous large group of wanna be bikers you'll ever see? All the people that go buy a Harley and then decide to learn how to ride while at Sturgis. Saw lots of wrecks by people who just got their scooter a month or so before.

And.........as far as patch holders? Depends on if it's a 1 percent group or not. If you see a 1 percent patch on the front of their vest? Don't **** with them, and they won't **** with you. I've even rode for a club for a couple of years, but after that experience, decided to ride independent from then on, because I didn't like having my life run by others.

However...........as someone who has ridden a lot of the US on a scooter, I can tell you that the best information that you can get for an area is generally from the biker bars, and, if you've got car problems, most of 'em are pretty decent wrenches, because if you ride a Harley, ya gotta be able to know enough to make it home if something goes wrong.

Nope, bikers are pretty decent people. I know, because I are one, and so are many of my really good friends.

Side note about people being scared of bikers.........was riding up Pikes Peak with a friend of mine named Danno one summer (celebrated July 4th by riding Pikes Peak), and we'd come back down, stopping at where the pavement started again, and some tourists from Canada came up and asked if we were real bikers. We said yeah, and the 2 little old ladies came up and put their arms around us on either side and took pictures of us with them.

Great time.

And bikers are the only people who know why dogs stick their noses out of the windows of moving vehicles.

not true... even though I drive a four-wheeled box, I well know why my dog wants to stick his nose outta the window... I sometimes do it myself...

 

[Ernie S.]

in my travels, it's been my experience that bikers are the closest thing we have to modern-day good Samaritans... they'll stop to help a motorist in trouble when even the cops don't...

as one guy told me, bikers just wanna be left alone to ride their scoots whenever they're able to squeeze time away from the mundane crap in their lives...

A few years back.. Well, maybe 25, I was riding with a crew of outlaws (as opposed to "Outlaws") Maybe 6 of us, I guess. A middle aged woman was sitting along the Interstate. We pulled over.
She locked her doors and cracked the window a quarter inch and said she was out of gas.
I went in my tool kit and grabbed a screw driver and removed my fuel line. A brother pulled out a six pack of Bud and passed them around. We chugged the beer and siphoned gas from our tanks into the empties and got the woman a couple gallons.
Consider what this terrified woman thought as 6 Harleys pull up and start drinking beer, and how her perception changed when she was able to make it home.

 

[bayoubill]

in my travels, it's been my experience that bikers are the closest thing we have to modern-day good Samaritans... they'll stop to help a motorist in trouble when even the cops don't...

as one guy told me, bikers just wanna be left alone to ride their scoots whenever they're able to squeeze time away from the mundane crap in their lives...

A few years back.. Well, maybe 25, I was riding with a crew of outlaws (as opposed to "Outlaws") Maybe 6 of us, I guess. A middle aged woman was sitting along the Interstate. We pulled over.
She locked her doors and cracked the window a quarter inch and said she was out of gas.
I went in my tool kit and grabbed a screw driver and removed my fuel line. A brother pulled out a six pack of Bud and passed them around. We chugged the beer and siphoned gas from our tanks into the empties and got the woman a couple gallons.
Consider what this terrified woman thought as 6 Harleys pull up and start drinking beer, and how her perception changed when she was able to make it home.

Sure, the approach may have been unconventional, but the outcome is that she met Jesus' beer-swilling disciples who helped her on her way...

 

[Ernie S.]

My first contact with biker gangs was when i was babysitting when i was younger.... It turned out the father was in one gang ... They told me as they were leaving "now if some other gang rolls up here looking for me... dont you be afraid, they wont hurt you one bit"

Well shit, that scared the crap out of me! How the hell did i get roped into a situation like this??!!??

And ... yes indeed they came rolling up..well thundering up. The were not mean or vicious to me in any way.... they saw he was gone and left me and the kids i was watching alone.

My first contact with bikers was hitchhiking when I was about 10 or 11. Three of us were headed home from the beach and were thumbing a ride like we did every day. Six scoots pulled over when no one else would and I hopped on the back of the lead bike. My mom was horrified when I told her. My dad just smiled. I've been a biker at heart ever since.
I bought my first Harley in late August of 1969. I pulled into the drive at supper time and as expected, my parents came running out of the house.
Mom stopped 5 yards away and just stared, kind of sobbing. Dad walked around the 1949 FLH a couple times, threw his leg over the seat and kicked it over. He was gone for an hour and a half. I figured he was going to sell it or find a place to put it so I couldn't ride.
He finally pulled into the drive and walked into the house. All he said was "Nice bike"
Come to find out, he had raced hill climb professionally between high school and WW II. His dad also rode Harleys.
Today, dad's gone. I have 3 Harleys in the garage. One son has 3 of his own and the other son and my daughter each have one. It's in my blood. I can't help but ride.

 

[bayoubill]

my favorite story about bikers helping motorists in need came from a buddy of mine about 10 years ago...

his car stalled on a lonely stretch of highway in east Texas...

he sat there for nearly an hour considering his situation... with other cars occasionally passing him by and not stopping...

then, a coupla bikers rolled up to see if they could help...

they soon figured out the problem, and then spent the next hour or so disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the entire fuel delivery system...

once they got the car started again, one of the bikers told my buddy that he should get a cell phone and an AAA membership...

 

[syrenn]

in my travels, it's been my experience that bikers are the closest thing we have to modern-day good Samaritans... they'll stop to help a motorist in trouble when even the cops don't...

as one guy told me, bikers just wanna be left alone to ride their scoots whenever they're able to squeeze time away from the mundane crap in their lives...

A few years back.. Well, maybe 25, I was riding with a crew of outlaws (as opposed to "Outlaws") Maybe 6 of us, I guess. A middle aged woman was sitting along the Interstate. We pulled over.
She locked her doors and cracked the window a quarter inch and said she was out of gas.
I went in my tool kit and grabbed a screw driver and removed my fuel line. A brother pulled out a six pack of Bud and passed them around. We chugged the beer and siphoned gas from our tanks into the empties and got the woman a couple gallons.
Consider what this terrified woman thought as 6 Harleys pull up and start drinking beer, and how her perception changed when she was able to make it home.

And THAT is my whole point. Do you think that would happen with the punk gangs these days? If they did stop... my guess the outcome would be much different.

 

[Ernie S.]

my favorite story about bikers helping motorists in need came from a buddy of mine about 10 years ago...

his car stalled on a lonely stretch of highway in east Texas...

he sat there for nearly an hour considering his situation... with other cars occasionally passing him by and not stopping...

then, a coupla bikers rolled up to see if they could help...

they soon figured out the problem, and then spent the next hour or so disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the entire fuel delivery system...

once they got the car started again, one of the bikers told my buddy that he should get a cell phone and an AAA membership...

Over the years, I've done my share of roadside repairs and pushed broke down bikes more miles than some have ridden. Thank God for cell phones. They beat pushing or walking to a phone, all to hell, especially at 62.

 

[Ernie S.]

in my travels, it's been my experience that bikers are the closest thing we have to modern-day good Samaritans... they'll stop to help a motorist in trouble when even the cops don't...

as one guy told me, bikers just wanna be left alone to ride their scoots whenever they're able to squeeze time away from the mundane crap in their lives...

A few years back.. Well, maybe 25, I was riding with a crew of outlaws (as opposed to "Outlaws") Maybe 6 of us, I guess. A middle aged woman was sitting along the Interstate. We pulled over.
She locked her doors and cracked the window a quarter inch and said she was out of gas.
I went in my tool kit and grabbed a screw driver and removed my fuel line. A brother pulled out a six pack of Bud and passed them around. We chugged the beer and siphoned gas from our tanks into the empties and got the woman a couple gallons.
Consider what this terrified woman thought as 6 Harleys pull up and start drinking beer, and how her perception changed when she was able to make it home.

And THAT is my whole point. Do you think that would happen with the punk gangs these days? If they did stop... my guess the outcome would be much different.

the gangs of today, even some of the sport bike gangs would have raped and robbed the woman.
Bikers are the knights of the open road.
Absolutely!

 

[syrenn]

my favorite story about bikers helping motorists in need came from a buddy of mine about 10 years ago...

his car stalled on a lonely stretch of highway in east Texas...

he sat there for nearly an hour considering his situation... with other cars occasionally passing him by and not stopping...

then, a coupla bikers rolled up to see if they could help...

they soon figured out the problem, and then spent the next hour or so disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the entire fuel delivery system...

once they got the car started again, one of the bikers told my buddy that he should get a cell phone and an AAA membership...

The story i have is a sad one. One of my dear friends daughters was engaged to a hard core bad ass biker. It was cold but not quite winter and he saw this idiot family out on a lake not far from shore... they had turned over their row boat and were hanging on He jumped in with a cooler and got/ floated them all to shore.... he however didn't make it.

Human nature to save others? Maybe... But that sure is not the "image" most see when thinking about bikers.

The gang did however get her drunk one night and had his story tattooed on her back....

 

[koshergrl]

Last Wednesday, I loaded up the Harley in my toy hauler and headed back down to South Florida.
For the 10 years I lived in the Fort Lauderdale area, every year on the second Sunday in December, I've gone for a ride with 30 or 40 thousand of my closest friends.
The ride is called "Toys in the Sun" and last Sunday was the 24th time South Florida motorcycle clubs and organizations have come together to raise money for the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital and collect toys for kids that wouldn't have toys under the tree if it wasn't for thousands of mean, nasty, ugly, long haired, bushy bearded outlaws.
It rained Sunday for the first time in my years of attending, but we still managed to get 35,000 motorcycles and approximately 70,000 people.
We collected a bit north of $1,000,000 and 9 semis full of toys.
Not bad for a bunch of reprobates, huh?

So, I guess what I want to discuss is what people think of bikers.
I've ridden Harley Davidsons for 43 years now and have watched the perception the general public has of my brothers and sisters change some over the years, but there are some still out there that view us with disdain.
35 years ago, I rode up on a motorcycle accident where a car had purposely cut off a bike. A local patch holder was riding with his wife, He was killed instantly and his wife died a few hours later.
The man who cut them off told the investigating officer that it was no big deal, they were only a couple of biker scum.
The officer, who was a biker himself, got suspended for 2 weeks for beating the crap out of the bas&*%d.
I've had people try the same crap on me as well, though only once in the last 10 years or so.
These days, it's not nearly so blatant, but I still see people roll up their windows and lock their doors when I pull along side.
So, I'm a biker. Do you feel threatened? How do you react when me and a few of my friends pull up a stool at your favorite watering hole?
I guess

Anymore the bikers I see are mostly aging, well preserved, sober and on lovely and well-maintained bikes that I could NEVER afford. Mostly they are in groups..I just moved from a seasonal watering hole for them, out in the sticks, so we always welcomed them because they boost the economy.

I worry about you guys though, it's a dangerous hobby. Because you are easy to miss.

And no, not scared of you at all. I worry more about truckers. You guys don't have a place to stash a body (or a person).

 

[xotoxi]

These days, it's not nearly so blatant, but I still see people roll up their windows and lock their doors when I pull along side.
So, I'm a biker. Do you feel threatened? How do you react when me and a few of my friends pull up a stool at your favorite watering hole?
I guess

When you pull up beside me, do you rev your engine as much as you can and scowl at me? Or do you nod and smile?

The initial impression that I have about someone's demeanor is what I have to go on to assess my personal safety. I generally don't go on appearance alone.