Where Image is Everything

**willytheekid** · 19th March 2012, 12:30

Damnit!...just bought yamaharley!

but the BIG question I have is.....

Does my arse look fat in these?

Seriously...Don't really care what other people ride...as long as they ride them safely around me

**Oscar** · 19th March 2012, 12:45

Originally Posted by Paul in NZ

You would find it hard to knock HD on quality these days. The paint / chrome / reliability is right up there.

Hey - we all work on some kind of image at some time in our life, the classic HD couple are no different to any other group really...

The classic HD couple are a great example of the fact that motorcyclists are not a coherent group, any more than car drivers are one group.

That's why I hate being called a biker.
I don't see what I possibly have in common with an 18 year old typist riding her Jog to work, any more that I have anything in common with some hairy lout on a chopped HD (although the hairy loutishness is probably close).

I guess the difference between the group I ride with (primarily a group of guys who used to race off-road and now are adventure/trail riders), and HD couple is that we don't have* a particular image. My pants don't match my jacket and neither match my bike brand, and the guys ride everything from Gas Gas Pamperas to GS1200s.

The only reason I care about HD couple is because the media and the public seem to think I'm part of that group, and it drives me nuts.

I'm not.
I ride my bike with my mates, where few can see us.

*Although we could - Charlie & Ewen have a lot to answer for....

**5150** · 19th March 2012, 13:06

Originally Posted by Oscar

The classic HD couple are a great example of the fact that motorcyclists are not a coherent group, any more than car drivers are one group.

That's why I hate being called a biker.
I don't see what I possibly have in common with an 18 year old typist riding her Jog to work, any more that I have anything in common with some hairy lout on a chopped HD (although the hairy loutishness is probably close).

I guess the difference between the group I ride with (primarily a group of guys who used to race off-road and now are adventure/trail riders), and HD couple is that we don't have* a particular image. My pants don't match my jacket and neither match my bike brand, and the guys ride everything from Gas Gas Pamperas to GS1200s.

The only reason I care about HD couple is because the media and the public seem to think I'm part of that group, and it drives me nuts.

I'm not.
I ride my bike with my mates, where few can see us.

*Although we could - Charlie & Ewen have a lot to answer for....

Isin't it funny tho that due to the Long Way ........ series, anyone who rides a BMW R1200 GSA is seen as a Carlie/Ewan wannabe

Especially if they have the full BMW Rally suit and Touratech panniers.

**HenryDorsetCase** · 19th March 2012, 13:14

Originally Posted by ducatilover

Never seen the Harley appeal myself.

But I do like strange shit anyway.

I had a strange shit the other day: a large prawn curry, half a kilo of mandarins and a garlic naan will do that. Plus a few lagers.

I'd totally have a Harley. In fact if I can swing it I'd like one for next summer. But I'll be keeping the Triumph (and the Honda(s) )

Its a sickness. (bike lust)

**Oscar** · 19th March 2012, 13:19

Originally Posted by 5150

Isin't it funny tho that due to the Long Way ........ series, anyone who rides a BMW R1200 GSA is seen as a Carlie/Ewan wannabe

Especially if they have the full BMW Rally suit and Touratech panniers.

If yer dressed like that, on that bike, up to yer nuts in mud on the central plateau, you ain't a Charlie wannbe.

**5150** · 19th March 2012, 13:39

Originally Posted by Oscar

If yer dressed like that, on that bike, up to yer nuts in mud on the central plateau, you ain't a Charlie wannbe.

Depends.......... If there is a backup van with a spare bike and clean Rally suits waiting around the corner

**ducatilover** · 19th March 2012, 13:39

Originally Posted by HenryDorsetCase

I had a strange shit the other day: a large prawn curry, half a kilo of mandarins and a garlic naan will do that. Plus a few lagers.

I'd totally have a Harley. In fact if I can swing it I'd like one for next summer. But I'll be keeping the Triumph (and the Honda(s) )

Its a sickness. (bike lust)

I wouldn't turn an XR1200 down, but that's about it. Wouldn't pay money for one either, not with that heinous noise

I'll keep my pile of shit, suits me better than a Harley, uses no petrol...or oil...mind you it doesn't run

**Oscar** · 19th March 2012, 13:45

Originally Posted by 5150

Depends.......... If there is a backup van with a spare bike and clean Rally suits waiting around the corner

Actually, when it comes down to Rallye suits, I've always got summat better to do wid that sort of cash - so if you're wearing one, yer probably a wannabe (and have more money than sense) no matter where you are...

**5150** · 19th March 2012, 14:14

Originally Posted by Oscar

Actually, when it comes down to Rallye suits, I've always got summat better to do wid that sort of cash - so if you're wearing one, yer probably a wannabe (and have more money than sense) no matter where you are...

I do prefer the Revit Rally suit to the BMW one. Better made and the waterproofing and thermal linings are seperate entities that can be taken out. I like mine. Plus it is less then half the cost of its BMW counterpart

**Oscar** · 19th March 2012, 14:16

Originally Posted by 5150

I do prefer the Revit Rally suit to the BMW one. Better made and the waterproofing and thermal linings are seperate entities that can be taken out. I like mine. Plus is less then half the cost of its BMW counterpart

I've got a Revit jacket and I'm well pleased.
However, I doubt it would impress Mr & Mrs HD....

**5150** · 19th March 2012, 14:20

Originally Posted by Oscar

I've got a Revit jacket and I'm well pleased.
However, I doubt it would impress Mr & Mrs HD....

Only if they were travelling through Mongolia and it was freekin cold

**Paul in NZ** · 19th March 2012, 14:26

Thats bloody unfair - I'm not allowed to drink beer anymore since my internal organs have all decided to gang up and kill me off asap... bastards....

**Paul in NZ** · 19th March 2012, 14:28

Originally Posted by Oscar

My pants don't match my jacket and neither match my bike brand, .

My pants don't match my body.....

**Maha** · 19th March 2012, 14:40

Originally Posted by Virago

Often those who scoff about such "image" provide the best giggles.

Strutting around in their race-brand rubber romper-suits, proudly displaying their carefully scraped knee-sliders on each trip down to the corner shop - with such scrapes usually achieved by hanging precariously off the side of the bike at the local suburban roundabout.

Longer trips involve stopping every 50kms or so, to check the progress on the chicken-strips - and to check out everyone else's.

They fall off - frequently. But somehow that doesn't count.

They wear their biking prowess as a status symbol - and pour scorn on "lesser" mortals.

The irony is delicious...

Sport Bike riders will be the next review (they are to easy) followed soon after by the the Dirt trackers (which will be a guess at best) and last but least, the wanna be's...heaps of material there..