Are you a REAL biker?

[scumdog]

Seeing as we are all getting upset about what a ''real'' biker is....how bout we try to find out what makes an ''unreal'' biker???

The One? get it? get it? huh? didja get it? - ah forget it

[Posh Tourer :P]

Not on anything,particuarly not on an ego trip,which is all this REAL crap is about

Sorry, I got a bit carried away. I still claim to have refuted your point though.

And back on the subject of REAL.
Just got back from a ride up the heads.Stopped on the way for gas,Norton and Trident coming out of the gas station as I'm going in,give em' a nod,Nothing,well I know both those two posers,work at the mill,both drive jap cars but hate jap bikes.But REAL bikers both of em'.A lady on a black Triumph
legend did stop for a chat,but she's not a REAL biker cause she's a girl right
Get up to Grahams beach,stop for a smoke an two guys one on a pale yellow Suzuki GS1000,the other on a Lawson rep' Kawasaki pull in just up the beach from me.I wasn't in the lest bit suprised when they turned around an rode away both looking the other way.Couple of REAL bikers there,Real unfriendly that is..
Ah well got home,had a REAL good ride,finaly admited to myself my clutch is REAL stuffed an I'll be ordering new plates from the USA sometime soon.
That's another thing too ain't it??I can get a full set of clutch plates for a Jap bike from the USA cheap as in 2-3 weeks but I can't get them from Japan
for any amount of money inside 3-6 months.
So there ya' go aye,the only one of five other bikers I came across that would even aknowlage me was a lady on a Triumph Legend and a lot of REAL bikers wouldn't give her the time of day either,So bugger REAL bikers,you meet nicer people that ain't.

Ummm, so what you are objecting to is the ego thing of saying "I'm a real biker and you aren't". Why should all these "REAL" bikers you have told us about should all like each other too? They all enjoy motorcycling, and ride for fun rather than as a means of transport (ie because they have to). That is a principle underlying all the definitions so far of "REAL" bikers. Just because your extrapolated view of what people are calling a "REAL" biker doesnt fit well with your view of what good bikers are like, doesnt mean you ought to rubbish the concept. Think about it in a non-egotistical sense, and compare it to car owners. Some are enthusiasts, most just drive the car because they have to. With motorcyclists, most are enthusiasts, because there is little mainstream acceptance of motorcycles as a mode of transport...

[Posh Tourer :P]

In the interests of not starting too many threads, heres an avatar for Motu, and completely off topic, but I said I'd put it here.

If you want Motu, I used a program called "Mihov Image Resizer" - search for it, it is a free download - quite satisfactory

[Motu]

Thanks Maarten - I'm off to give it a try...

We went on the tramway to the dam today,part of a homeschooling trip,someone canceled so there was a place for me.I've done it before - a twilight one,I just love finding out what they did in those days,tough bastards all.Kids just love it,the little train,tunnels,wetas,climbing the dam...um...big people kinda enjoy it too!

Do you know any of the drivers? I wonder if John Gurney still drives the train - he was an important part of the motorcylce scene in Auckland for many years.

Howzat!

[Jackrat]

Hey Posh,I know what you mean and I also know what the majority of other posters to this thread mean.
But then most of the people on this site are maybe a bit more thoughtfull than a lot of others in life.(How's that for a good greese)
But I often find when people start talking real anything there is a judgment call going on.As I said I like fishing,I do a lot of trout fishing and we have our little group of REAL trout fishers that only use dry flys and claim some superiority based on that(Real purist snobs).
The same applys to bowhunting,I've been told a few times I'm not a REAL bowhunter because I also carry a rifle at times,also because I like to go bush with a dog for company,(again real purist snobs).
I know people that consider any jap bike as not being a real motorcycle and any jap bike rider as not being a real biker.I'll leave that one for somebody else I think.
Yeah there are some people that only ride bikes for purely practical reasons but their reasons are just as real to them as yours or mine are to us.
So yeah I am a sour bastard,an mainly because I don't like being judged by others on how I do things,or being told one thing is more real than another.
I'm a member of a traditonal Archery site and a Fishing site,on both of them the subject also comes up as to weather your a real Bowhunter or fisherman/woman.The answers are also always the same,people claiming to be the REAL thing on the backs of those that don't comform to their veiws.I fortunatly don't conform to any purist veiws on anything but I've been involed in all of these things most of my life.
So please forgive me but the whole REAL thing gets my back up.
It's all the same road,the same targets,the same fish,so I don't judge others motives.I do question their views of whats real because we all are,no matter what our level of participation.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Thanks Maarten - I'm off to give it a try...

We went on the tramway to the dam today,part of a homeschooling trip,someone canceled so there was a place for me.I've done it before - a twilight one,I just love finding out what they did in those days,tough bastards all.Kids just love it,the little train,tunnels,wetas,climbing the dam...um...big people kinda enjoy it too!

Do you know any of the drivers? I wonder if John Gurney still drives the train - he was an important part of the motorcylce scene in Auckland for many years.

Howzat!

I don't know any of the drivers unfortunately - I havent had the opportunity to go on that yet, and I know I should....It is incredibly popular up at work, so much so we have to ration the brochures - we hide them behind the counter until people ask, rather than letting just any old riff-raff take them :P

I have walked along the route though, part of the way. Very pretty place...

[Posh Tourer :P]

But then most of the people on this site are maybe a bit more thoughtfull than a lot of others in life.(How's that for a good greese)

8/10

But I often find when people start talking real anything there is a judgment call going on.As I said I like fishing,I do a lot of trout fishing and we have our little group of REAL trout fishers that only use dry flys and claim some superiority based on that(Real purist snobs).
The same applys to bowhunting,I've been told a few times I'm not a REAL bowhunter because I also carry a rifle at times,also because I like to go bush with a dog for company,(again real purist snobs).
I know people that consider any jap bike as not being a real motorcycle and any jap bike rider as not being a real biker.I'll leave that one for somebody else I think.
Yeah there are some people that only ride bikes for purely practical reasons but their reasons are just as real to them as yours or mine are to us.
So yeah I am a sour bastard,an mainly because I don't like being judged by others on how I do things,or being told one thing is more real than another.
I'm a member of a traditonal Archery site and a Fishing site,on both of them the subject also comes up as to weather your a real Bowhunter or fisherman/woman.The answers are also always the same,people claiming to be the REAL thing on the backs of those that don't comform to their veiws.I fortunatly don't conform to any purist veiws on anything but I've been involed in all of these things most of my life.
So please forgive me but the whole REAL thing gets my back up.
It's all the same road,the same targets,the same fish,so I don't judge others motives.I do question their views of whats real because we all are,no matter what our level of participation.

Fair enough and well said. There's two aspects here. Firstly, that there is a stigma associated with being a "REAL" biker, and using that to put others down. But I think there is a distinction that can be made, between people who ride bikes and enjoy it, and people who ride bikes and use it as a convenient means of transport. They are different types of people and act differently. I'm not saying that you can't enjoy and use the bike as a means of transport too (I do) but the people who do the latter, wont be the people who come on line looking for a bikers forum for instance...

[moko]

I know what you`re saying Jackrat,and Bob will back you up on this.I also use www.realclassic.co.uk (note the name)and the main reason Bob got pissed off with that was the attitude of some of the blokes on there.All the digs about "you dont own a bike more than 20 years old so you`re not a "real" classic owner/rider.Their loss,he did there basically what he does here and a couple of twats with shit attitudes were enough for him to move on.I got the same but my nature is to meet idiots head-on and I pointed out to them that I was riding bikes in the 70`s same as them,just that I wasn`t silly enough to buy some pile of shit out of blind patriotism.As with everywhere else there are some really good guys there amongst the muppetts so I made the decision to stay.For me the "real" bit comes in when I`m parked outside a bike shop and some dork on a Fireblade looks down his nose at me and my bike.He`s some hand-job that crawls out when the thermometer says it`s safe to square-off the tyres on a bike that he`s incapable of stretching to any more than maybe 60% of it`s potential.Me,I`m out there all year round because I enjoy it,my bike`s been on the road all winter in all kinds of crap/potentially dangerous conditions and I feel some kind of bond with it(o.k. so maybe that`s deeply pathetic but it`s the truth).I dont care what other people think about me,my bike or any part of either.In fact I`ll admit that my machine has probably one of the tackiest paint-jobs ever to leave the Yamaha factory in a mis-guided attempt to make an ugly bike look less ugly.It`s a bike,there`s such a thing as perspective,my bike gets knocked off it`s stand I`ll get pissed off,any of my mate`s kids gets badly hurt and ,in the privacy of my home,I`d probably cry.I do what I do because I enjoy it,bikes arent life and death.....they`re just bikes.Anyone who sees any machine as a status symbol is missing the point and a whole load of other things as well.

[FROSTY:Me]

I guess by all accounts I'm not a real biker. But then how do you define a real biker/
Isn't that what is so fantastic about this sport/means of transport? -The diversity of reasons for riding we all have?
When I was in my late teens and early 20's I wouldn't get in a car. Id ride rally race all on a bike.
Nowadays I ride for pleasure and sometimes beacuse its heaps cheaper than driviung a cage.

[jrandom]

the only one of five other bikers I came across that would even aknowlage me was a lady on a Triumph Legend and a lot of REAL bikers wouldn't give her the time of day either,So bugger REAL bikers,you meet nicer people that ain't.

I doubt I'm a Real anything in particular, but I keep thinking it'd be great to go for a ride up Awhitu way. Is that where you were talking about? I could see myself surreptitiously blowing half a day off work and heading out there once I get a new rear tyre and front sprocket on. A bit bleak, but lovely roads and no traffic.

[Mongoose]

Sometimes I wish I was a plastic biker and not a real one. Just think of it, no worries about the wet, cold would be no worries and new parts of me or plastic welding would fix any damage.
But, alas i am real so none of that counts, huh?

[jrandom]

Sometimes I wish... plastic welding would fix any damage

I dunno, mebbe it's just never been tried, eh?

[Jackrat]

I doubt I'm a Real anything in particular, but I keep thinking it'd be great to go for a ride up Awhitu way. Is that where you were talking about? I could see myself surreptitiously blowing half a day off work and heading out there once I get a new rear tyre and front sprocket on. A bit bleak, but lovely roads and no traffic.

Yeah that's the road,
Places to be carefull,after the Pollock hair pin you drop into a valley,as you go up the other side you pass Hamiltons gap.The wind coming thru the gap can get very strong and blow you about,after this you find yourself on a short straight leading into a sweaping up hill left hander,you come out of this corner into a shaded damp road with moss right were your going to be.
After Awhitu there is a long straight with a bit of a kink and then you start to drop into another valley,just after you start going down there is a sharp right hander,go wide into this corner because all the locals take it wide from the other direction,same coming back,stay close to the inside of this corner because the locals cut it.After that there is a short straight with a sweaping down hill left,it has a permanant water stain where water always flows across it in a small stream if it's been raining.As you come out of that valley there,s a 90degree left hander that you won't see until you come over the top of the hill and then your right on it.Then your on a one km straight that finishes in a Y intersection,you take the right into an off camber down hill corner thats followed by a left that's also off camber and often wet.These are the only sections that will give you any real problems.
You can avoid the section after Awhitu by turning off to the left just before you get to Awhitu and take the back way to the signal station.Twisty as,top veiws over the west coast and back over the Manukau,down into destruction gully ect,ect,.
There are plenty of other back roads around the area as well.
Cheers.

[Storm]

A bike can be many things. Mechanical learning tool, something to polish for hours on end, or it can be your ticket to freedom. I just got back from taking the missus for a quick spin around some of the local back roads, and it was a perfect day to ride-sunny, warm, not too crowded. My bike is a means to an end. I get a huge buzz from riding, but then again , I get a buzz from doing my day job properly too. I guess waht I am saying is to just enjoy life for what it is and as it happens, and so much the better if it involves a bike

[Mongoose]

I dunno, mebbe it's just never been tried, eh?

Trust me, how plastic and Mongoose skin do not bond that well