by Barrie Haughton AKA Bear, President and Founder of OBB
Again, I’m probably bitching to the wrong crowd… You guys are here reading this, so you’re clearly part of the group that likes to read about motorcycling and be informed…. well at least you can sympathize with my thoughts then.
In recent rants I have complained about people wearing fake dog tags and motorcycle jackets with fake road rash. In general, I have a put up or shut up attitude, but this month my rant is again directed towards the “fake biker”.
I had two experiences recently that really made me wonder (again) if there are more of them than there are of us. First let me preface my thoughts by saying this: there is no such thing as a stupid question, and I have always had a share-the-sport attitude. I’m willing to share what I know, and if I don’t know then I’ll say so instead of bullsh*tting.
When I started riding I could barely change a set of plugs myself. But with time, dedication, and by always trying to inform myself (ok… and often out of financial need), I learned to fix most things myself and even enjoyed it.
The thing is, either you head that route or you don’t. But in my opinion, motorcyclists should be informed and understand how their machine functions at the very least. People who only want to ride are missing half of our sport. It’s like owning a boat but never leaving shore. There is a segment of people who only want to ride, but like I said, I think it’s their loss and they are missing some of the great rewards of owning and wrenching. I often encourage riders who are not comfortable working on their newer machine to buy an older fixer-upper to start wrenching on. That way when they strip a bolt or break something while learning the ropes, it’s not the end of the world.
What really drives me crazy are guys trying who try to play a role. Either you know about wrenching, or you don’t, or you’re learning. There is no shame, no matter what your skill level.
I was troubled to overhear a conversation the other day at a shop… I listened to a sales guy wax on about the benefit of riding Honda’s: “it’s their four stroke engines, that’s why Hondas are so powerful and smooth and beat Harleys with their dated 2 stroke engines”… and the guy he was talking to was eating it up. Now last I checked, every major bike manufacture is using four-stroke engines, and aside from the odd dirt bike, there are hardly any 2 strokes on the market.
The thing that’s sad is that some people don’t know any better. We should all be comfortable with our knowledge level and be willing to learn. I still learn new things about bikes all the time. The important thing is to keep an open mind and not be a know-it-all or a bullsh*tter. No matter when, at what age, or why you joined the great sport of motorcycling, it’s our duty as enthusiasts to know the basics of our machines, their systems, and how they work.
this article also appears in the RushPRnews newsroom
I agree. I have ridden bikes for years but never owned one until last year. I bought a 1985 Yamaha FJ1100, and I didn’t
know s**t about fixing it. After a few shoddy shop repairs I searched online and found a group of owners of the same bikes. I learned a ton from some local guys about fixing my old bike up and making it run proper. Then some crackheads stole my beloved FJ and trashed it beyond repair, so again I am bike-less. I will buy another ride and I will wrench on it myself if at all possible.
Look to the web, there are owners groups for almost any make and model around, those guys will help you fix up your ride because they love it and want to share the passion of that bike. Saving your self money and a shoddy shop job are also badges of pride and add to the positive experience of riding and owning a 2 wheel machine.
I’d take a guess that neither of those guys actually knew anything. Salesman was repeating what he was told, and got it wrong, meaning cylinders vs strokes, although that would not always be true either.
I can’t afford to have someone else wrench my ride, so I learn. Love those Clymer’s manuals….
Good Day Bear
Over here in England we have the same problem…so many “Bikers” who haven’t got a clue and as you say, all talk and no idea !!! As an ex-racer and Marine Engineer I know the only thing wrong with my bike is the nut behind the bars…..
If you understand whats going on with your machine you’ll ride with more confidence and save yourself some money along the way…hell, you might even enjoy getting dirty in the process.
Keep up the preaching and love the site
Tony – Ducati 996 SPS
Hi There Mr Bear I think the guy meant cylinders. Hondas beat Harlets because they have 4 cylinders, and Harlots only have been dated with threesomes.
) peace the bluesman
I could not have said it better myself!
I’m 45 years old and been riding since I was about 13.
I have owned 2 Harleys, 1 Kawasaki and now a Yamaha and I still learn somethin’ new damn near every day.
I’m no bad ass bike builder, I Just know the ones I’ve owned and had help doing them.
The point is, I was not affraid to ask and didn’t try to be something I’m not.
Keep The Rubber Side Down,
OBMFer Dildo.
I think the dude got mixed up between 2 or 4 cylinders. Or he was just full of crap!
Hey Bear..I think what the weenie meant was a four cylinder compared to a two cylinder…makes more sense…but he’s probably not the type of guy to understand that it’s not WHAT you ride, but THAT you ride. That keeps us a “brotherhood”, keeps us “acknowledging” each other on the road, stopping to help out a fellow rider REGARDLESS of what he’s riding..don’t see that in cars, and in boats they had to make it a law. Ride safe, bro. Cos
A sales guy? He probably checked his IQ at the door, He probably meant to say cylinders and he said stroke. Unfortunately he probably thinks they are the same. The motorcyclist who understands mechanics and keeps the equipment in the condition it needs to be, is the survivor who know he can trust his bike. He or she only has to deal with the road hazards and other road users. The one who doesn’t know how the bike functions or what it needs to function, is in danger of becoming a passenger in a crash and never works out what went wrong or why… because of equipment malfunction.
What is worse is a salesman not knowing his product. I believe what he was referring to was cylinders, not strokes. But then, who expects sales guys to actually know anything about their own product, let alone a competitor’s.
Along the note of “fake bikers”. I ride every day, my bike is my sole means of transportation. Which means that I ride in all weather. The only thing that stops me riding is ice. I ride a Yamaha. I have been called a “fake biker” by Harley riders who ride weekends.
Hey Bear!,
I agree 100%, there have always got to be different levels in everything, and its no shame being a “newbie”, or even a “returned to the fold” as I am.
I started biking when I was 16, first with an old BSA Bantam, (ex British Army Bike), and finally a Vincent Shadow, (my pride and joy until I wrapped it around a tree!).
I stopped biking when the family arrived,as many do)and took it up again 5 years ago,(I’m 62 now) with a 1986 Honda Shadow. I’d forgotten a lot, and remembered a bit, (Like how to get on and off, LOL), but soon got back in the swing, including my own servicing and repairs.
So for everyone out there, your never too young, too old, or too new to take up one of the most satisfying pastimes in the world.
As for the “Fakers”, well, I suppose there have to be some real sad people around to make the rest of us look normal.
2 stroke Harley….2 funny!
I am VERY tired of A.B.A.T.E type riders. L-O-U-D!!! Mufflers. Stupid looking ‘Paul, Sr’ beards. L-O-U-D mouths!
I only ride with Human Beings. Raucus individuals, who spend $35K for a crappy V-Twin, that only ever goes less-than 10miles from home, are jerks.
Not Riders!
‘Terminator’ wannabee’s…
I’m new to motorcycles, but at age 53 been building “Garage” Hotrods for years along with my sons. We have seen these guys with these pristine Mustangs and such, that don’t know a screwdriver from a crowbar. We have always felt like, “You don’t own it, until you bleed for it.”
well we have one thing in common, I get lost when I’m trying to get a point across and don’t proof read either.
I’m 62 been riding for 56 years and built my first bike, now there’s a recipe for a bar fight. Actually my uncle, just back from Korea, taught me how to strip and reassemble a Sten and did most of the work of putting a 1.25 hp washing machine engine in a cut down bicycle frame, but I rode for the first time on my 7th birthday and have been riding even since.
I like your idea of have an older bike to learn with, more riders should take note.
I agree Bear. I am in my forties and I grew up on a farm, where we learned(from our my parents) at a young age to learn to do things for ourselves. (welding, basic mechanics etc.) I currently own an 1985 rz350r(after being away from riding for 20 years), yamaha (2-stroke) and the best thing I did for myself was to tear it down and re-build it myself. Since it is a 2-stoke it always needs a little adjustment or tweek. I take some basic tools when I ride and within 5 minutes I can make minor adjustments and enjoy the rest of my day. It is our society that is developing a culture of people that pay for their problems to go away. Its a throw-away society. If anybody has what they feel is broken or junk please send it my way!!!!
I am new to riding the road, not to riding bikes. There is a certain attitude (be it respect of the sport or the seasoned riders) that most people in general do not get. There will always be poseurs in any aspect of society. At the end of the day, you just have to decide if you want a full commitment to a lifestyle or do you enjoy certain aspects. The thrill that on rider gets may not be the same that I enjoy or crave. We do not (yet) take an oath to ride a bike: some choose to take that farther. Many just like a Sunday drive with their lady and move on to playing golf.
Truth is, the more people that enjoy the sport the better received and accepted it is. You just cannot dictate what level of pleasure and how people attain it.
Thank you for having this forum to share thoughts. I ride (and fix) my own bike. I do it because it calms the heck out of me. Tinkering in my garage on MY bike has a certain peace that I do not expect everyone to understand. But certainly a few do!
P.S. Yes, stop with the fake rash and fake tags. Who the heck would want to taste the road, and if you didn’t serve (God bless those who did) you are greatly lacking integrity and just might deserve a smack.
OK, as long as we’re raggin’ on things, I guess I’m just too old school, or I appreciate the generation of bikers that had only one vehicle, and it just had two wheels – OK, sometimes three.
When I was “breaking my teeth” on motorcycles as a later part of that generation (figure of speech only), I recall never quite getting out of a cold rain while riding from Tennessee to the New Jersey line, sputtering into an old ARCO gas station like a wet rat, a station clearly run by bikers without fake road rash or faux leather. The rags on their heads were not purchased from JC Whitney nor the Harley shop. I was 17 – cold, wet, shaking, hungry, and had about $2 in quarters that I had bummed in Virginia, because I wasn’t going to put anything but Castrol in my bike, even if it cost $3.50 at a gas station (half my money for the road trip). They took me in like they were receiving their long lost friend, sat me down in front of a torpedo heater, gave me hot coffee and a dry blanket, and went to work on my motorcycle like they were my personal pit crew.
Eight hours earlier, a Virginia State Trooper was going to throw me into his cell because if you don’t have money, “you’re a vagrant,” but when I smiled as my body shivered I said, “Thank you. Is their a dry blanket in there, and can you bring me some hot soup?” With an evil laugh, he threw me back out into the cold rain.
Soon, my ears heard a beautiful throaty idle coming from my bike that I knew meant I would make it home tonight. I only had a couple dollars, which I offered. They stuck a five in my pocket and said, “Brother, this is what we’re here for.”
I give this one story of many, because it explains why I’m old school when it comes to greeting a fellow biker on the road. When I first rode my wife on my bike, she asked, “What does that mean when you greet another biker and you both put your left arm up like you’re making a muscle, and your fists clenched?” I said it means, “Fellow-biker, if you ever need me, I’m here for you.”
I’ve been riding now for almost 40 years, and that’s about how old my bike is. I see guys on the road who bought their first bike after their mid-life crisis, and greet them with my arm up in solidarity. They respond to me now with a lazy hand low and out-stretched. So now its my turn to ask, “What the h*ll does that lazy-a*s, ‘Look-at-me-I’m-cooler-than-sh*t’ low-wave mean?”
,
I’m with you brother. I am in the learning stages when it comes to heavy motorcycle maintenance, but I know a few things about how they run. There isn’t a time I can remember when I witnessed a Harley rider working on fuel/oil mixture.
HD 2 strokes hahahahahahahaaha are you kiddin´??? hahahaha what a crap of salesman, the $tealer should fire him for talkin´ that crap hahahaha
I understand what your saying, I’ve heard the same @ times when @ a shop or hanging @ a coffee shop……
Its pretty sad when you’re trying to upsell your product that you don’t have your facts straight. That is why most people don’t trust sales persons to this day.
As to your rant, I agree with you on knowing your bike as well as enjoying the riding experience. It is more enjoyable knowing both.
Back when I was a youngster, but experienced enough to know better, I listened to a Bridgestone (2-stroke street bike)owner/seller rave about the “high-lift” cams in his carburetors that made his bike faster than anything else! A good lesson in learning to run, not walk away!
Bear,
I like the two-stroke/four-stroke conversation. I remember years ago a friend and I listening in on a hilarious exchange between some co-workers that culminated with the bunch of us going out to the parking lot at breaktime, gathering around the 3-cylinder, 2-stroke Kawasaki in question, listening to a horrific piston slap symphony, and then hearing the grave pronouncement from the wise one “Yep–you’ve got some serious valvetrain problems–probably a bad lifter.” Dave and I just looked at each other, kept our mouths shut amongst our elders, and went back inside.
Jess
Bear,
Where have you been man? I have been riding the same Honda Magna since 1988 and I have had to endure years of the fake biker BULL! I have ridden my bike in almost all 50 States and it is the same everywhere, but it looks like it is changing because the second best reason to ride is coming back NECESSITY. Thus, there are all kinds of bikes running around out there not just the “Wild Hog” on their trailer queen’s. Please keep the faith it is changing on the road and the “WILD HOG’S” are losing ground. Soon they will go back to their Roush Mustangs and Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am’s (Whatever?).
Ride Forever,
Daren
Bear:
Good Article. I don’t understand why someone would want to look like a biker without being one. I don’t know why the biker image is so popular either, considering how people vote. Most people vote for bigger and bigger government so they must not have the independent philosophy most bikers share.
Maybe I’m just thinking too much.
wow, so the Harley two-strokes are getting a bum rap from all-knowing sales guys now eh? doesn’t he know that his commission would be much more if he pushed more of those two-stroker hogs instead of Hondas??
i’ve heard people talk about cylinders in this way before but never someone that is in an official position like a sales guy. it’s usually someone coming up to me questioning me about my bike that has never rode before.
cheers!
c.
I agree “completely” with your rant! I see too many would be motorcycle riders milling around biker bars, bike shows, and also some bike shops. You never see these people with their own machines and it seems that maybe it’s the economy thats keeping these people from owning their own. However they do seem to enjoy hanging with the “real” bikers just to feel like they fit in some how. It is quite amusing how quickly they move on when you try and talk shop with them. I have enjoyed rebuilding my 1973 Kawasaki Z1900 which mainly was due to low cash flow at one time, but now it’s a pleasure to get inside this machine now that the fear is gone of thinking I can’t do this. There is no better teacher than experience and just jumping in and see what makes it tick. Also there is no greater feeling than being able to say “I did it myself”. My congrat’s go out to the guys who take care of their own. These are the people who are the true bikers in my book.
Bear I agree with your “rant”. Been riding bikes since my teens, ’bout 40 years now and built them all except my “new” 1984 Electraglide. Everything from BSAs,Triumphs, Royal Enfield to Harley 45s,a Sportster, Panhead, Shovel and my favorite a 1940 UL. Even though I am mechanically inclined as I was raised on a farm, anyone can change their sparkplugs, oil and even carb jets. Nothing like the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment and pride in doing your own work. The “new” biker is someone who can plunk down some cash and ride out a biker, completely outfitted to look the part, by the dealer. I have seen this thing promoted by certain dealers(Harley) just to sell a bike. Those same dealers don’t seem to be too helpful to guys like me who own “old” bikes and do their own work. I’ve had some recent bad experiences. Thankfully not all dealers are like this, but it is a bad trend. I recently did a 3000 mile trip on my 1984 without a problem or worry as I know it inside and out by doing my own work. Gotta rejet that thirsty S&S carb though! Ride on…Bart
Obviously you are offended by folks who don’t fit your image of a biker. Well in my opinion, a person’s look has nothing to do with riding. Cloths, tattoos, appearance has nothing do with the experience of a rider and their passenger on his or her bike experiencing the road, sights, smells, temperatures, the torque of an engine pulling out of a curve or the weather captivating them when they ride. Forget the bike, forget the greasy tough image, or the wrenching; riding the road is what being a biker is about. Foul language isn’t the measure of a biker either.
I’m in 100% agreement with the sentiment, but I feel kind of sorry for the guy doing the talking, because he IS being overheard by people who know better and marking himself as an uninformed “wannabe.” On-the-other-hand, if he is too mentally lazy to do his homework, he probably deserves the humiliation.
Just one thing though, I have not before nor do I presently consider being a motorcyclist a “sport.” To me it is a way of life, essential to my existence, from which I derive my identity.
Quite agree. My ride is a 1978 Honda CX500, a nostalgia bike I bought off ebay when I reentered riding after a 25 year hiatus. I had owned one before amd liked it’s quirks. The guy I bought it from was honest in telling me it had a noise and when I finally got tired of the vibraton as well I took it apart and found the thumb pad on a rocker arm was worn off and the cam chain tensioner was broke.
Point is, it was a lot of fun puzzling that all out and fixing the problem. After puttig it back together an hitting the start buttom and having it fire up was a real sense of accomplishment. I was pretty proud of myself until shifted it into second and then couldn’t shift any more. (I didn’t index the shift lever right and had to take it apart again to figure that out. It was frustrating but like you said, I learned something new and important.)
I like riding because you have more, should I say it, intimate and focused relationship with the machine and the road. Working on your own bike strengethens that bond.
i started riding 40 years ago when all bikes were unreliable and you either fixed them by the roadside or rolled them into the drainage ditch and walked away.
Nowadays motorcycles are so finely designed and crafted that it is possible to own and ride one long term without even knowing how a box end wrench works. That ain’t necessarily a bad thing.
I will also say that I restore old rice burners as a hobby and knowing how to synch carbs and the relationship between point gap and timing is still personally satisfying. That said if I’m going to California from Texas I’ll ride my Honda ST1300 and leave the box end behind thank you.
As regards faux bikers…posers is posers and if that’s all the reality you’ll ever experience too bad so sad.
Right on Bear!
I completely agree with you, people should be willing to share and learn and experience, and be honest about their knowledge.
Have a great summer.
Adrien
From Toronto
‘77 Honda CB750F
‘90 BMW K100LT
I think most, not all, sales persons are BSers that’s what they do and if you don’t research what you want, especially with the ease of the in old interweb you deserve everything you get. I started riding a KX50 at 6 and never looked backed. At 11 I started really wrenching on an old WWII Harley my grandpa brought back and so on and so forth. What I see today is that the fake bikers are the majority and the real bikers are the minority. With the warranties on the new bikes you can’t do anything, even change the oil or you it voids the warranty and when you pay 30 grand for a bike you just take it into the shop. I build and ride café racers so I’m the guy fixing his own bike.
I live in Mountain View ar.Its a little place in the ozark mtns.A few years ago I was about the only rider here and rode all over the west and Mexico and was really thought if as odd.Now we are covered up with newbes and wannabes that look at me and my old bike with pitty.Twenty five grand just to show up on the square and pose.They are crashing and dieing regularly here in the mtns.I had better stop beforI really get going.
peteklink
Yo’ Bear,
Hope all is well is with you. I’m good.
I am a Bike Maintenance LEARNER who enjoys working on my two Suzuki bikes, a 79′ GS-550L Four and an 80′ GS-450L Twin, and I defy that idiot you wrote about to identify, with his eyes closed which is the twin. I appreciate your comments on this matter and agree with your summary on the incident. Some folks need (for lack of some self-respect) to pretend that they are something they’re not and get a weird sense of false pre-eminence by voicing lies – that they believe gets a listener to look up to them – to whomever is ignorant enough to listen. Keep up the good work…
Regards, Tareq
The guy probably said 2 stroke when he meant two cylinders. I don’t know much about the newer Hondas but I like the older 4 cylinder Hondas because of how smooth they ride, especially the shaft driven ones.
right said fred! I’m from Qc City and we are invaded with baby-boomer who thinks they’re biker because they have the money to buy new bike and they don’t haven know how to ride a paddle bike.
right said
David Boily
Have you read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? I just bought my 79′ KZ650 (9000 original miles) about a month and a half ago. I’m 29 and it’s my first bike. I like the classic standard look, and I could have gone out and bought a new Ducati GT1000, or a Triumph Bonneville – but what’s the fun in having a bike you don’t have to fix? Beyond changing the oil and brakes on my car I’ve never seriously wrenched…and it does take a bit of learning…but there’s something about working on your bike that brings you closer to the machine, making the ride all the more personal.