RustyKnight In: Newton Aycliffe
Posts: 2462
Karma:
Alice just grow a beard, buy a waistcoat and you've cracked it lol
I don't think it's sticking a label on people, just their 'appearance' its no different to calling people 'suits'. I wear a shirt and tie by day and hang my belly outta my leathers at night, not a pretty sight but it 'goes' with whatever i'm doing. I don't care whether i look like a biker or a suit as long as I look like what i'm doing. Riding my bike in a suit would make people perceive me as a t**t and sitting in an office in bike gear would make me them perceive me as t**t and quite rightly so. If you're riding or chillin in your waistcoat and T-shirt then that's what you're doing. I do the same but T-shirt, jeans n trainers is what feels right for me!
Vinnie... couldn't agree more. As an example, a 'biker' might join a 'Bike Club' thinking that they are 'free' (and everything else that they think goes with being a 'biker')...but they are not 'free'... they live by rules of the club...
Having recently left a 'Bike Club' because I didn't want to live in the confines of rules and etiquette, I am trying to just be 'me'.... ride my bike, party without fear of another club disliking who I am talking to etc... and it is refreshing to say the least.
RustyKnight In: Newton Aycliffe
Posts: 2462
Karma:
Disagree there Vinnie, nothing to do with superiority, more to do with representing how you feel about your passions in life. As I said earlier its not about labeling PEOPLE, just appearances. If you don't want to be called a biker, don't dress like one! If you wear a skinhead you shouldn't see anything wrong with people 'labeling' you as a skinhead. I don't feel superior at work wearing a tie I just know I need to wear it to do my job properly, absolutely nowt to do with feeling 'SUPERIOR' mate.
Also agree... being a 'biker' in no way is about 'superiority'. I choose to dress as a 'biker' because I ride a bike lol... I do have the waistcoat with me rally badges etc etc...but it (in my head) does not put me above any other person, it simply makes a statement as to who I identify with.
RustyKnight In: Newton Aycliffe
Posts: 2462
Karma:
cissy, looking at your pic i'd shake your hand and see that you have a real passion about bikes and all that it brings. the last thing I'd think about is your superiority although a little envious of all your badges no doubt, each a symbol of a great time me thinks! (Matt if I can't get my emoticons working i'm gonna cry and leave the site lol)
Dont know ... dont care..... Dont know many with bikes which im so pleased to see s many women on this site.
PS. I have loved my bikes all of them......But im olde now & i will only ride in the dry....So what am i ?
I guess I'm a biker on the bike and not when I'm not, but agree with Julie on this one, I'm here cos I like bikes, and most of the folk I meet through it are really nice folk.
I simply walk away from conversations where people who have been doing it for years make daft comments about others who are not bikers cos they have the wrong bike, or choose to only ride it in summer, or don't go to rallies. That sort of bollox goes against the grain with me cos biking is anything you want it to be, and that's why i like it cos you meet loads of different people.
The one thing I don't get is where people who don't ride motorbikes, there's a woman I know who wears a T-shirt saying "15K and 15 minutes doesn't make you a biker". Her and her fella ride a trike. I think 15K's worth of Ducati is more of a bike mesel, trikes are only bikes as far as I'm concerned when there's a biker who can't physically ride a bike any more - other than that they are convertible reliant robins.
Well, the waistcoat has changed this weekend lol.... for me, its all about having FUN with like minded people...end of. I love my bike, I love my 'biker' mates, and that's it really... but in addition to being a 'biker' I am also a Mum, Musician etc and never the twain shall meet etc
RustyKnight In: Newton Aycliffe
Posts: 2462
Karma:
Totally agree stew,
People that scoff at you for not being an old hand are just that 'old'. If we're a true biking community we should respect each others choices without judging character!
Howay cissy, get the pics up of the new waistcoat, could do with a laugh :-))
Sorry RK, I've just seen your post about appereance and I wasn't referring to that, just about pigeon holing people and the tendency to put people in little boxes and define them by those parameters and
Interesting thread this.
My take on this is that I ain't a biker, I'm a motorcyclist!
I ride everyday. I commute, travel, have fun and even holiday on my bike. I do around 20k miles a year on the bike and less than 5k in the car. I'm proud of my riding and constantly wish to improve it.
However, I don't go for the typical "biker" lifestyle. I don't go to rallies, don't enjoy camping, ain't bothered about going to rock concerts or similar and more importantly I ain't bothered about the whole typical "biker" image. Nowt wrong with it, just it ain't for me.
On that basis, although I would never be offended or want to correct someone for calling me a biker, I do consider myself a motorcyclist.
RustyKnight In: Newton Aycliffe
Posts: 2462
Karma:
geoffb, never mind the mileage, you've got a beard, you're a biker mate lol
On a serious note tho you're right in categorising a 'biker' as a lifestyle and nothing to do with your mode of transport!
Mmmm interesting comments Stewie,personally i've never heard anyone refering to a trike as a bike but i do get your point,i think.
To me a trike is preferable to a car but more versatile and sometimes more practical than a bike.However i don't think any of us have the right to pass judgement on fellow 'bikers'.
Like it or not peeps people will always hang labels on you,they always have and always will and we all do it ourselves.Never called anyone a chav based on their clothing,a boy racer based on their car or even a wanker based on their driving style?
Point of interest here,if you object to being called a biker is being a member of 'bikermatch' not a wee bitty contrary
bluesbiker In: Birmingham in th
Posts: 2510
Karma:
Pehaps you should be askin matt why he called it bikermatch cass. Probably as i would use it. as a generic term for all people connected to or involved with motorcyles. Certainly joe public would see anyone sat on a bike as a biker.
Motorcyclistmatch doesn't really have that ring to it.
![Biker or Not? (4) - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8mobileLQ.jpg)
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