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greggr107 said:
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69bossnine said:
Would look right at home in a garage next to a Hummer and a custom Harley. That's not a compliment....
What's wrong with a custom Harley and a Hummer? Maybe a "pimped out" custom Hummer, yes cheesy.. but a custom Harley is really in a whole different arena of lifestyle, as motorcycles and the Harley tradition are more conducive to heavy personalization for shows, runs, individuality etc.. For instance, almost everybody on a Harley will get aftermarket exhaust once their bikes are broken in, it's the Harley style and attitude.. You will almost NEVER see an authentic HD with the stock exhaust.. a few mods, chrome and paint job sets 'em apart, more power to 'em imo, and not cheesy in my book.
Well, let's agree to disagree:
A bike that makes more noise than a pro-stocker, but is slower than mud (in motorcycle context)
A bike and its riders that resemble a style and attitude that rarely has a damn thing to do with the rider's "real life" exploits or careers, and much more to do with playing dress-up to look like a rough & tumble Hell's Angel, which they aren't, by any stretch of the imagination..
It's all just posing, for the most part, with the exception of that withering breed of actual true bikers, from which the whole damn "lifestyle and attitude" derived. And those guys aren't riding around on the $60,000 custom choppers, no, they can't afford those from their wages at the welding shop, or the saw mill, or the body shop. They're fixing and patching together the old beaters that uptown yuppies wouldn't be caught dead on, nor would they be capable of repairing on the side of the road.
I'm sorry, but when I see a 45 year old attorney, 160 pounds soaking wet, who couldn't bench press his own body weight to save his own life, in a sleeveless leather vest and boutique tattoos, pulling up to a downtown bar with his lipo'd and siliconed wife dangling off the back, on a bike that can't handle, rides like a brick, can't stop, and is ridiculously loud, but can be destroyed by a 600cc scooter, I'm sorry, but that is posing posing posing...
The whole Harley lifestyle is a form of escapism, is it not? And THAT I can respect and understand!!! I'm sure they're all having a blast, and that's super by me!! BUT, at least be honest about it. If somebody can't laugh at themself a bit, in full leathers, and earrings, and tats, and doo-rag, then they're on my poser list...
Just like anything else, not everybody can be tossed into the same ring. I wouldn't mind having a V-Rod, it's a cool looking bike that actually might be a decent riding bike to boot. But you wouldn't catch me dead playing "dress-up" now that I owned a Harley.
So when I referred to the Hummer and the Harley, I was really referring to those folks who like to dress up like somebody they aren't, or jump in an intimidating vehicle that does not reflect who they are, and act tough, when they aren't. Dressing up to a level of overkill, that's what I see in Harleys riders, Hummers, and that Gemballa thingy. That's the relationship.
Keep it real, yo...