My answer is "no, not really".

I'm going to make an analogy with the Hippy movement. I'd say the early hippies were rebels who wanted to break all of the rules. Today, hippiedom, is largely a fashion statement as much as anything else.

I think that motorcyclists have probably taken a similar path. As motorcycles became more reliable the need to fix them yourself diminished, and as the hurdle to own and operate one shrank, so did the bond between riders.

Is owning a motorcycle today a lifestyle choice, or a fashion statement? It seems to be slowly, but steadily, shifting towards the right.

I parked my Harley at Lucky's last week next to a Road King covered in skulls. The owner was a very guy who had bought the bike as scrap and rebuilt it from scratch. It's always the great irony isn't it; massive guy with tattoos in a jean vest and bandana on his head. Our stereotypical bad guy, but he's super nice and friendly. He was a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam, so rebuilding the bike was easy for him. Not to be overly judgmental, but he seemed like the real deal. I felt like a poser by comparison.

I'll make Burningman comparisons too. When the event was 5000 people, there were real bonds of family. We were really all in it together. As it grew, and become less dangerous, people had to rely on each other less, and that feeling faded. Today, while some of it remains, burningman is more of a fashion statement or a party, than a real community.

So, there are three examples. I think as a communities grow and particularly if the hurdles and dangerous to joining are reduced, then the feeling of family diminishes. And with that comes the cliquishness between members and judgmentalism you're speaking of.

But as to Mugdely, I do think us motorcycles are still something of a family. It is a nice feeling to wave at other riders when you see them on the highway.

And, I'm amused that whole separate sets of rules sometimes apply to us. The first week I had my bike (after being out of the country for years), I parked blatantly illegally at Home Depot, pulling up on the sidewalk right next to the front door. There is a security guard standing right there. I give him a questioning look, assuming he's going to tell me to move my bike. Instead he tells me, "Don't worry, I'll watch it for you." Hahahaha....

Motorcycles rule.

If people wish to judge you, that's their problem, not yours.

Dave:
> This has little to do with motorcycling and EVERYTHING to do with The Internets.

Hmmmm.... well, along with that, I'm on hdtalking. The moderators are downright fascist about it.

They'll ban you for having two accounts, for swearing, or for even questioning the moderators about their actions.

www.hdtalking.com/rules.php

It is a very bizarre dichotomy between the dangerous rebel image of Harley riders, and a web forum where vulgarity is absolutely forbidden.

Even among the so-called cool and long-time riders, that willingness to judge, ridicule and be snarky prevails. Such thinking puts a false face on so-called altruistic actions like helping a stranger on the side of the road. For instance, one rider recounted this recent story: He came upon a younger rider who'd crash. The younger rider allegedly had drunk a few beers at lunch and most likely had taken too fast an unfamiliar and rough road. Seeing this injured rider, in his torn jeans and t-shirt, the older rider's first words to him were about being ATGATT.

Why the "holier-than-thou" attitude? Why no camaraderie and a sense of BTDT? So what if the kid was ignorant of his easy vulnerability? Wasn't he alive to learn from his mistake?

As to your image ... A fuckwad on a motorcycle is a fuckwad at the computer keyboard too?

Well, that's what this thread is about: Fatuous and predictable conformity.

lol

You go, girl!

You go! I've done 2 camping trips by myself this summer and am planning a few more. The first one was very spooky, on the beach during the fourth of july where the only other people were drunk boys in trucks with explosives. I was happy to wake up several hours later unharmed, bike intact. The second was much more fun, I paid the fee and stayed in a public use campsite. Its not that I wouldn't love company I just don't know that many riders, and don't have much time to work around other people's schedules.

They didn't mean Ballsy as an insult, hon. And I just did a few 400-mile trips solo, on my Harley.