Brettafett
One Too Many
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Theres also a cool old A-2 worn by John Stockwell in that 1985 Sci Fi 'My Science Project'... Can't find any decent pics.
It used to be, if you saw some one my age on a motorcycle, you knew he was a grizzly old rider! I have been riding since the 60s, only a short time off to learn to fly. I have four Harley's 1930 to 2002 and the bottom end to a 38 Knucklehead. I also have a bunch more, from a 1912 Indian through a 72 CB750, and three Triumphs. I just meant a father son team on their full dress Harley's, in the midst of a 10,000 mile trip to hit up every Capital, they joked, they have not figure out how to ride to Hawaii yet! The father had just traded his former Harley in with over 80,000 miles. It is my experience that most riders, regardless of bike make, are nothing but posers. Don't even get me started on the new breed of British bike collectors. Pushing your Norton on and off a trailer doesn't count, neither does riding to the pub once a week!
Hmm..well..I put quite a few miles on my bike per year..but at my leisure...my type of enjoyment. Don't care to ride only from pub to pub or around town much..but do like the open road or back roads traveling and stopping in small towns along the way. Don't care to trailer anywhere and don't consider myself posing to an excess...but I also have no desire to be an endurance rider either. However..many riders enjoy riding the way they do it..and fun & enjoyment is still there no matter your style. I've been riding since the 60's as well and been involved in or seen many riding styles over the years. At one time I would ride for many miles with friends and even sleep on the ground in a tent. Ah..but no more..not that hardcore. Gimme a room with AC and maybe even a pool to cool off. Nothing to prove here anymore. Most often I'd rather have the Wife on the back whether anyone else tags along or not. All I need is one dependable bike that performs with the character that I enjoy more than all others. What counts to many of us out here is just enjoying it..the way we like to do it. Everyone else's mileage may vary.
HD
You missed my point. I am agreeing with you. Not all Harley riders are posers, like some of the above comments stated. Some of us ride ours!
I don't want to derail the thread, but I do want to respond to your comment.
There is nothing wrong with discovering biking at a later stage in life at all. I think if everyone tried riding a motorbike, they would be much more considerate car drivers.
I'm just taking a pop at a certain type of man who hits 'around forty', buys a heavy Harley as his first bike, and a load of shiny new leather, and then teeters around town, with no confidence or safety awareness, until the first time he drops it, scuffs his leathers, sells the bike, and spends the rest of his life saying 'when I was a biker'.
These guys are posers, who want to buy into the lifestyle, so that they can park outside Starbucks and drink lattes whilst imagining that 20 something chicks dig their 'bad boy' image.
Oh, and they are snobs, because they never nod or wave to sportsbike riders.
View attachment 18586
Actor James Levine in the Michael J. Fox movie "Teen Wolf" (1985) wearing what looks like an original A-2.
There's more than 13 of em'
It is a shame Harley Davidson or Indian dont make replicas of these vintage shirts and sweaters, or at least licence one of the enthusiast replica vintage clothing makers to produce something worth buying.
I think Johnson Motors does 13 Rebels shirts and sweaters.
HD is all about selling a lifestyle/image/whatever to overweight overpaid baby boomers. These people have no interest in heritage stuff.
We always called them "Hell's Accountants."
There is nothing wrong with someone discovering a great hobby later in life. Riding is a fantastic past-time. Trying something new in your late 30s to 50s does not a mid-life crisis make.
Maybe not really missing it. I've had friends who work all week yet manage to enjoy just a short ride to have dinner or a drink after changing out of a suit and tie into something more casual or bike appropriate. At least they allow themselves that certain freedom from the rat race on occasion. Then some feel a patched vest..boots..and maybe even a doo-rag offer them more relief from the daily grind..and what they are expected to wear every work day is really the 'costume'.
I think that's where the negative stereotype starts to come in... when people are buying into a "costume" that is perceived as "not really them". Me, well... if that's how they feel comfortable, good luck to them - go for it. It's the few who want to pretend to be bad boys and who form their own little gangs with mocked-up versions of colours and such. I can completely see how insulting that would be to anyone who has ever had to 'earn' their own (I'm seeing echoes here of the debate over whether it's "permissible" to wear rank / medal ribbons / et cetera on repro jackets). I'm reminded of that film Wild Hogs; for a mainstream, Hollywood, safe, family-film type affair, it actually dealt quite intelligently with a lot of these sort of questions of identity and didn't, as memory serves, fall into easy, twee solutions.
Still not seen that. Great jackets, though - and I love the pipe.
Don't. It's not a movie. I've seen movies, and Red Tails isn't it.
I haven't seen Red Tails. But if it's anything like Pearl Harbor and is loaded with computer generated imagery, count me out. Cheapens the movies IMO.
As a kid, I used to love watching the Black Sheep Squadron tv series. They used stock WWII flying footage for their dogfight scenes. Or any old war flick, where I knew the cockpit scene was shot from the ground, but it was in good taste and there was an art to it. I much prefer that to anything generated by a computer. It's not authentic in the least.
I just love Wild Hogs. Reminds me of so many riders I see at bike shows
Don't. It's not a movie. I've seen movies, and Red Tails isn't it.