Met a Harley guy today

[Chuck in Indiana]

Sitting in traffic on the PCH. He was lane splitting, and pulled up beside me.. said, "Hey, Indiana.. how you doing?"  I said, Pretty damn good. I'm on my scooter sitting in the sun." He said, Yeah, what's not to like?" "Well, I dont much care for the traffic." He just laughed and said, Gotta take the bitter with the sweet.."
Nice guy.

[radguzzi]

You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle with a name that begins with H or M G or Y or T or B or...

Cool story Chuck.

Best,
Rob

[oldbike54]

 The smile-and-wag-your-tail method almost always works doesn't it Chuckie 

 Dusty

[guzziownr]

Had a similar encounter coming South on the Eldo from the Maine rally this year.
Traffic grinds to a halt on I-95 in Mass and I maneuver up next to a Harley guy.

GG:  How do they feel about lane splitting around here?
HG:  Truth be told sir, they frown upon it.
GG:  Frown upon it, do they?
HG:  Yes indeed, frown upon it most seriously.

Thus began a 45-minute conversation punctuated with sudden lane changes, loud exhaust sounds and much laughter.  it was indeed a beautiful day and we chatted about nothing important until we had to part ways.  He was going to a classic car show and I was headed home to NY.  I was tempted to peel off with him and see the show but time was not on my side and I had miles to go before my sleep.

[Arizona Wayne]

A few months ago I was riding my Aprilia 500 scooter and I caught up to a couple HD riders on Rte. 66 which I live on north of Kingman, Az. We went back an forth on who was in front until we had to stop @ a red light.  Since we get a lot of tourists passing thru I asked them where they were from after they complimented me on my scooter.  Come to find out they were from S. America and the HDs were loaners.    A lot of foreigners ride HDs around here in the summer, renting them in Las Vegas 120 miles away.  But these guys rented them from another place.  1 of them spoke English, the other 1 didn't.

[normzone]

   I was tempted to peel off with him and see the show but time was not on my side and I had miles to go before my sleep./quote]

And promises to keep ?

[rider33]

my general impression is that Harley guys tend to like any bike that is not trying to pretend it is something it is not (which is funny actually because during the bubble in particular quite a few Harley guys were trying to pretend they were something they were not).  Guzzi's  tend to be respected because say what you will about them, they are clearly not an imitation of anything, they have a rich and varied history that is all there own.  Both companies have endured good and bad times and have tended to follow their own path.  They also have made some incredibly important and iconic machines. 

[rider33]

A few months ago I was riding my Aprilia 500 scooter and I caught up to a couple HD riders on Rte. 66 which I live on north of Kingman, Az. We went back an forth on who was in front until we had to stop @ a red light.  Since we get a lot of tourists passing thru I asked them where they were from after they complimented me on my scooter.  Come to find out they were from S. America and the HDs were loaners.    A lot of foreigner ride HDs around here in the summer, renting them in Las Vegas 120 miles away.  But these guys rented them from another place.  1 of them spoke English, the other 1 didn't.

About 10 years ago I was riding across US 50 in Nevada on a King.  I pulled into a desolate gas station (not a lot of stations on that road, or anything else really) and there were two Electras sitting there so I went up to talk to them.  Both were tourists from Germany on rented Harley's, they were having the time of their lives...

[Gliderjohn]

Have run into German riders a couple of times...tough group to keep up with in several ways!
GliderJohn

[lucian]

I didn't know a Harley could catch a scooter.

[Tom]

A lot of the Euro riders want to experience going straight at interstate speeds. 

[bad Chad]

Good stuff Chuck. 

[Moto]

I hope we've all had good experiences with Harley riders. I bet some of them tell each other they've had good experiences with us!

There's lots of non-posing motorcycle riders on lots of different bikes. Nice.

[LowRyter]

About 10 years ago I was riding across US 50 in Nevada on a King.  I pulled into a desolate gas station (not a lot of stations on that road, or anything else really) and there were two Electras sitting there so I went up to talk to them.  Both were tourists from Germany on rented Harley's, they were having the time of their lives...

I ran into a Harley rental guy from Portugal and an Okie from Muskogee.  You have a 50/50 chance guessing who is who.

Crazy stuff on Okla Rt 66.

[oldbike54]

 ^^^

 

 Dusty

[LowRyter]

^^^

 

 Dusty

yeah, betcha you don't know which one.

[oldbike54]

yeah, betcha you don't know which one.

 The goofy looking one ?

 Dusty

[Arizona Wayne]

About 11 years ago Judy & I were camping/touring on our CX100 just before you get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon and had breakfast with some Euro. riders on rented Harleys (forget which country) that morning.  They were all friendly unlike most Harley riders we run into in the States.

[Rough Edge racing]

 I  have seen my share of arrogant riders on European  and Japanese bikes.....

[Unkept]

Nice story Chuck. Good start to my Saturday morning... 

[twowheeladdict]

You guys are too funny! 

Harley Riders around here do more charity work than all the other brand riders combined. 

The BMW riders are the snobs.

I guess it all depends on the makeup of the workforce in your area regarding the varied personalities you may run across. 

[giusto]

Chuck

Great story

and a conversation starter....

Everyone has a different background/reason/admiration/political stance/faith /color/genetic makeup...on and on...the common thread here is motorcycles...a particular breed of Italian motorcycle.
Labels??
Harley Guys, BMW Gals, Euro's, Guzzistas....you get it... and lumping them into groups then attributing blanket characteristics to them that extend beyond the motorcycle(s) they ride is totally ridiculous.
lots of great folks out there...some not so much at times. I hope we all never become a product of our preconceptions and labels.

[Triple Jim]

I didn't know a Harley could catch a scooter.

It depends on the particulars:

https://youtu.be/HYYBYGFI8kE

[lucian]

It depends on the particulars:

https://youtu.be/HYYBYGFI8kE

Hilarious,  no Harley going to touch that bad boy. 

[Lannis]

Labels??
Harley Guys, BMW Gals, Euro's, Guzzistas....you get it... and lumping them into groups then attributing blanket characteristics to them that extend beyond the motorcycle(s) they ride is totally ridiculous.

But we use characteristics such as sex, race, clothing, and what kind of motorcycle we ride to guide our INITIAL reaction to people every day.   We sort of live by it.

A friend you've never met except on the Internet (you don't even know what kind of bike he rides) says "Hey, some of us are going to meet at the Sheetz on Main Street 0800 Saturday morning, take a sporty ride up into the mountains on the Gut of the Dragon,  and stop at a great French bakery for lunch.  See ya!"

You show up at the Sheetz, and there's TWO groups there.   One is a group of guys on Harleys in the official Outlaw Non-Conformist Uniform with plastic beanies, and the other is a group on Ducati sport bikes in one and two piece leather gear in full helmets.

Which group do you ride up to and say "Hi!" in anticipation of a ride?   Careful ... because when you answer, it means you have made a judgment call based on "Appearances".    And because they are "groups", a little "lumping" and "blanket" is happening too, even if you don't explicitly SAY "those guys don't look like they'd enjoy a French bakery ....

Or someone says "Meet the CFO of Hideocon on the sidewalk outside the bank" and that's all you know.   You show up, and there's TWO people there - one dreadlocked black guy sitting on the sidewalk with a brown paper bag in his hand, leaning against the building, singing to himself, and there's one 50-year old woman in a business skirt and blazer.    Which one did you step up and introduce yourself to, and how did you make that call?   By lumping characteristics of CFOs together?   By making a blanket judgment call based on clothes?

These are extreme examples, but let's not virtuously pretend that we don't ALL make judgment calls based on appearances and groups, extended to individuals.   We do it every day.   We CAN make a considered decision to treat the guy sitting on the sidewalk with the same respect as a human being with which we treat the CFO, and that's what makes the difference.   

Lannis

[Lannis]

It depends on the particulars:

https://youtu.be/HYYBYGFI8kE

Something ain't right about that little two-smoker ... the front end looks like a Vespa 50 but that's not a 50cc motor pushing THAT rambunctious ride down the road ... !

Lannis

[giusto]

But we use characteristics such as sex, race, clothing, and what kind of motorcycle we ride to guide our INITIAL reaction to people every day.   We sort of live by it.

A friend you've never met except on the Internet (you don't even know what kind of bike he rides) says "Hey, some of us are going to meet at the Sheetz on Main Street 0800 Saturday morning, take a sporty ride up into the mountains on the Gut of the Dragon,  and stop at a great French bakery for lunch.  See ya!"

You show up at the Sheetz, and there's TWO groups there.   One is a group of guys on Harleys in the official Outlaw Non-Conformist Uniform with plastic beanies, and the other is a group on Ducati sport bikes in one and two piece leather gear in full helmets.

Which group do you ride up to and say "Hi!" in anticipation of a ride?   Careful ... because when you answer, it means you have made a judgment call based on "Appearances".    And because they are "groups", a little "lumping" and "blanket" is happening too, even if you don't explicitly SAY "those guys don't look like they'd enjoy a French bakery ....

Or someone says "Meet the CFO of Hideocon on the sidewalk outside the bank" and that's all you know.   You show up, and there's TWO people there - one dreadlocked black guy sitting on the sidewalk with a brown paper bag in his hand, leaning against the building, singing to himself, and there's one 50-year old woman in a business skirt and blazer.    Which one did you step up and introduce yourself to, and how did you make that call?   By lumping characteristics of CFOs together?   By making a blanket judgment call based on clothes?

These are extreme examples, but let's not virtuously pretend that we don't ALL make judgment calls based on appearances and groups, extended to individuals.   We do it every day.   We CAN make a considered decision to treat the guy sitting on the sidewalk with the same respect as a human being with which we treat the CFO, and that's what makes the difference.   

Lannis

points well taken.

my answer?

as I ride up... who ever is the closest....the first group I come to and I ask if one of them is this new friend...I hope I know his/her name...I would have asked via internet. If no one responds or knows the name I'd go to the next gathering of bikes and ask.

[lucian]

But we use characteristics such as sex, race, clothing, and what kind of motorcycle we ride to guide our INITIAL reaction to people every day.   We sort of live by it.

A friend you've never met except on the Internet (you don't even know what kind of bike he rides) says "Hey, some of us are going to meet at the Sheetz on Main Street 0800 Saturday morning, take a sporty ride up into the mountains on the Gut of the Dragon,  and stop at a great French bakery for lunch.  See ya!"

You show up at the Sheetz, and there's TWO groups there.   One is a group of guys on Harleys in the official Outlaw Non-Conformist Uniform with plastic beanies, and the other is a group on Ducati sport bikes in one and two piece leather gear in full helmets.

Which group do you ride up to and say "Hi!" in anticipation of a ride?   Careful ... because when you answer, it means you have made a judgment call based on "Appearances".    And because they are "groups", a little "lumping" and "blanket" is happening too, even if you don't explicitly SAY "those guys don't look like they'd enjoy a French bakery ....

Or someone says "Meet the CFO of Hideocon on the sidewalk outside the bank" and that's all you know.   You show up, and there's TWO people there - one dreadlocked black guy sitting on the sidewalk with a brown paper bag in his hand, leaning against the building, singing to himself, and there's one 50-year old woman in a business skirt and blazer.    Which one did you step up and introduce yourself to, and how did you make that call?   By lumping characteristics of CFOs together?   By making a blanket judgment call based on clothes?

These are extreme examples, but let's not virtuously pretend that we don't ALL make judgment calls based on appearances and groups, extended to individuals.   We do it every day.   We CAN make a considered decision to treat the guy sitting on the sidewalk with the same respect as a human being with which we treat the CFO, and that's what makes the difference.   

Lannis

I understand the point Lannis is making however, I think it is a little out of context for this discussion. We all poke fun at other brands here as this is a guzzi forum after all. I don't think that insinuates any bias towards a given group. We are all sub sets of one group , motorcyclist. The rest is just entertainment and sometimes bad humor maybe.  I think most here are way beyond judging a book by it's cover, or current ride. I poke at the Harley crowd often a I get it back ten fold  on many occasions as most of my friends ride Harley's. Some people may choose to be easily offended, I see that as a personal choice.  The old saying, " If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the whatever"    dave

[Triple Jim]

...take a sporty ride up into the mountains on the Gut of the Dragon...

I've ridden the tail and we rode the back together.  Now you tell me of another even more visceral road I need to put on the list! 

[Guzzistajohn]

What kind of oil did he have in the hawg? Let’s discuss a subject that’s never been covered here