I've been partial to people associated with BMW motorcycles for years

[twowings]

I heard on the Internet they eat their young...

[Huzo]

I heard on the Internet they eat their young...

That's because they know deep down, they shouldn't be allowed to breed.

[Lannis]

Lannis, I have to ask ........ imagine .... you just pulled into a vintage Triumph rally on one of your vintage BSAs.  Couple of riders you've never met express interest in your bike.  And you say 'here's the keys (or equivalent) ".......... ride it and let me know what you think."

It's one of the great pleasures of going to rallies to do exactly that.   

If my bikes were women, they'd have an ugly name based on the number of people who have ridden them.    The scuff marks on my M21 are from being dropped by someone else who was trying it out ... but I see them as badges of honor.   (I think that's the only one that's been dropped when someone borrowed it).   

At my first Guzzi rally, I offered to let the guys who were lending me their bikes to ride the BSA, but they backed off when they looked where the shifter and brake were .... !

No, I have no problem with offering test rides on any of my bikes to anyone who looks like they'd be interested.   It always comes out positive!

Lannis

[ohiorider]

It's one of the great pleasures of going to rallies to do exactly that.   

If my bikes were women, they'd have an ugly name based on the number of people who have ridden them.    The scuff marks on my M21 are from being dropped by someone else who was trying it out ... but I see them as badges of honor.   (I think that's the only one that's been dropped when someone borrowed it).   

At my first Guzzi rally, I offered to let the guys who were lending me their bikes to ride the BSA, but they backed off when they looked where the shifter and brake were .... !

No, I have no problem with offering test rides on any of my bikes to anyone who looks like they'd be interested.   It always comes out positive!

Lannis

You're quite generous.

Bob

[boatdetective]

I don't know if it's the type of bike they are riding or if it is the "rally type".  The people here have been very helpful and outgoing. However, I went to the Guzzi national in NH and, with the exception of Lannis and Chuck (pleasure to meet you, sirs), I found people gathered in cliques and weren't the least bit welcoming. Never again.

[Lannis]

You're quite generous.

Bob

Just "paying it forward".    I've been helped by so many people on the side of the road, offered a chair in the shade and a bottle from the cooler at rallies, and had people let me ride their bikes to "see what they were like", that I'll owe the next people down the line for the rest of my life....

Lannis

[Paul Brooking]

interesting post
I've been back on a bike for nearly a year now.
I'd forgotten how chatty and forthcoming fellow motorcyclists are, I've lost count of the great conversations and invitations for a beer.
Two absolute standouts this year
the first was a 2018 GSA rider who caught up to me at the lights on my morning commute. he wanted directions to a restaurant area in the CBD. After watching him spend minutes programming the route into his TomTom, I said "sod this   follow me". took him and his three companions to the area, we found a coffee shop and spent a very pleasant hour shooting the breeze. He was the first "full dress" BMW rider that I had met, with the Klims, The TOMTOM (in addition to the GSA Nav system), matching luggage and tank bags, The Adventure Boots etc etc.
his entire rig including clothing was about the GDP of a small 3rd world country.
Absolutely lovely bloke, was more interested in asking question about the Stelvio than answering question re the GSA.

The second standout who I've met this year was ... Huzo...... enough said

[bad Chad]

I have only been to Guzzi rallies, lots of them, but all Guzzi, although on occasion half the attendance seems to be riding BMW!   But I have been offered the keys to many bikes, and occasionally take one out, the last was a 1000 Multi Strada, you meet the best people at Guzzi rallies!

[Sheepdog]

There are some great "all-brand" club rallies out there. I really enjoyed the Phoenix International Touring Society (PITS) rallies in Flagstaff back in the nineties. I attended on both my CB750F and my R60. In either case I had a ball. My first exposure to 89A as well as some memorable personalities...fun times.

[Lannis]

There are some great "all-brand" club rallies out there. I really enjoyed the Phoenix International Touring Society (PITS) rallies in Flagstaff back in the nineties. I attended on both my CB750F and my R60. In either case I had a ball. My first exposure to 89A as well as some memorable personalities...fun times.

But isn't the "brand rally" thing just the same sort of good clean fun as rooting for your favorite college sports team?

I mean, Michigan and Ohio State fans, once they've picked a side, will have a big time thinking up hard names for the other side, and waving flags for "their" side, and making silly bets with their buddies at the other school on the outcome of the big game, just like Virginia/Virginia Tech fans or Auburn/Alabama or Army/Navy fans will.

You pick a team, you wear their gear, you dress like their mascot, and 100,000 people cheer until they're too hoarse to talk at work the next week.   Nobody was "born" into one side or the other; you just pick a team and go for it!

I think there's a lot of the same thing going on with bikes ....

Lannis

[kirby1923]

Like it or not we Guzzi people and the BMW,(me also), people are cut from the same stuff, we are so alike its frightening, just in different degrees. (not to mention the Brit bunch and aviators to a large degree) .

Eccentric, quirky, out on the periphery???

I'm a member of all those communities and  I'm better for it.

:-)