Dividing lines...

[alanmcorcoran]

The recent thread about what constitutes a "real" biker, (versus, I guess, a poser?) got me thinking about the wide variety of interests and attitudes represented here.

One of the biggies is the never ending ATGATT debate. Seems to be three factions: The Shoulds, the Don'ts and the Don't Cares. I wear it cause I'm a pussy and I'm afraid I will fall off one day. It doesn't bother me too much except for the time involved in getting it all on and when its north of 80 degrees. I don't care if I get laughed at, I've been laughed at all my life. You get used to it. I envy the riders with the balls to go with a tshirt and shorts, but I'm not sure, even if I ever grew a pair, I'd ever want to ride with no face shield. I swear a hummingbird bounced off my head last week. All kinds of crap comes off trucks out here. Even managed to get something in my eye yesterday with the damn thing down.

The mpg. I suppose I'm interested in this as far as knowing roughly when I'm going to run out, but I didn't get my GZ to save on gas. Not sure if this puts me in the minority or not - the press seems to think that high gas prices are driving people to motorcycles, and this seems very logical. Personally, I think that trying to save money is not motivation enough to take the risk of riding. There's got to be something more. My theory is that guys use the gas argument to convince their families it's a good idea to ride. They are sort of going green. As for me, I just bought mine for fun and to learn how to ride.

How fast will it, can it, does it go? This again has practical value. I've posted elsewhere that I don't think the GZ goes fast enough for freeway travel. And I have been interested in how much this might improve after the break in. But I don't think I'll be screwing with the carburetor or the transmission to goose another 5 mph out. To me, if you want a fast bike, don't get a GZ.

Which brings us to mods. I see a lot of clever mods on here, and it's clear that a lot of guys are interested in tweaking the production unit. I'm sort of in between on this. I think I'm more of an upgrade guy. I don't really like to mess with the basics, partly because I'm limited mechanically, and partly because I think if I really want something that different, maybe I should have bought a different bike. On the other hand, if there are cool gizmo's that are fun, fit on the thing well, and either improve the experience or eliminate hassles, I'm right there. (Like if I could buy a gas gauge!) A windshield I think is first on my list.

Commuters vs strictly for fun. I fall into both camps here, but mainly because my goal is to be able to one day go on an extended road trip by myself. So both the commuting and the mini-tours are really just practice.

Big vs small. Some feel you have to go bigger, some feel like the GZ is quite big enough, and some have a big bike and a small bike. I'm not sure where I stand on this one yet. I feel very comfortable on the small bike and I felt pretty intimidated by the bigger ones, but I think I may work my way up. I like the lightness of the GZ, but it feels a little too light at 55 and above.

The committed and the casual. I think I am more of a casual rider. I might ride for the next ten years, or I might lose interest after I do a tour. I'm kinda like that, noncommittal. Sarris bought a new bike while hobbling around from totalling his last one. That's commitment.

I'm sure there's a lot more, but I think it's great that despite all of our differences, all of us can come together in a productive manner and exchange information that enhances the whole experience. My hat is off to Dupo, BadBob and Patrick for making this happen.