A Harley Rider was NICE to me

[burkbuilds]

I've done my share of bashing on some of the Harley Riders out there, so I feel kinda obligated to share my experience Saturday morning. I was taking the side roads over to I-75 when I heard him coming up from behind me. At the 4-way stop he pulled up along side of me. I glanced over and I'll have to admit that I "profiled" this guy immediately, and I couldn't have been more wrong. He was on an 883, wearing a skull cap, flat black, had a pretty long beard and an even longer pony tail which was hanging down his back almost to his waist. He had on a leather sleeveless jacket with all kinds of biker emblems on it and a white short sleeve T-shirt, black chaps and boots. He wasn't wearing an OUTLAW emblem, but otherwise he would have blended right in with them. I was a little surprised when he immediately spoke to me, "In about two more hours we won't be able to stand this heat any more", he said, "yeah, you got that right", I replied. He took off fast and I followed along behind him. At the next intersection, I pulled up beside him as we waited for traffic to clear so we could both make a left turn. "Where you headed?" he asked. "I'm going up to the lake for a cook out with my family." I replied, "how about you?" He said,"I'm heading over to the flea market to look for some bargains." "Good luck" I said. "Keep the rubber on the pavement" he hollered and took off again. Once again I pulled out at a leisurely pace and followed along. As I approached a set of curves I saw him up ahead of me, he put his left hand down and signalled for me to slow down, which I did, thinking maybe there was a cop shooting radar or something. When I got to the curve I saw that someone was having a yard sale, people had parked in the road and oncoming traffic was swinging out into my lane to pass them. Glad he gave me a warning. At the next light I once again pulled up beside him. "Ever been to NIGHTFALL?" he asked me. "No" I replied. "You ought to come on down, the cops block off Market Street but they let you ride your bikes all the way down and park near the music stage, they got beer and wine and it's a good time." he told me. "Thanks, maybe I'll see you there some time". I said and we drove off when the light changed.
That was about the most anybody I didn't already know has spoken to me at stops while I was riding. Nice guy, kinda rough looking, but really a nice guy. I guess he makes up for a lot of other Harley riders who won't wave or speak to you if you aren't on a Hog. Just thought I should share this with everybody.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by burkbuilds

when I heard him coming up from behind me.

but they let you ride your bikes all the way down and park near the music stage, they got beer and wine and it's a good time."

Just like life in general, nobody is all good or all bad. Bad people can do nice things and nice people often do bad things too.

I ride often with a few guys who have Harleys........but none of them fits that description.

Any bike that I can hear "coming up from behind", I'm really likely to ignore.

Bikes and booze don't mix no matter what kind of bike you ride.

[blaine]

That brings to mind the old saying"You can't judge a book by it's cover".

[GZ250]

personality lies behind the tongue and your heart. and we do not know and person until we are introduced to each other.

this evening i was talking to a guy, he is visiting his brother in NC. we were standing outside the hotel room and started chatting and i asked him where from? he is from memphis, OH and he brought his and his brothers Harley on a trailer down here. He brother bought his Harley in OH. anyway, he owns a 1500cc new Harley which he bought recently from after a long break in his riding life. Previously he owned Yamahas and the recent previous was Yamaha Venture.

So he is not a die hard Harley rider. He is nice retired guy and traveling with his wife.

[Water Warrior 2]

I think there are few really bad guys on H-Ds. They just make up for all the good guys spreading good will.

[alanmcorcoran]

My experience is most bikers are actually pretty nice, HD or otherwise. There's a few douchebags for sure, but I think percentagewise, the non-bikers have the edge in douchebaggery.

I have noticed the "harder" they look, the "nicer" they tend to be.

[dhgeyer]

I belong to Manchester Motorcycle Club, Manchester, NH. It's really a biker club, with more Harley's than anything else, although any bike is welcome. They have "colors", which to the uninitiated would look like outlaw colors. Members are not required to buy or wear colors, and I do not. Half the guys in the club would scare the Hell out of you if you just saw them on the street, much like the fellow described in the OP.

This club does about half charity rides, sends care packages to soldiers on duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and on and on. Their last big event was a ride to a nursing home over by the coast, where they let the patients sit on their bikes, gave a couple of them rides around the parking lot, and so on. Those old people were so thrilled, partly that they had the "biker" experience, but partly that a bunch of people like that came and paid so much attention to them.

I think most biker clubs are like that. The one percenters kind of ruin it for the 99 percenters.

[Water Warrior 2]

Had a good personal example of judging a book by it's cover a couple years ago at Starbucks with the coffee crowd. Usually the "Bad Guys" roll past on their way to the hotel to do their business. This time however a group(6 or 8) rolled up to Starbucks. OMG, enough to make your blood run cold. Loud chrome covered bikes, tats all over bare arms, leather vests, a large patch on their back............you get the picture. So they go inside to get the coffee and then sit outside.
None of them even lite up a smoke. They were quiet spoken, appeared to be very polite and totally out of character. Ventured a peek at a back patch when one of the "Bad Guys" turned around. A big patch with various images like a booze bottle within a circle and a line drawn through it. Also a line through drugs. Also a line through smokes. There was no line through the Cross which was central in the main patch. My education continues.

[alanmcorcoran]

Don't jump to conclusions WW. They might have been part of the "Set Free Soldiers" Christian bike club - which has been known to include some serious badasses: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/set- ... uilar.html

[dhgeyer]

There is a movement, or subset, of biker clubs known as "Bikers for Jesus". I don't know much about them, other than having met a couple of them. I don't think the ones I talked to were 1%ers. Again, a few can spoil it for the many.