James May, who writes about automobiles for the UK-based newspaper, The Telegraph, recently spent some considerable time travelling throughout Southern California, and offers up a unique perspective about Harley-Davidson riders...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/..../ motoring/2007/08/18/mrmay118.xml

In Britain, Harleys seem to be ridden by people who secretly wish they'd been born American. My friend Richard Hammond recently bought a Harley, but he already had a big hat and some cowboy boots so he probably thought he might as well keep going.

Out here it resonates perfectly with the mountains in the infinite distance and the futility of trying to go anywhere quickly rather than at leisure, and suddenly it's blokes on Japanese sports bikes who look horribly misguided.

Labels: Biker Life, Motorcycle Bashing

So, everyone's watched the movie "Wild Hogs" by now. There was an interesting post on HDForums asking the question, which character are you?

Here's the primary cast of riders...

• Woody Stevens (John Travolta) - Leader, lonely, wealthy, always wants to ride somewhere, has plenty of time for it, but can't get people to go



• Doug Madsen (Tim Allen) - Tied down at the job, always worred about work, always worried about everything but riding



• Bobby Davis (Martin Lawrence) - Pussy-whipped, bark is worse than his bite, can't ride because the wife won't let him



• Dudley Frank (William H. Macy) - Science nerd, politically correct, in touch with his feelings



• Jack (Ray Liotta) - Leader of Del Fuegos, needs to be center of attention, always wonders what his idols would have done



• Damien Blade (Peter Fonda) - A former clubber turned independent, blazes his own trail, doesn't try to be cool because he just is

Labels: Biker Life, Biker Movies, Wild Hogs

If you were to ask a biker what the meaning of life is, you'd probably get a very short answer, or a very long one.

If you asked Craig Bourne, you'd get a whole book.

His new book, "Philosophical Ridings: Motorcycles and the Meaning of Life", will be released to the public a week from now on April 25th. He works as a professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and rides a Ducati when he's not professing.

You can reserve this book online at Amazon.com...
http://www.amazon.com/....&qid=1176692670&sr=1-1

Here's a quote from the book's publisher...

From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to The Motorcycle Diaries, to be a biker is to be on the road to the meaning of life. What should our attitude be towards danger and death? Can your motorcycle be as much of a work of art as a Michelangelo painting? Should the biker's rebel image be celebrated? And where does the concern for the environment figure in all of this? Philosopher and motorcyclist Craig Bourne shows for the first time the thoughtful side of the biker, and takes us on a fun trip through the philosophy of motorcycles.

Labels: Biker Books, Biker Life

If you hang around long enough in the biker community you're bound to end up with a nickname.

I actually have two nicknames. "Media" is the one my club came up with and gave to me, because I'm in the business of publishing websites and blogs, and I always carry a camera with me on rides. The other one is "Stelis" which is what I use as my log-in name on several web forums. Turns out that most people use "Stelis" over "Media".

Actually, forum log-in names seem to be a popular way people earn nicknames these days. Most of the time they pick out something off the wall without realizing that other users will refer to them by that name. Sometimes they come up with something bland like, "Harley2006", only to realize later on that these log-ins double as nicknames. Then they establish a new log-in using something more unique.

How people get their nicknames is always a story of interest. I remember a prospect in our club who forgot to put his kickstand down a couple of times, and so we called him "Kickstand", which was also appropriate because he was short and skinny. There's a guy in our club who gets oil blowing out of his air-intake everytime he rides his bike hard. So I suggested we call him "Blow-by". But other people in the club didn't like the word "blow".

I know a guy whose nickname is "Jello". He got it because he found his way on to our club web forum, and the first he word he wrote was "Jello". He was actually saying, "Hello", but opted to add the Spanish accent. So we all responded back addressing him as "Jello", and it just stuck.

We had a guy whose nickname is "Bump". He earned it because he had a habit of bumping his bike into yours when coming to a stop. He hated it.

There seems to be a trend to add the word, "Darth" to the front of your nickname if you replace your metric cruiser with a Harley. So if you're already "Bubba", you'd become "Darth Bubba". They figure buying a Harley is akin to giving in to the Dark Side.

I remember reading a newspaper during lunch, and seeing a rather lengthy funeral notice for a biker named, "Picnic Table". I thought that was a cool nickname.

Dogs seem to be a popular inspiration for biker nicknames. There are "Big Dogs", "Mad Dogs", "Bulldogs", and "Bad Dogs". Sometimes they use "Hound", or they'll spell it as "Dawg".

If there is any consistency with biker nicknames it's that there is never any consistency. I know a guy named, "Stumpy" who's only 5'5" tall, but I also know another biker named "Stump" who is over 6 feet tall and about 300 pounds. I know a guy named "Big Red" and when people hear about him they expect to see a red necked white guy. But no, he's a black guy.

Labels: Biker Life, Biker Nicknames

If your woman is having a hard time adjusting to the biker way of life, then perhaps a new book from Holly French will help.

"The Biker Babe's Bible: A Guide to Being a Good Ole Lady" provides advice to women who are new to the biker world.

Here's an excerpt from a section on night riding...

Remember, if you get uncomfortable, it's your own fault, so keep it to yourself. Just because you weren't prepared doesn't give you a license to bitch. It ruins everyone's good time if you are bitching, and it's an embarrassment.

So, grow up. Toughen up. You are a biker's Ole Lady.

Labels: Biker Books, Biker Life

Miker Werner, who authors the well read MotorBiker.org, offered an interesting comparison between bikers in Europe and bikers in America:

I spent most my time around Orlando and down to Ft. Myers. During the week, I probably saw about 6 motorcycles, in the weekend I saw probably 50 (most of them in groups, and almost all Harleys). The weather was sunny, sometimes cold, sometimes warm (50-70°).

On my taxi ride back from the Paris airport, I saw probably 500 motorcycles in the 30 minute ride! And the weather was freezing and wet !!!

Labels: Biker Life, Riding Experiences