Wednesday Bike Night Observation

norseman

Supercharged
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
207
Location
Rochester, NY
Ride
2013 (early year) Roadster
Sorry, this is a long one since I tend to wax anecdotal once I get typing.

This last Wednesday I decided to stop by Quaker Steak and Lube where they have a weekly "bike night". It's not a very grand affair, but it brings in 100 or so bikes and it's a fun place to check out some nice machines and strut my big girl's curves. I was accompanied by my friend Justin on his Scrambler and Sherly who just bought herself a Ninja 300 se.

The first thing I noticed was that I was waved through by the parking attendant while the other two were asked to park outside because the lot was "full". I found a nice open spot to park, where 5 more bikes could easily have fit in beside me. They were a little annoyed, but it wasn't that big a deal since there was additional parking just outside.

We had a bite and listened to the harleys ride by. I will say one thing... love 'em or hate 'em harleys are CONSISTENT. Every SINGLE one that road by was twisting the throttle every 2 or 3 seconds to show off for the pack (compulsive motorbaters, I call them). I like the noise of a big twin, but to me the sound of a grown man whacking their noise maker every couple seconds is a lot like the sound of a pre-teen at a public pool shouting "HEY! HEY! LOOK AT ME! I'M GONNA DO SOMETHING! LOOK AT ME!" and then jumping in feet first just like they had done the last 20 times they demanded your attention. Still, that ground shaking rumble is enjoyable, and I can't blame anyone for taking some joy in their engine.

After we paid up our food and drinks, we made a circle around the building, observing and commenting on bikes. There were at least 2 older Valkyries, which I always love to see, a few goldwings, a hayabusa, a couple ZX14s, and a smattering of various sized sport bikes. We also found a pocket of Victory riders, a Honda Magna and a few other japanese cruisers on the lot. Predictably, the enormous majority of bikes were Harleys, and as we made our way around the lot I noticed something: after a while, the forest of ape hangers and almost unanimous population of straight pipes, skull and flame paint jobs and iron cross accessories became like white noise. We happened upon a 750 sport bike and it somehow seemed much more special. We ended up lingering and talking about the bike, its lines and stats, what we liked and didn't like about it, custom parts we noticed, etc.

It wasn't until the ride home that I realized what had happened. Motorcycle pop culture has made "custom" the standard, and turned what used to be the symbol of a rough, independent group of "bad a$s bikers" on the fringes of society into a symbol of complete conformity and an almost fanatically adhered to "public standard". Harleys can be very cool machines. They make a great noise, they have a great history, and are very capable though not super powerful... but exclusive? not at all. Unique? Only rarely. It's as if their success has supplanted one of the things that made them special in the first place.

Ironically, the coolest bike on the lot was an old shovelhead with a hand shifter. I wish my phone had battery so I could have snapped some pictures. I think it was one of maybe a handful of harleys without apes, and it was genuinely a thing of beauty. Americans, Brits, Italians, Japanese, Germans, bikes are just **** cool. Ride what you like, how you like, I say... seems like people will appreciate when you break the mold, even when the mold is "custom".
 
As a sometimes bike builder I will tell you that "cool" bikes to guys that know what they are looking at and "cool" bikes to the general public are definitely not one and the same. From a financial perspective I love that fact...I can pick up a salvage HD for ~ $4000 from auction, put ~ $5000 into it and sell it for ~ $15k. $6k for a couple weekends work ain't bad return and the customer has a "custom" bike...more what we would probably deem a "bolt on" custom but different from stock for sure
 
As a sometimes bike builder I will tell you that "cool" bikes to guys that know what they are looking at and "cool" bikes to the general public are definitely not one and the same. From a financial perspective I love that fact...I can pick up a salvage HD for ~ $4000 from auction, put ~ $5000 into it and sell it for ~ $15k. $6k for a couple weekends work ain't bad return and the customer has a "custom" bike...more what we would probably deem a "bolt on" custom but different from stock for sure

I'm guilty of that bolt-on customization myself. I haven't done any real work on the bike, either. I paid mechanics to do most of the work, so I don't mean to stand above any of these guys based on that. I guess I'm just making an observation. If everyone in your neighborhood has tattoos, the guy without any stands out as unique and different. I suppose it's the same phenomenon.
 
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Great post, Norseman.
I think bone stock classic is the new rebel ride.
 

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Great post, Norseman.
I think bone stock classic is the new rebel ride.

Haha, maybe! I'm so mind-blowingly happy with my bike, I don't mind being a "sheep" clinging to the coat tails of the custom crowd. Fact is, people frequently mistook my stock roadster for a custom before I changed ANYTHING. I think just owning a bike as unique and awesome as the Rocket puts me in the best company on the road, and if I'm happy spending some money to change little bits and pieces to leave my thumbprint, then why not?
 
So I assume any Harley would have been led into the parking lot...them and us mentality?

I ride a super moto and a cruiser and the one thing I can't stand is the non cruiser rider turning their nose up to nod to a cruiser and vice versa...2 wheels should be enough...

I'm glad to say that the majority over here are sports bike riders, so the unique minority are cruisers and super motos :)

My local gatherings:




Very occasionally you'll see the grand daddy though like this one:
 
We also have the Wednesday bike night at the Quaker Steak and Lube. It is on the same large parking lot as the local Harley dealer and draws probably 600-800 bikes each week. So far I have only seen 1 other Rocket III and that was one time. The balance of bikes are ridden by rugged, non-conformist individuals all on the same bikes wearing the same clothes all purchased across the parking lot at the H-D dealer.
 
Guess if I were riding an electric bike, i would have to put on loud speaker's so all could enjoy the rumble.
I recall a yarn about when they started making VWs in South America with quiet engines..... the story was you got a tape to play on board to make a Dak-Dak noise.........
 
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