Bike snobbery

[Bhud]

[Ste]

£14k?

You mean £40k?

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/mv-agusta/brutale-1000/2019/

[ScottT]

[Bhud]

[Ste]

Yes, after I posted the £40k bike I found pages saying that the starting price is £14k.

[Polarbear]

[Bhud]

[chickenstrip]

[Riejufixing]

[M.C]

[Kentol750]

Biker is a pejorative term. Think how someone last used it to you. Motorcyclist sounds elitist. Petrolhead sounds Clarksist. Just say, 'I ride a bike.' Then wait for questions. FFS, we're not vegans seeking approval for saving the planet.

Btw, pepperami, isn't your 6r beating most of them pound per pound for bhp?
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Some bikes.

[chickenstrip]

[stevo as b4]

The only time I've had more than £14k in savings in my life was when I was putting down a deposit on my place. I had £10k tied up in a nearly new car once too, but sold it a couple of years later for £6k to renovate my house.

Who with a mortgage, car and family has £14k of savings? I bet it's a small minority, as home owners will always want to spend their money on home improvements, or moving to a bigger place, or paying off the mortgage instead.

[Bhud]

[Travis Bickle]

I'm new to two wheels and own a YBR which is desperately frustratingly slow but I get on it at any opportunity I can just to pop to the shops or the bank or to visit a friend or just to go for a ride regardless of the weather. For me right now, it's better than nothing. However I have this inferiority complex that until I get a 'proper' bike (i.e. anything OVER 250cc but preferably 500cc plus) I'm not able to define myself as a biker, just someone who uses/owns a motorcycle. Having said that I get talking to other bikers while filling up at the petrol station and when I stop at the biker/trucker (of which I could probably fit into both of these categories) cafe close to where I live and can honestly say everyone has been really approachable and friendly and not the least bit snobbish about my measly YBR. If anything I find more snobbery among truckers regarding what type of licence they have and what they drive and how long they've been doing it for etc. Seems to be a great sense of community among bikers. But like someone else said maybe I'll find it a very different story when the winter hibernators all start coming out in the spring.

The closest I've come to feeling like I've been a victim of biker snobbery was when a friend/colleague, after telling him I was doing my motorcycle licence instantly jumped in to ask if it was DAS (because I know if the answer had have been "no" he would have come out with "aah you should get your licence to ride a proper bike") but because my answer was "yes" he then went on to quiz me as to what sort of bike I was going to buy. I started talking about Hondas, Africa Twin and the VFR1200X and he instantly started turning his nose up and asking questions like "what would you want to buy one of them for?" but then when I asked him what bikes I should be considering he didn't really have any answers. Just seems anything I had to say he would instantly poo-poo. But then he is well know for being a massive know-it-all so was hardly surprising really. I won't but that down to biker snobbery just his personality.

I think someone hit on it previously about the difference between a biker and someone who uses a motorcycle is just the difference between whether someone only uses a bike out of necessity/economy and someone who actually enjoys being on two wheels and does it for the pleasure.

I do turn my nose up at anything that isn't Japanese or German though. I am guilty of that I'm afraid! But only at the machine, not the rider! And would probably never deride anyone for their choice of brand.
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Must Go Faster
1999 Yamaha FZS600 Fazer

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[chickenstrip]

Bhud, I suspect you're a bit like our politicians...not in touch with how much of the world lives.

I think bike snobbery met while out and about is more to do with how an individual comes across than what he's riding, and probably is perceived due to others finding the rider mind numbingly boring.

For instance, I don't really like Harleys, cruisers etc. But if a Harley rider engages me with sufficiently interesting talk about bikes, I'll chat. If on the other hand he wants to just drone on about why his bike is so great, I'll find a way to disengage. I try not to do it in a manner that will be perceived as rude, but he'll probably go away thinking I'm a bike snob, whereas in reality, I just find him tedious company. I'm also conscious that others would find me numbingly boring if I just droned on about my bike all the time...oh, wait

Then again, if someone has a bike that does interest me, I'll be more inclined to listen to them droning on about their bike - but there's a limit, even then. Again, comes down to how he comes across.

Bikes can be a useful starting point of conversation to meet people - if we both turn up somewhere on bikes, it's an obvious thing we have in common, at least to some degree. But in a longer chat, it's nice when we get onto other subjects too - might click about music, or walking the Lakeland fells (often around here) or whatever. Just because I'm out on my bike, doesn't mean it's all I want to talk about all the time.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[MarJay]

I'm not so bothered about the snobs. They are the ones who buy expensive bikes on credit and then I can pick them up cheap years later.

What bothers me is the wannabes who don't really pay their biking dues as it were, and pretend they are hardcore even though they've been riding for five minutes and don't have a clue.

My GF has a friend who met this guy... He claimed to be a biker. He wore tweed, had overy styled hair and sleeve tattoos. Nothing wrong with that as such until I found out he lives in Shoreditch and just bought a brand new Enfield Himalayan and then claimed it was a fast bike. She asked him about it, and he said "It's OK, I have a 650 Fazer too". For a minute I thought maybe Yamaha had released a new bike that I wasn't aware of... but then I did a google and I really don't think a 650 Fazer exists... That was his downfall as far as I'm concerned. People can be into whatever they want, but when they make shit up to try to ingratiate themselves with the groupthink I feel quite sorry for them.

That said, having watched Ready Player One recently, and realising that knowing all their is to know about your particular fandom is not a master key to the world, My long held view that anyone can be a fan at any level was reinforced. In fact, I felt that this movie was taking the piss out of hardcore fans to some extent. In some ways biking snobbery is the same thing as that fandom. I'm really really into bikes, and have been for as long as I can remember but I'd never take the piss out of a n00b for being a n00b. Sometimes I let my feelings on cheap Chinese 125's be known, but anyone who has passed their bike test is legit as far as I'm concerned. That's the trial they need to pass to join the club. Not having a 1000cc sportsbike, or riding an enduro, or trying to be Charley Boorman etc.

There are bikes I don't like, and I'll be open about that, but I don't see why I should ever take the piss out of someone for wanting to be into bikes, even if their taste in bikes is questionable.

The forum is obviously different I think - If I meet someone in real life and they tell me they have a Yamasaki I say "Oh, cool". Obviously if they come to me and ask me if they should buy a Yamasaki I'll say no but that is different. I think that is the difference between being knowledgable and being a snob. As I said, the Forum itself is very different, and I do take the pi$$ a bit on here, but I think to some extent that only kicks in once people have been stupid for a reasonable amount of time first.

Maybe I am a biking snob? I am not, however, and never will be a 'matching kit KTM adventure' type, nor a "You must have a race replica with matching leathers to be real' person. If people want to do that, it's a bit weird but I'm not going to condemn them for it, and at the same time if people wear and ride what they can afford that's fine too. But when someone judges someone else for the area of biking they choose then that's probably moving into the snobbery area.

Except for cruisers. Cruisers are pointless. And Brat bikes. I hate 'em. and Hipsters...



(Apologies for the Teftastic post btw).


Mind you... You think biking snobbery is bad. Have you ever heard a bunch of cyclists get together and talk about their carbon framed fixie road bikes and stuff? Jeez. Motorcyclists are the definition of inclusive compared to them!!
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[MarJay]

[Bhud]

[MarJay]

[Ste]

Tritey?

[Bhud]

[MarJay]

[stevo as b4]

So is my end of the financial spectrum a frugal saver that is very lifelong careful with cash (tight), or a frivolous spender that blows all my cash as soon as I get it and will never save a penny, I'm confused?