Posted by Tug Boat Lonnie on Tuesday, June 25, 2002 at 3:50PM :
In Reply to: Off topic post posted by Gordon Maney on Tuesday, June 25, 2002 at 1:27AM :
Cool vs Uncool
First my credentials. I rode a bike every day, rain or shine from 1967 to 1989. Started on a Honda 90 and finished on a Beemer R90/6.
I ended my riding when I center-punched a VW who pulled out in front of me. A small son at home persuaded me to hang up the gloves till a later time in life. During that time, I have seen a lifeless body put into the back of an ambulance while I picked up the bike with the helmet still strapped on the seat. I felt like crying.
There are two types of riders - those that have gone down and those that are going to go down.
The problem we are dealing with here is the cool factor. Make no mistake. Cool is a very precious commodity and many bikers have unknowingly traded their life for it.
Note - I have been an uncool rider most (but not all) of my life.
Cool - riding with no helmet to breath the fresh air and enjoy the beautiful sunshine
Uncool - to have one of those full face helmets - the chicks just can't appreciate your new "doo" with one of those helmets on. Its harder to breath and hear with one of those heavy things on.
Cool - riding side by side in tight packs. The sound of all those pipes rumbling sounds great. Very impressive to the babes.
Uncool - riding strung out in long spaced-out packs. Its just too hard to talk to your buddies on the other bikes.
Cool. - sandals and shorts for the hot days. You can tan and ride at the same time.
Uncool - boots and gloves on a hot day - just too uncomfortable
Cool - stabbing the throttle and getting up on the pipe and passing often and fast - sounds cool and impresses the buddies
Uncool - riding at the same boring speed for hours on end.
There are lots of other examples but you get my drift. Driving a bike safely is almost always the opposite of driving a bike cool.
It takes restraint and maturity to operate a motorcycle safely. Unfortunately, most bikers under 25 years of age have neither. This coupled with the fact that most peoples first bike can do at least 100 mph out of the crate doesn't help the process. Everybody wants to be Jesse James on an open highway with no rules and no responsiblities.
If I were king, I would make a biker's license more like a pilots license. You need to spend some time on a smaller/slower bike before graduating to a larger/faster class of bike. Just a thought and sorry for using all the bandwidth.
Lonnie
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