Riding a motorcycle is not what it used to be 1/3/2009 5:19 PM By James (Deuce ) Bronder There is more to aging than just gray hair. Wistful yearning for something past, or nostalgia as it is known, is also part of the aging process.
I can't help myself from mourning the loss of what motorcycling once was. In those days we would leave on an overnighter or gypsy tour with just a ground cover and a blanket. Wrapped inside the blanket was a couple bottles of beer and some beef jerky. Half of the time there was no destination, no maps - just take a road, any road. You eventually would end up somewhere. With many days on the road, of course there were no showers, just the creeks or a gas station sink. What you wore when you left is what you were wearing when you got home. The friends that were made and the adventures and sights that we saw are still in my memories today.
Now hotel reservations are made in advance and only after searching the web to be sure there is a pool, Jacuzzi, wet bar in the room, a masseuse and complimentary cocktails on the veranda.
The first thing packed is the American Express Card followed by the GPS device so they can't get lost and are able to find their way back home. It is then followed by the lap top, digital camera, Bermuda shorts, hair dryer and assorted designer clothes. I left out the cell phone because that is a given and have seen many that appear to have them implanted in their ear anyway. I guess that keeps them from forgetting it?
The motorcycle manufacturers also realize that the bikers of the past are gone. Luggage racks have been relegated to just a decorative item with not enough room to put a tool bag let alone a six pack. In fact many new bikes do not come with the traditional tool bag.
If there is a sissy bar, it is not big enough to keep a passenger on the bike, let alone strap a tarp and blanket to. What really makes me nauseous is that you can access the internet from your new bike, play video games on it, push button electric powered windshields, and of all things, have it say hello when you get on it. There is more that they do but I have to stop before I start to cry.
I should have been a cowboy. At least they have remained true to their life style.
Their ride, the horse, has not suffered the embarrassment of their counterpart, the motorcycle. It still has four legs and the mechanisms for riding it that has remained the same for hundreds of years. You can still strap a blanket and rain slicker on it. It still uses the same fuel and as far as I know, no attempt to have it talk to you or put an air bag on it has been made?
Cowboys are still respected and no attempt to take their freedoms away have been made. They can wear a cowboy hat, bandanna or helmet if they choose and have never been made part of gang legislation. Unlike the new breed of motorcyclist, they learn how to ride their horse and how to take care of it. They also enjoy riding their horse and that is why you will not see a cowboy on a cell phone. Well if you do, you can bet it would be a city slicker.
No longer can you tell a biker by the horizontal oil stain on their left leg from the oil thrown off the chain. Now it's drive shafts and belts.
I feel sorry for the new biker that has not enjoyed the road the way it used to be. I'm afraid my nostalgia has moved on to melancholy.
Each generation enjoys what they do and the way they do it, so I certainly cannot deny them that. I would imagine in the future, when they are old, they will be upset with the young whippersnappers that have no wheels on their bike, are levitating around town and have their own personal robot to park it for them?
I just have one request from us graybeards: If you have to use your cell phone, GPS, computer, e-mail your stock broker or your bike is going to talk to you, have the courtesy to go somewhere where we can't see you.
Long may you ride,
James (Deuce) Bronder
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Posted by: Jay Green, Editor www.RoadCaptainUSA.com On: 1/10/2009
Comment Title: Ride & Have Fun
First I have to applaud my friend Joker who as usual has spoken his mind. Secondly I applaud you Deuce for writing a post that stirred the pot. Thirdly I want to say that nothing has changed if you "Ride & Have Fun". That's what it's still about, right?
Posted by: Joker, Webmaster, http://harley-davidson-mystique.blogspot.com/ On: 1/10/2009
Comment Title: Real bikers don't live in the past Deuce
I saw in a movie once where two men were reminiscing about the days of old sailing ships. "Just imagine what it was like," said the first guy fondly, a huge smile on his face. "Nothing but the wind, the sea, and the stars to guide you..." His smile quickly faded when his buddy chimed in, "Bad food, brutal discipline...NO WOMEN..." Today's bikers taking advantage of technology to make road trips better and safer doeesn't make us any less manly than you and your oily leg crowd of yesteryear. Funny how in your "look back" there's no mention of hours of misery spent huddling under a soaked blanket by the road side in a down-pour, shivering in the cold. You don't talk about how many times when you could have been riding and having fun, you were stuck someplace using that tool kit you seem to long for. I can't blame you too much though. We all tend to only remember the good times of bygone days, not the bad ones. Your cowboy analogy doesn't hold up too well either. Like one prior commenter said, now they use trucks instead. The other big thing you missed was back in the old days, a "cowboy" was an occupation. These guys were out there working a hard job for pay, not prancing around on an Appaloosa stud being photographed for a Marlboro ad. That isn't fair to compare to motorcycling which in this country, even it the "good old days," is condidered a recreational sport. I will say that any surviving German soldier from WWII who was a motorcycle courier would take offense to you insinuating he was a sissy for not having a oil stain on his pants. The Germans rode BMWs which were SHAFT DRIVE, even back in the 1940s. I rode with several friends from Massachusetts to Milwaukee, WI, last summer for H-D's 105th Anniversary Party. We used maps, not GPS, if that's ok with you. I did suggest bringing a Sextant so we could navigate by the Milky Way and Ursa Minor, but my buddies shot me down. We figured we'd rather get there by the right roads instead of getting lost and wasting time dicking around and asking for directions like a lost cub scout pack. We slept in cheap motels while on the road, and camped in tents for 4 nights while we were out there. We showered every day. I'm all set on your fond memories of wearing the same rotten clothes for God knows how many days and being proud of it. You didn't mention that you probably never got laid on any of these grunge rides, but I digress. When one of us had a breakdown, our cell phones saved our asses. Because we had to separate, they also allowed us to hook back up with the pack after repairs were made. I guess it's our bad luck that we couldn't do it like back in the day, when the only pay phone in 50 miles is broken with "HA HA!" spray painted on it. Anyway, I think I've made my point. If it makes you feel any better, when I got home, I did have to scrape bug splatter off of my chaps. My boots had a nice layer of dust on them too, which was nice, it gave 'em character. Best of all, I didn't have to listen to my wife bitch me out for handing her 6 pairs of Levis with oil-soaked pant legs to wash. Screw the chain drive - I'll take the carbon-fiber belt any day of the week. Nobody looks at my 2007 Springer Softail Classic and makes a face of disgust because it doesn't have a chain. You better make sure you wear your Depends when you ride out into the sunset next time with your oil skins and bedroll. Unless you want a urine stain on your right leg to match the oil stain on your left. Ride Safe.
Posted by: Double-Deuce On: 1/5/2009
Comment Title: Weh
Spoken like a true has-been. They say hindsight is 20-20. Well, old biker hindsight like this is 20-20 with rose colored glasses, decades worth of drunk-to-death braincells, hangover blackouts, and a touch of Alzheimer's. Was it ever what the old dudes say it was? Not likely. Oh, sure, this "life" Bonder talks about may have actually happened that way, but it was only one weekend that was never repeated and has grown to a hoary memory of a past that never was. I ride with an old-timer like this in my MC. Love him to death, but we hate riding with him now. He won't go over 70, he has to stop every 40 miles or so, he's dangerous to ride next to because his reflexes are shot, and every time we stop we have to listen to how great it used to be and how lousy it is now. Yawn.
Posted by: J.Thaddeus, patron saint of lost causes andimpossible things On: 1/5/2009
Comment Title: delusions of cowboys and bikers
Having grown up around cowboys, who will spend as much time on quads and dirt bikes as on horses, I think you're ideas of the cowboy are as inaccurate as your horrid vision of what touring needs to be. Say you that new bikes aren't set up for touring? I say an old cb750, or 350 (325?) can be had for well under $1000. I think what you're witnessing is not the death of the old biker, but the birth of the new. People who would never have bought bikes before, who would never have ridden are now happy on their goldwings or sportbikes or what have you. The old biker is still here, but he is joined on either side by new people who enjoy a new take on the same thing. They are not he, but they are themselves, and that is sufficient. But through it all, the old biker remains.
Posted by: Becca On: 1/5/2009
Comment Title: Motorcycling hasn't changed
I think you have. I am 41 and been riding for 30 years. I ride a Harley with no bags, no radio, no windshield. I have a speedometer. Behind me I roll up some of the basics and go. I may ride all day or half a day and just stop somewhere. No hotel, no maps, no GPS, no radio. If I wanted that I woulda driven the cage. Please don't lump bikers into the same category as aging Yuppies that are finally riding for the first time in their lives. 15 MILES AND $15K DOESN'T MAKE YOU A BIKER.
Posted by: Regular Rider On: 1/5/2009
Comment Title: Still riding
Well I am still riding. I don't use any maps. I travel from City to City down back country roads. I have run into a lot of great towns and adventures by doing this. No time limit, no mileage limit just be back in time to go to work. I carry my cell phone because I am usually by myself and it is a safety net for calling someone if I get into some kind of trouble. Times are changing and you need to change with them. We don't have what you call Cowboys in Aiken anymore. A lot of things have changed over the last 60 or 70 years most for the better. From what I have seen you riding it is not an old bike, (but I have not seen you in a while riding,) more of a speciality custom bike that very few were made.
Posted by: Ogre On: 1/4/2009
Comment Title: To the the columnist and "Tom"
I'm kinda confused here. As a guy who's been riding streetbikes for almost 22 years, I don't see that much has changed, other than easier communications and the ability to take a boatload of maps with you and not have to fold them up. Now, if we are talking about, say, the early 60's, well, things were bit different, I'm told - I wasn't riding back then. I, myself, am not much of a camper - I usually stay in one star motels, or couchsurf with locals when I tour. And, yes, I do ride a mostly naked v-twin, though mine is from Italy and not based on a 20's era tractor motor. I do have hard saddle bags too, because I like to be able to park the bike and not worry about my gear getting filched. And if you are getting upset about the ultra-luxe touring rigs out there, well, nothing is stopping you from buying *any* bike and fixing it up exactly how you want, and then touring as long as you want, how you want. I'd recommend it - it certainly beats painting the rest of us who tour with your faulty assumptions.
Posted by: AdvRider.com On: 1/4/2009
Comment Title: Wrong.
Instead of complaining about other bikers, why don't you write an article about your most recent gypsy tour, or are you really complaining about what you have become? I just finished a ride in the southwest, 650 miles on a naked bike with my camping gear strapped to the back. And yes, this is a chain drive bike, there were no showers, there was no GPS, and my bike cost $1800. Oh and I noticed that the cowboy has replaced the horse with a truck.
Posted by: J.E. Sawyer On: 1/4/2009
Comment Title: huh?
I tour on a naked 2006 Triumph Bonneville. It's an air-cooled parallel twin with a chain drive. I've never done an iron butt day, but I'll easily put four days back-to-back at 450+ miles per day. I camp out with a tent and sleeping bag, occasionally staying with friends if I'm in the neighborhood. Head over to advrider.com and you'll see a ton of people just like me: riding chain drive bikes out on back roads, dirt roads, gravel roads, and grassy trails. Yeah, there are folks who ride big Goldwings and BMW GSs on paved-only roads and stay at hotels. Big deal. They don't detract from you or from people like me who like it a bit rougher. And honestly, if you think all bikes today are shaft- or belt-driven, you're not even paying attention to the bikes around you. BMWs, Harleys, Guzzis, and Goldwings are pretty much the only shaft/belt drive bikes around. Look at most Japanese or Italian bikes (or the new Triumphs/KTMS) and you're going to see an awful lot of chains.
Posted by: Duane On: 1/4/2009
Comment Title: Riding a motorcycle is not what it... I am also Skeptical-
Motorcycling is what you choose to make of it. For someone who holds creature comforts in such disdain, you certainly seem well versed on them. I for one am sick of hearing about the great "Biker Lifestyle" !Motorcycling has always been a hobby in the U.S.A. as opposed to a mode of transportation as it is in many other countries. Methinks you have seen to many H.D. commercials But if you really miss the "old way's" you can still buy a Royal Enfield they even still make them with points, no electronic ignition for a REAL Biker ! If you really lived through the days you refer to, you must be writing your articles in a Nursing Home .
Posted by: Tom On: 1/4/2009
Comment Title: Twould seem to have hit a yuppy sore spot
Excellant colume, spoken like a real biker who lived his life without the commercializm we now crave. Thanks for bringing to light that fact that their was a time when a man could get by without spending a months pay for a weekend, and the fact that we rode because we loved it, not because it was a fad.
Posted by: Motorcycle Journalist On: 1/4/2009
Comment Title: In Reponse to Riding a Motorcycle is Not ...
If you do indeed still ride - I'm skeptical - you realize nobody is forcing you to take all of those modern amenities with you on your journey. "The road" is still "the road." You can still go out on a journey of discovery and adventure. Maybe you should CHOOSE not to go to a posh hotel. Maybe you should CHOOSE to ask a farmer if you can erect a one-man tent in his back 40. Maybe you should CHOOSE to stay off of the Interstate an opt for the meandering county roads. Bringing a phone? Yes, do you know what it is like to lay in a ditch with a broken leg hoping someone sees you and summons help? Bringing a digital camera? Yes (better than old, heavy 35mm units) but I don't know of any motorcycle that allows you to play video games or access the Internet. And, if there are, you can CHOOSE not to buy them.
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