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The Nation's Pulse
The New Hampshire Motorcycle Fetish
The rituals awe, puzzle, and disgust the non-rider.
In New Hampshire — this little triangle where winter chills linger well beyond April and summers are too short — they begin to emerge at the first hint of the spring warmth to launch yet another season of burning gas and showing off their two-wheeled rumblers. They ride around, helmets optional, on these curiously built machines, setting off car alarms, rousing babies from their slumber and making your heart forget its rhythm.
The motorcycle fetish is big here (an annual weeklong spectacle known as Motorcycle Week, held in the central NH city of Laconia, is scheduled for mid-June). Strangers — many donning elaborate outfits of leather and boot — gather in the sun outside specialty shops that serve the needs of fetishists, or outside coffee shops, sipping their stimulants, chatting casually about their immaculately clean steel-and-rubber monsters. The rituals awe, puzzle, and disgust the non-rider.
Diverse groups — these impromptu gatherings. Various ages, various hues, women among men, unapologetic look-at-me devotees in sunglasses, self-satisfyingly pointing out parts of their machines to each other, revving their engines, enjoying the fleeting warm sun. Also, the camaraderie: they ride in clusters on the highways, looking out for one another, stopping to aid a comrade who has punctured a tire. Admirable and charming, indeed — even enviable.
The younger fetishists seem more adventurous, pushing the engines of their rides to tremulous extremes, tempting fate. Out of nowhere on a freeway, some young daredevil on a sparkling Honda materializes in your side-view mirror, levels with your steering wheel and throws you a blazing look that unmistakably warns you that you’re too slow and you should get out of the way. You oblige.
One does not begrudge the riders their romantic quests, but please spare me the cliché about the search for the freedom of the open road. There’s no such thing as an open road: The highways are clogged with vehicles, and what we have in my crowded city are narrow potholed streets that cross each other at mostly right angles, each street punctuated at short intervals by traffic lights and stop signs. On the sidewalks play tots, apt to chase their playthings to the middle of the street and into the path of a speeding road warrior.
There may well be the pull of the “open” road, but one suspects that the roar of the tailpipe is also a principal draw for the road warrior. The rumbling tailpipe is an absurd extravagance, much like the erectile tail of a peacock — it isn’t about performance but seduction. The road warrior must derive some pleasure from hearing those booming echoes that bounce off the walls of the buildings that the machines rattle as they race by. What’s noise to us could be a kind of symphony to him and his fellow fetishists.
If not music, then something else is at work here — something perverse: sadistic pleasure in tormenting others. The effect of tailpipe thunder on the mind is devastating: It disrupts concentration, snatching your mind from the task at hand and sending it into some nightmarish zodiac from which it struggles to escape. Long after the monster has left your zip code, your mind still replays the thunderbolts to you. Perhaps the road warrior knows full well the pain he’s inflicting on us, and he enjoys doing it.
The rumbling tailpipes on certain bikes favored by some fetishists convince me that most motorcycles are bought not so much to get their owners from point A to point B as to be shown off to strangers. A gathering of bikers outside a Dunkin’ Donuts shop is a bragfest. And on the highway, the biker makes it clear to you that he wants you to look not just at him but also at the gleaming thing upon which he sits astride.
This is a defensible view, for motorcycles are largely impractical conveyances. On two wheels they require, one imagines, extraordinary skill to handle them. The rider can carry another passenger, but that would seem to increase the chances of crashing this strange contraption. And here in the Granite State — with its long winters — a motorcycle is essentially a summer toy, stored away somewhere during the cold months and wheeled out only when the sun reaches up higher on the southern horizon.
The sun is inching up in the sky, all right, and leaves are beginning to bloom on the deciduous trees that feigned death during winter, but it’s hardly summer — nighttime temperatures can drop to the freezing point even in May. Still, the bikers can’t wait, and they’ve already brought out their machines, and they’re big and loud. “MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE,” says a bumper sticker on an SUV. It’s not a warning; it’s a deliberate provocation.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (70) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Henry Gekonde
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http://spectator.org/archives/2009/05/12/the-new-hampshire-motorcycle-f
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Rocco| 5.12.09 @ 7:33AM
Mr. Gekonde:
I get the idea from this that you are not a motorcyclist. Although your views on loud pipes may be due to some of what you see up there, the bottom line is this. Loud pipes save lives. Before I replaced my stock pipes on my Honda cruiser with some good loud (not obnoxiously loud) Vance and Hines pipes, anyone in a car with the windows up could not hear me. It's bad enough that clueless drivers, weaving in and out of their lane risk hitting me while they do _________ (fill in the blank with eating, drinking, watching DVDs, reading a book or magazine, texting, massaging their passenger, etc - I've seen it all here in northern Virginia) while I am in my car or truck because at least I have steel around me, but, it's potentially fatal while riding a motorcycle. I've been run off the road once by some idiot in his cage. Loud pipes let them know I am there on the road with them.
Secondly, I don't care to show off my bike, although I get a ton of admiring looks for a simple, clean and unadorned cruiser. True, I keep it clean and in good running order, chrome shined, etc. but what car owner doesn't do the same. It's a simple matter of taking care of your machine so it takes care of you at crunch time.
Yes, motorcyclists are a bit of a fraternity; you can see that on the road as perfect strangers on bikes wave and smile at each other when they pass each other. There is a wide range of people who love to ride - from blue collar workers to attorneys and doctors, to retired military officers like me and many others. We all share a common bond and enjoy riding. Perhaps instead of sneering at these "bikers" from your stoop, you ought to go down and chat with them and get to know a few of them. We're all not bad people and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Bryan Smith| 5.2.10 @ 6:55PM
Loud pipes do not save lives. The noise is coming from behind you when you ride. So if its after you pass someone or are barely in front of them that they will notice the noise. Yes I know this because I myself am a rider also and have tried this. Im sorry to bust your bubble but that does not help, it may help you sleep better at night and if so, im sorry to ruin your dreams.
Andrew B| 5.12.09 @ 7:39AM
Living in Florida, bikers are a 365 day a year phenomenon. "Bike Week" seems to have taken on a life of its own, like "Gay Pride Week", which appears to be celebrated all 52 weeks of the year.
I have no particular beef with bikers, although I find them odd. Many of them seem to be mirror images of the countless golf addicts one sees in the Sunshine State--paunchy old guys with expensive toys. The only difference seems to be in how leathery their wives are (as golfers' wives don't wear tank tops quite so often.)
The lure of the open road? No, not for me. We have bugs here in Florida as big as hummingbirds but far more plentiful. Get smacked with one of those at 75 mph and you may never recover.
Rocco| 5.12.09 @ 7:40AM
Andrew B:
Lived in Florida for 8 years. You're damned right about those big bugs!!
Cheers!
Steve| 5.12.09 @ 8:05AM
Rocco,
Ever hear of a horn? Come on! Most pipes can't possibly pass muster with town laws.
Bulk| 5.12.09 @ 8:05AM
In my youth I did the open drag pipe bit on a knucklehead and shovelhead,eventually installing shorty mufflers on both because my ears could not take the noise on long rides. Load pipes don't save lives,they only aggravate other riders,drivers and pedestrians near the noisy bike. I have ridden with other bikers who favour the loud pipe plumbing and either kept ahead of them or dropped far enough back that the other bike was not barking in my ears. A vehicle in front of a noisy bike will not here it until the bike is almost alongside,and I comment from experience. Consider this: my income is derived from operating a rather large,green Peterbilt. Automobile drivers think nothing of cutting me off or slamming their brakes on after they pull in front of me,in spite of the fact that I may not be able to maneuver a vehicle that weighs between 30,000 and 80,000 pounds at any given time in order to avoid a collision. Would louder pipes help? No,defensive driving does. With experience on the bike or in the big truck,the driver/rider learns to anticipate what the dummy may do and prepares himself for the possibilities.
Andre| 5.12.09 @ 8:36AM
What motorcyclists don't seem to appreciate at all, even the ones who also drive cars, is that they are not all that visible on a crowded highway. At night, they are simply invisible. Just one headlight among many - and the fact that there's only one, throws off being able to interpret the distance. I can tell you how many times I've been startled when a motorcycle white lines it past me on the crowded S.Fl freeway - EVERY time.
Maybe motorcyclists are more aware of eachother, but they need to appreciate that, loud tailpipes or not, the disappear to the vast majority of drivers - not because they are watching DVDs or talking on the phone.
Mike| 5.12.09 @ 8:48AM
Not all motorcyclists are loud pipe clowns dressed as if they just left a Village People costume party and are subsequently headed towards a gay bar.
Not all bikers are alike as not all conservatives are alike.
Get over it Gekonde. Even better, but yourself an auto shift scooter and try it out. You might be surprised. If not, see you at the town hall meeting where we will eat you alive.
This is NOT the first time something nasty about motorcyclists has been written. Only a few years ago, the late and unlamented Paul Wyrich wrote about how the rider community needed to back off on Bill Janklow 'cause he was sooooo important to the - 'er - "movement". Well, Janklow was and is a "movement" in his own right. A drunk driver who killed an innocent MN motorcyclist, Randy Scott.
Thank the good lord that that was the last time Wyrich was ever seen in these august pages.
Hey, Tyrrell and whoever, cut it out already!
45Caliber| 5.12.09 @ 8:50AM
Rocco:
Sorry, I don't buy your excuse for loud bikes. As Bulk stated, one cannot hear the sound from the pipes until they are past you. They direct exhaust to the back. It is the same with loud, go-fast boats. They exhaust to the stern. Have you ever been to an air show and been surprised with a military jet flyover? You can't hear them until they are already screaming over the horizon, away from you. No, loud pipes are for one thing, and one thing only, bravado. It is a form of "mine is bigger than yours". Childish. BTW, I love motorcycles.
Mike| 5.12.09 @ 8:52AM
Struggling out of my rag top 304, let me say "just one more thing"....you fans of the Motor Company....get your stock pipes on and fast.
Sadly we are surrounded by the unfriendly and intolerant - the author of this screed is just the tip of the iceberg. Bad times likely coming thanks to you HD folks. I noted that on HD forums, you nutballs tried to blame the bad press on rocket bike stunterz' and the like.
Bottom line - "Loud Pipes Lose Rights".
Bulk| 5.12.09 @ 9:33AM
Please excuse my misspelling of "hear" as "here". I am a cross between former dirty biker and dumb a** truck driver.
CS Lewis| 5.12.09 @ 10:17AM
I guess the writer never lived by the train tracks!
But then, he would have complained about that.
Who has more accidents, or kills a biker by making left turns in front of him. It's the jerk in the car, the woman putting on her make-up or people talking on their cell.
My guess is the writer is secretly in awe of the bikers but his wife or girfriend wouldn't let him have a bike so he's all bent out of shape.
This article shows he knows very little about bikes, who ride them, the charitys they support. The businesses that benefit from riders.
I'm laughing!This was a surprising article for the Spectator, a cry-baby whining about noise.
Fed Up| 5.12.09 @ 10:33AM
Wow, what an uninformed piece. It would be interesting to see what that bike "fetish" that you're so vitriolic about brings to the NH economy. You should probably check with the local merchants and see what they think about a few hundred thousand people coming to their state to spend money (uh, it's called Tourism dopey). I know for a fact that the population of SD doubles when the Sturgis Rally is going on. I suspect that the same is true during Laconia. Yes, there are a few inconsiderate bikers, and I don't buy the "loud pipes save lives" crap either. Just like there are way more than a few oblivious-inconsiderate-positively-dangerous soccer-moms-on-cell-phones-driving-minivans (who, by the way, gather in groups and brag just as much about their kids as we do about our bikes). But I don't condemn all soccer moms, and make disparaging remarks about them. And unless you never leave the city limits, you'd know there's plenty of open road (beautiful open road) in NH. I'm curious, did you get your opinion of all bikers from the sensational Hollywood movies of the sixties? Tell you what... stop your car on the side of the road, turn off your cell phone, and wait... just wait... until someone else in a cage stops to help you.
GiantSS| 5.12.09 @ 10:44AM
Speaking only for myself, I like loud pipes, for the sound. I back off when around Joe citizen because I try to not be too aggravating with the sound. For me, it's not about "look at me". I've been riding over thirty years and for the most part, I don't care if you notice me for the way my bike looks or sounds, just notice me as another vehicle on the road with you. The comment was made that we are hard to see. BS! You can see cats, dogs, squirrels, mice, and any number of small creatures that skitter across the road, but you can't see an 8OOlb black and chrome motorcycle. The young lady that cut me off at an intersection years ago, causing me to center punch her car and launching me across the intersection, told the cops the same thing you all do," I didn't see the motorcycle". Had she not been doing her makeup at the time she would have. 45 Caliber. I have always been able to hear a bike with loud pipes coming at me from blocks away so your comment about not hearing them till they pass just doesn't hold water.
GiantSS| 5.12.09 @ 10:50AM
45 Caliber: one more point. You can't hear the jet at an airshow coming at you until he passes because.....he is going 500mph!! My sound outruns me. I can't outrun it.
GV Berlichingen| 5.12.09 @ 11:04AM
When I moved to the South I discovered a land full of big, loud motorcycles, big, equally loud pickup trucks, and big, loud boom-box cars. It seemed that noise was the currency of manhood among all the competing social groups. The only way I found peace of mind was by imagining myself living next to a busy railroad track or airport, as one reader has already suggested. Face it, motorcycles are the loudest and most fun.
Doorgunner| 5.12.09 @ 11:08AM
'02 BMW R1100S
You won't hear this gray ghost coming, and you better not blink. I like to think of it as deliverance from the nanny state.
Old Rider| 5.12.09 @ 12:02PM
From the insults and lies posted here, I'd say you hit some of 'em where they live.
I ride, and I enjoyed your piece, especially the "fetishist" satire.
If total disregard for noise pollution is in reality an attempt at increased safety on the road, then it's odd that Harley-Davidson doesn't just build 'em with "enhanced safety" baffle free straight pipes right from the factory? Oh, that's right, we have enacted laws against it!
Blacque Jacques Shellacque| 5.12.09 @ 12:34PM
Loud pipes save lives.
That is largely false. Being vigilant and riding defensively is a better method of saving one's life.
And I say this having ridden motorcycles for the majority of my adult life.
Bob Alou| 5.12.09 @ 1:55PM
I live in a western town where there is an annual motorcycle rally. The first year it was interesting. In subsequent years it was mainly an inconvenience and a distraction. While there are those who support it because of the so-called revenue it brings to town, in fact, other than the local liquor stores and the bars, the economic benefits are negligible at best given that most of the vendors are from outside the area. As far as hotel bookings they would accrue regardless, given the timing of the event and its relationship to summer visitors. I might buy into the notion that the absence of working mufflers systems may in fact be related to safety if there weren't so many morons who feel the need to work that throttle a half dozen times prior to shutting down for the night, after the bars close and well into the wee hours of the morning. Would I like a bike? You bet. However, the idea that the lifestyle is about freedom is nonsense. Since everyone dresses the same and congregates largely to be with people like themselves, the more the merrier, where does the rugged individualism come into the picture? In fact, the revelation that finally put it all into perspective was when I realized that underneath the leather, the tats, the goatees and despite the chrome and the need for gratuitous displays of magnified combustion is exactly the same motivation that makes Miattas and PT Cruisers rallies so popular.
Tim| 5.12.09 @ 2:19PM
90% of bikers spoil it for all the rest...
erp| 5.12.09 @ 2:26PM
Bikers with American flag decals on their bikes and helmets are preferable to those corn feeding little cars with Obama stickers any day.
erp| 5.12.09 @ 2:26PM
Bikers with American flag decals on their bikes and helmets are preferable to those corn feeding little cars with Obama stickers any day.
Crusader| 5.12.09 @ 2:59PM
I've ridden before, but not enough and far too long ago to be considered a "biker." I much prefer my truck. Anyhow, I always wondered~~~
1 - Is there a special rule that HD dealers will only sell to you if you are fat, old, white, and have a beard?
2 - Does the slightly overweight, missing some teeth, leathery skin, stringy-haired crackhead 'ho in too tight clothes riding on the back come with the HD, or did you already have her?
3 - Why do HD riders consider themselves superior to say Honda riders? The only time in my life I was looked down upon by a fat guy who hadn't bathed in a week or so was when he was on his HD and I was on my Honda and we were at a light. It was kinda amusing actually.
Hair| 5.12.09 @ 3:23PM
Having ridden for years, and owning those loud Harleys, and having been hit more than once. I believe that louder exhaust does make me more noticeable on the road. You admit that you notice that "Noise"?
Now the oblivious Obama voter in their Volvo, or now Subaru, will not note that I am sharing the road with them until they peel me off of their windshield, and then complain "I didn't see him", or "I didn't know he was there", or my personal favorite "I saw him but". Having been declared DEAD once in a "Traffic Mistake" ("I saw him but",) I chose to run the most noticeable light, wear a DOT helmet and run low restriction exhaust!
If you find self preservation abhorrent, then please teach that young lady, driving on the freeway, eating a sandwich, smoking a cigarette, talking on the cell phone, with the book open on the console, to not change lanes into me then say "Sorry I didn't know you were there" and I won't kick her door to inform her!
gary causer | 5.12.09 @ 4:08PM
As a forht in bymer vendor I feel obligated to set a few people straight on the economic benefits to the local and state economies brought in by bikers.
As a very small vendor:
I spent, in state, an average of $400 for my wife and I for personal expenses for "bike week".
In Strurgis we spent over $600 in license fees to the township.
Another 7 to $800 in state sales taxes.
$3000 for rental space in town.
Etc. etc.
P.S we don't drink.
2 Guns, AZ| 5.12.09 @ 4:26PM
I ride 365 here in AZ. Don't have a car, I don't really see the need at this point. You do see some real posers here, especially during "Bike Week", but most are weekend warriors, out to have a good time riding around with their buds.
Myself, I don't ride with anyone, I just like to get out and see what I haven't seen before.
Hair| 5.12.09 @ 4:31PM
First thing,
Old Biker saying: "If I have to explain it, you cant understand"
Second thing, "Crusader", You need to stop watching those old 70s biker exploitation flicks To form your opinions from. having worked in a Harley Davidson dealership in the past, if you were to go there you would find the customer base is affluent, articulate, and intelligent, not at all what you describe! and having worked in the Drug Rehabilitation field, as an educated counselor, you will also find that "Crackhead Hos" are never overweight, in fact they are always emaciated!
Dustoff| 5.12.09 @ 4:42PM
I ride bikes, yet I must admit. Loud pipes are just that. Now to tell the truth. I live 1.5 miles from a ferry dock in WA state and when the ferry unloads it's bikes. They wake up the whole neighbor hood. (not smart) 5:30am.
I'm also a Fire/Medic and have seen my fair share of bike wrecks. Franky it falls on both drivers. Bikes flying in and out of lanes is dumb. As others have said, car drivers doing everything but driving.
GiantSS| 5.12.09 @ 4:43PM
Sturgis, Laconia, and Daytona used to be events for real bikers, but have now become shopping events for the "biker lite" crowd. They dress alike and congrgate without knowing why, it's just the latest fad. They want to look like outlaws , act like outlaws and hang around outlaws, but when they around real outlaws and real outlaw sh** goes down, they all turn to buttermilk and run crying for the cops to save them. If you want to ride cause you like to ride the ride whatever you want anywhere you want, but if you are a poser, you are better off staying at home. I quit going to Sturgis in the late 90's because instead of being a motorcycle rally, it turned into a clown fest with motorhomes instead of bikes, Never been to Laconia, but suspect it has suffered the same fate
Chuck| 5.12.09 @ 5:35PM
And herein lies the problem. This nitwit author travels to a motorcycle rally/bike week, and then groups all motorcyclists into the same demographic and proceeds to portray us all in a negative light.
I am a motorcyclist...I currently own three, and I ride them whenever time and weather permit. I own two cruisers and a sportbike. I have aftermarket mufflers, but certainly not open pipes. I enjoy a spirited ride thru the twisty roads in my area, but I don't break the law, I don't ride in a dangerous fashion, and I have never split lanes on the highway or "popped a wheelie". I ride defensively, and always know what's going on around me. I have to...I live on Long Island, and am surrounded by 20 something's driving Cadillac Escalades and Jeep Commanders while talking on cell phones and eating donuts. I have a family, and I own a business. I want to come home after every ride.
Henry Gekonde needs to get a grip on reality, and realize that not every rider of the over 4 millon motorcycles currently registered in the United States are drunken, tatoo'd, ponytailed, Foghat listening oofs who smoke cigars and get off watching fat chicks wrestle in vats of cole slaw. We are people who enjoy a specific type of recreation, who are constantly and undeservedly under attack by ignorant boobs like himself...
Mary| 5.12.09 @ 7:16PM
I live in the heart of a mid-size City, and the bikers blow past my apartment building all summer long. I live right next to the railroad tracks; hear them every night too. I really like the sound of a train whistle even when it wakes me.
The pipes are loud but not annoying enough for me to complain, especially if they help protect riders on the road, so let's just let the thunder roll!
BTW, for those interested, I think HD is still part of Ave Maria funds. That means they have no ties to the abortion industry and/or any of its devouring parts.
Harley Davidson is a class act, and there's no sensation of freedom like the one you get when you're leaning back on the sissy-bar enjoying the ride. The only thing I'd liken to it is the feeling the Seneca brave must have enjoyed while riding his horse across undulating hills surrounding a Great Lake or two.
Mike| 5.12.09 @ 8:02PM
I have almost 50 years on HD's. My wife and my arthritis finally benched me. There was a time when you had those open roads, and the bikes were cheap, those days are gone never to be seen again. I’ll bet my LI friend you scoot the North fork, and the North Shore, doubt there is much left anymore on the island. The last 25-30 years, I noticed along with the outrageous prices on today’s bikes, the decline, in courtesy on the road. I have done most of the runs a few times, Laconia, Daytona, Sturgis, Harley Rendezvous (Upstate New York). Except for HD Rendezvous, over half the bikes at any event are not even ridden to or from the event, they are on a trailer being towed by guys in cars. The East Coast and there freaken potholes, which are next to impossible to see when it is raining, and they fill with water, jerks who tailgate you when the traffic is heavy, and the cost of a decent HD, has made a scoot more of a chore then a joy. You really need 4 to 6 bikers together on the highway, to get respect. Those guys on bikes who ride the line between two lanes are probably young, relatively inexperienced, and clueless. There may be some excuse for such action, if it is a hot day, and the traffic is stop and go if you are overheating, but then only till you can find a place (preferably under an overpass). Even that should be once or twice in a lifetime, if you know your bike, and what you are doing.
Jim| 5.12.09 @ 9:34PM
Another useless commentary written by a control-freak liberal. When will Gekonde write an article about minorites and their 2 million watt
unsafe ghetto cruisers? I imagine he won't because he finds it only acceptable to criticize white people.
Havoc| 5.12.09 @ 10:21PM
Henry, you are a whining, boring, little bitch. Go away.
Tom Jordan | 5.13.09 @ 12:11AM
I have ridden for 36 years. My last trip to Sturgis was in '86. There is about nothing as aggravating as being stuck in the middle of a pack of a few hundred motorcycles that get bogged down and roll thru some small town at 10 mph. The ear splitting noise and fumes from enrichened fuel systems are not for me. I have plenty of open road here in Texas and can go for 20-30 miles at times out wes and not see another vehicle. My opinion, loud pipes DO NOT save lives. Driver awareness saves lives. These big gatherings have become a show for lawyers, doctors and their trophy "old ladies." Ya'll can keep it. If ya pass me by, you'll recognize me easily....I'll be the one on the old '78 shovel, no chrome (aluminum dissapates heat, chrome retains it),no helmet, just laid back in the saddle layin down some miles...wave as ya pass me by. Keep the wind in yer face.
Mac| 5.13.09 @ 2:02AM
The loud pipe debate continues, I'm for them, loud pipes I mean. Emergency vehicles have sirens for a reason, you here them and start looking for them. All my Triumphs have open pipes and carbs because the US gov makes the manufacturer detune the bikes to get them into the country. Luv that EPA. Oh! and don't call me a biker, I'm a motorcyclist.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque| 5.13.09 @ 3:07AM
Emergency vehicles have sirens for a reason, you here them and start looking for them.
You'll also notice that the sirens typically point forward, to project the sound in the direction the vehicle is moving, the idea being to warn people ahead. The end of a motorcycle's exhaust points rearward, which doesn't do a hell of a whole lot to warn people in front. Combine that with cars/trucks with closed windows and the radio/CD player volume at reasonable listening levels and there's little hope that someone tooling along the road is going to hear a motorcycle coming up from behind.
Michael L. Hauschild| 5.13.09 @ 5:15AM
I once owned (and it nearly killed me several times) a three cylinder, two cycle Kawasaki 750. At eighty five miles an hour you could roll open the throttle and lift the front tire off the ground. Don't confuse the noise of an ideling unrestricted exhaust with the absolute bellow of decibels (joy) the horsepower/weight ratio (acceleration) provided by a motorcycle. I used to amuse myself by popping a wheely as I road past the funeral home in town which prompted the director on numerous occasions to tell my dad "I'll have that kid in here one of these days." He is dead now by the way and I quit riding because some nice old lady stopped in thru traffic because she could not get into the turning lane. (I'll bet you did not know that motorcycle accidents eventually cause arthritis.) Riding in the city just got to be too dangerous and the highway got boring because they passed the "double nickles" speed limit. Maybe it was the seventies, maybe it was simple exuberant youth, but never in my life did I get laid as much as when I had that motorcycle.
Doc| 5.13.09 @ 6:50AM
Girls, Girls, Girls,
Let's stop this bickering and get out and ride.
Rocco| 5.13.09 @ 7:04AM
Doc, your post said it all... some of these people were starting to sound like a bunch of whining bitches. I don't know where some of these people live, but the noise from my pipes (note I said in my first post, NOT OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD) kept some of these clueless northern Virginia drivers from sideswiping me, at least on four occasions since the new year. I ride a Honda cruiser, not a Harley and definitely NOT one of those crotchrockets, the abuse of which is giving all motorcyclists a bad name.
BTW, 42 degrees this morning - I took your advice, Doc, and rode into work!!
Cheers to all you riders out there.
Crusader| 5.13.09 @ 7:27AM
Hey "Hair." I don't know why you put "quotes" around my "board name," but "who knows?" Maybe all those years of "riding" an "HD" with "loud pipes" has made you "a little goofy?" "Obviously" it has killed your "sense" of "humor."
And the "people" complaining of "loud pipes" are "whiney bitches?" Oh boy!
Chabis| 5.13.09 @ 8:06AM
I'm a New Hampshirite and a motorcyclist. The article contains "truths" in the same way that most any article about a minority interest has "truths." This could be golfers, garden fanatics, mothers of triplets, etc.
Fact is most NH motorcyclists don't hang out in front of fetish shops or DDs either for that matter. Some motorcyclists where 'garish' leathers but most don't. The subtle (usually black ) leathers they wear are for protection from road rash should they fall. And most serious motorcyclists don't like overly loud exhausts. Many bikers do - they are a subspecies of their own. SEE http://www.duc.bz/BMR_ Biker or Motorcyclist.htm )
Frankly I don't think this article is worthy of The American Spectator. It is neither observant or thoughtful.
Todd8080 | 5.13.09 @ 9:32PM
Unfortunately the "bikers" that inspire articles like this aren't motorcyclists at all; for the most part they're clueless RUBs with expensive toys that never accumulate any real miles (unless you count trailer miles).
Equally unfortunate is that at least 90% of the Harleys sold these days are bought solely to garner attention for their owners (hence the loud pipes, pointless throttle blipping, ridiculous paint jobs, comical attire and alarming lack of riding skills).
But take heart, Henry. The "fad" is over and RUBs across the country are already selling their toys and searching for the next cool trend. Sadly, history will remember the RUBs not for their motorcycling prowess but for how they ruined the sport for everyone else. Well, them and those idiot rice riders.
I've been riding for over forty years and have seen all the changes, good & bad. And yes, I ride a Harley.
Richard Baker| 5.13.09 @ 10:24PM
Well now. Another bit of non-rider blather. Yes, there are folks for whom riding is a social look- at- me activity. Most riders enjoy just, well, riding.
When I was a skydiver for 23 years, I heard the same kind of nonsense from whuffos (why for you jump) wondering why I did it. I was also asked if I had a death wish. I'd tell the whuffos that, to the contrary, I had a LIFE wish. I wanted to Live Life, man, and not just exist. That's why most people ride, they want to LIVE. Ride On!
Loud Pipes Lose Rights| 5.15.09 @ 12:18AM
Loud pipes just proves you're annoying on purpose. They do nothing to keep you safer, just make you and by extension, all bikers, seem like the loudmouth fat girl at the prom -- Hey look at me!
Bikers with brains think the loud pipe crowd is a bunch of morons. Everyone else just thinks they're @ $$ wholes.
Richard Baker| 5.15.09 @ 9:52PM
To Loud Pipes Lose Rights:
"Hey look at me" IS the point. Don't you read your own writing?
Don| 5.30.09 @ 8:02PM
Loud Harleys are owned by a bunch of latent homosexuals trying like hell to prove that they are straight. If gays could marry and were accepted by society, these noisy old freaks could come out of the closet and put mufflers on their bikes and go riding with their partners.
motorcycle helmet | 8.22.09 @ 9:59AM
We can avoid danger while riding a motorcycle by taking precausionary measures. Otherwise nothing will save you
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