Thumper Club Forum
Club House => Chatter => Topic started by: Dogbad on October 24, 2010, 07:39:37 PM
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Quite a mind changing day today! Nice weather, bright and dry, so I thought I'd go for a Pootle out on the Thumper. Brother was flying his model planes at the Club in Glasson Dock so I thought I'd wander down and watch a bit. In the village part of Glasson, near the Marina etc, there is a Caravan that does the Drinks and sandwiches etc and there are usually a lot of bikes meeting there on a weekend so I wandered there myself. On average the majority of people there looked as though they had spent more on the Race leathers and Boots than I had on the Bike :o There were all manner of bikes that I could easily identify because they all had lots of Big Writey Bits on their faired in sleek and fastnesses! I trundled in to the parking bit and was set upon by a few of the Non Biker types that loved the XBR for it's style, and its noise! Up to the caravan and ordered a, not very nice, sandwich and coffee and sat at a table outside watching the World go by.
I always thought that people were being snidey and sarcastic about the number of mid 50's men that wanted to show off in their age group with shiny toys. It was like a "London Catwalk Fashion Show" and I really hope that I don't look as prissy as that!
I'm sure there were a lot of good blokes there and they could all probably handle their bikes etc but it really did seem to me that the "Good Old Days" of biking have been lost and forgotten.
Sad ???
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Tend to agree with you matey, but I never did get the 'biker cafe' scene. Meeting up with mates for a blather is great, but hanging about to show-off, not so.
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Know what ya mean mate.Last summer a few of us got together to go to one of our local biker meets.Me on my hornet,the others on a fazer a triumph thunderbird and one on a trike...so we are a mis-matched lot. Any way,we turn up at this place and like you say,theres the usual power-rangers in their designer leathers with their latest fashion toys all looking nice n shiny.After about 30 minutes the dark clouds start to roll in and a few spots of rain starts to come down....and guess who is the first lot to don their race rep helmets and wheelie down the road to avoid the weather.
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Saw a BLACKED out windowed Minibus, towing a massive trailer with approx 12 sports bikes on , heading down the M20 towards Dover......
Probably off to Southern France for a 'RIDE' :o :o :o ;D
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I don't know. Turning up at Llandovery on something that smoked a lot is one of the delights of riding old four strokes and MZs.
Inverse snobbery.
Richard
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When I go to the local (bikers) cafe I put it in brackets coz its for everyone and noone is actually ever made to feel "out of it"...I turn up on either the Bonnie or the SRX...Im still the same bloke...take me or leave me....but both the bikes I ride do cause a bit of interest, and now my lad has the MT-03 there is an added bit of interest. The best part of it is..I probably do more miles on my SRX than most of the plastic rockets do.....period!
Anyway the tea is good quality and only 70p..the food is reknowned around here too
http://www.transportcafe.co.uk/quatford_food_stop_a442_bridgenorth_kiderminister.html
Ian :)
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Don't forget ferry prices, lots of bikers use a trailer or a van to put bikes in as works out far cheaper than individual bikes. Ferry prices for example, in the iom tt weeks, one bike plus rider is 1/2 the cost of a van which with 3 passengers was nearly £500. So it pays to get 4 bikes in the van then 2 go as foot passengers, if moneys tight it makes sense.
There are good meets out there that are not dominated by race reps, a good one for me is Scarcliffe near Bolsover. on a tuesday night you can see old brits, mz's, cx's, customs, trikes monkey bikes as well as modernish stuff. I think is run by a group of old bikers who meet most weeks of the year. I avoid some meets as they consist of wheely mad idiots who think new, big, fast bikes are the only real bikes.
beeman
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Different strokes for different folks surely?
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Different strokes maybe; but there seems to be a mjor difference in attitude between the "always ridden bikes" and the "past 40, cash to spare... I'll buy a bike" type people.
Perhaps the difference is in cash flow, for the first 20 years of my biking, like many from "the old days", I had to get my hands dirty just to get to work. Now there are so many who just take a wad down to the bike shop and buy the bike with the full gear: FZCBXRR with race leathers or cruiser with all the tassles.
They poor sods have never had the pleasure of resetting points on a wet February in the dark, nowt but the glow from your roll-up to help you, before misfiring all the way home to a supper of stale bread and rancid dripping and half an hours sleep before your next 17 hour shift.
Them were the days. ;)
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Different strokes for different folks surely?
Agreed.
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Don't think I'm belittling the fact that they do ride and all that. It just makes me think of it as characterless in the most part. The only difference between 2 or 3 of the same Make and Model bikes were things like the Brand of the sports silencers.
Rather they rode with more consideration to other road users though. In recent years my brother, Old Days Biker in the past, has got to hate the new Biker Crew on the road as they sit 6" from his rear wing, Blinding him in the mirror with the headlights and then wait for a blind bend, humped road and double white lines down the middle to Blast past him in his car. If a car came that close to them on the road they would be spitting Lawyers at the driver >:(
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this is a relatively recent thing. i remember from my youth, which was only 20 odd years ago that bikers rode bikes, and bikers with a lot of experience rode big bikes. and that was it. it wasnt a fashion statement, ok you might have slung a leg over the seat of your gt500 and thought you were barry sheene or later on fogarty, but the most you ever did to look like him was a heron suzuki paddock jacket over your leather. non bikers didnt turn to two wheels because they wanted to emulate the racers. bikes werent 'statements' either, aside from the statement that you were old enough to be able to afford to insure a gs1000, it wasnt the fashion show it is now. i think that its because the old biking apprenticeship has gone. i never wanted to buy a gsxr as soon as i passed my test, we all (those of us young enough to miss out on the 250cc learner times!!) wanted to do our test and get an lc, perhaps a power valve, possibly even a 400, but that was it, we did our 250s then 400-500cc then possibly a 750 and after a few years on the road you got a big bike because you thought you had earned it. bikes arent any longer practical transport to these people. they are weekend toys, like golf clubs and thai housemaids. there to be ridden for the thrill of it when the wifes gone out occasionally then locked away till the sun next shines. the modern trend seems to be das monday r1 tuesday rip wenesday. so they go out with their mates and spend their disposable incomes and pensions(cos they were the last generation to benefit from final salary schemes it seems) and buy a 200mph missile, and they then potter round on it vertically terrified to lean or twist the throttle except on the longest of straights, and match themselves with colour co-ordinated leathers and helmets, the right gloves, the pristine knee sliders, and drool over each others bolt on silencers and blue tinted headlight bulbs. i find it deeply depressing because it unfortunately kids the people who look at the stats that biking is doing well and that rider numbers are on the up. but as soon as it becomes unfashionable again, they will all be off flying microlights or jet skis. personally ive no time for them, they are a breed apart from what i consider to be proper biking, its like top gear, mildly amusing to watch but in reality, a silly big kids fantasy world completely detached from the real world.
i once saw a fireblade owner at devils bridge turn up with his fairing covered in cling film which he proceeded to peel off as i watched. he told me(i was the only other bike there as it was early sunday and i was on my way back from the lakes and had stopped for a brew) that he did it because he didnt like people to see his bike with squashed flies on the fairing as it 'spoiled the effect' i looked at my ts185 coated with oi, long deadl flies and the mud of a couple of years negelct and wondered what effect i was spoiling.
however there is a bright side, the world is now stuffed full with dirt cheap low miles dealer serviced bikes, occasionally with low speed tumble damage, ready for the vultures amongst us to grab cheap and spray with satin black ready to go out on a sunday hunting for the latest bunch of trendy boys to embarras by passing them on a 5 year old bike, oh the shame the shame!!
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(those of us young enough to miss out on the 250cc learner times!!)
I, however, am old and Farty so I did my test on the first GS250T to be on the road in the U.K. ( So the dealer told me when I bought it but that was Eddy's in Leeds and I trust them less than a fart and a follow through!)
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I as well am an old fart,and took my test on a suzi gt 250. Been riding bikes of and on since i was 16 and ime 50 now. Just to put things in perspective. A mate at work passed his test a couple of years ago at the age of 37.Now,ime not slagging him off,but i think its because they are complete newbies to the scene,that they dont appreciate the history of older iconic machines and all their faults.
Any way,this is what happened. As soon as he passed his test,he went out and bought a second hand suzi gsxr 600.Very nice,but not to my liking.Then,about 12 months later he bought a brand new triumph street triple,and kept the suzi 600 to do track days.Then one night,me and my mates went to country club at bridgenorth where they have biker meets.
On the car park was a beautiful triumph hurricane....all original...not immaculate or restored,a little tatty,but good for its age and well used.I took a couple of photos on my phone and showed him the next day."What the f+++++ing hells that crap" he asked when i showed him this piece of history.He was slightly embarassed when i told him it was a triumph. ;D ;D
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"Aye, n' you try tellin' that to the young folk these days! they don't know they're bron!"
"Aye" 8)
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Tsk
I remember when this was all fields
Jumpers for goalposts
Kids these days...
::)
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I as well am an old fart,and took my test on a suzi gt 250.
O dear, now I do feel old... passed my test on an MZ ES250 deluxe (deluxe 8) :o Thanks to Roly Capper MC's, Leek) 'cos my C15 just wasn't roadworthy... even tho' it was never off the road. I eventually upgraded to a GT250 after suffering the C15, a rigid 6T, an ES400 Norton and an Ariel Huntmaster (Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness and the Wipac fiend, 2 of the bikes had Magnetos, so I could ride home in the orange glow). The MZ was very reliable, smooth... but those East German Pneumant tyres :'( >:(
I do find a closer afinity to bikers who have enjoyed greasy, dirty, hammer-rashed hands and biking as a necessity as well as a pleasure, especially those with a reckless way in the saddle.. ;D
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been having this coversation for years with mates of mine. we have come to, however, some conclusions. i have nothing abainst the power rangers or indeed what they seem to have 'done' to the biking scene. in my view its all good. the more people that buy bikes, the more interest there is in them. if it wasn't for the fasion consciouse biker buying the new ducati/honda/gsxrzx656rt rrrrrrrrr every other year or so, i don't think that there would be any bike racing on tv. fair enough, the old skool rider, of which i count myself, may (not myself) put out that these people have ruined ther biking community, then they are welcome to think that. myself, i love the fact that more people are getting on two wheels now, whatever the reason. and if they dont have the same technical proficiency, or need to get their hands dirty as the rest of us. then that don't matter either. just means cheaper donor bikes for the rest of us
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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I agree with you for the most of what you say Skraatch. Only point I disagree with is that you seem to be thinking that More is Better. Problem is that there are More Stupid, bad riders getting up the arse of car drivers, shooting down Bus Lanes and generally getting more people against Bikers as a group.
I know that when I used to be a genuine "Dirty Biker Type" I would laugh at people being scared of me, fat dwarf that I am, but now I think the Fancy Dressers cause more anger than anything else. :o
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Got to agree with Dogbad on this Skraatch. Although the more you talk of have brought some good things [i think] their love of 'toys' means bike development has followed that god and not, say diesel power or 100mpg consumption. Bikes have got so complicated and gadget centred, it's niegh on impossible for the home mechanic to fix things himself. Also can you remember the EU discussing 650cc auto transmission only bikes? What about compulsory hiviz or airbag suits? Then their was discussion on compulsory re-tests for over 40's cos 'born again' bikers turned out to be a high risk group.
Jees, turning 46 has turned me into a grumpy old git!
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After having read all of these coments, I really dont know "where I fit in" now. I do know there is always an "us and them" sort of groups at bike meets and most genuine bikers will come and chat whoever and whatever. Let the power rangers do what they want and live and let live I think ....
omg I feel VERY old now :(
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You are very old now!
By the way, your Mother and I hate you and you're adopted 8)
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Gee thanks
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agreed about the more being stupid thing dogbad. nothing gets up my nose more than someone tarring me with the bad rider brush because some idiot on a ducati or whatever went round them on a blind bend doing a million miles an hour. problem is down my way in the westcountry is that you get lumpoed in with kids on scooters aswell. now they irritate the hell out of me, but sometimes one of them (rare as it may be) scooterists turns out alright and gets himself a proper bike and all is once again well with the world. could be worse though. gave up biking for about a year some time ago because of an accident on my beloved gpz fighter and got into modied mini's. nothing was worse than being looked at the same way as the spotty teen driving his mums nova that had been chaved right up :-\
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I used to be a Mini Club bloke. Had about 12 of them including two Mini Marcos, one with the MG 1275 turbo engine in it back in 1989, Scared the hell out of me!
Can't afford Mini's or my other love 2CVs nowadays. :(
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Bloody hell, there was me thinking we had enough to worry about with pressures from outside of the bikeriding fraternity. Seems to me you lot are all happy enough to allow the divide and conquer method to work without anyone Governmental needing to lift a finger.
How about lightening up and just getting on with your lives.
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Its alright, Shedbrewed, its only polite infighting, the outside world doesn't really see the difference ;)
The power rangers probably call us names too (I hope so) ;D