Why are some so quick to attach a stigma to those that ride Harleys, assuming they are "a biker"?

Question

I know it goes back to the Hell's Angels, club thing but it's so diverse now but some still associate it with bad things. I am guilty of making certain judgements of certain groups myself but just wondering what the overall consensus is out there??

Answer 1

I would define a biker as someone who lives to ride.

I seem not to be able to survive well without it now. If it is nice out and I am free to ride and my bike is inoperable - I am nauseous, panicked. I give up a lot of things just to have that bike.

I don't belong to any clubs. I ride mostly by myself. I change my own oil. I can't wait until someday I know how to take the whole thing apart and put it back together. I kept my first bike and still take it out for rides.

Answer 2

Actually it started in the late 40's and early 50's. Guys coming back from WW II found military surplus Harleys readily available, some even bringing them home from the war. They didn't want to ride the military looking bikes so they started chopping them up to make them lighter, faster, different, etc. With their new found freedom and the skills they learned in the military, they new how to fight, drink and were generally tougher than the average citizen who didn't go to war. The bikes were cheap and there were some who adopted outlaw behavior. This was countered by the police who also rode brand new Harleys, all spit and polished and looking the same. So even though they may not have been the "murdering type" most Harley riders were either "The Cops" or "The Bad Guys" and scared a lot of folks. Their bikes were fast, loud, strange looking and as time went on they started forming clubs. Today, it seems that many more outlaw and outlaw wanna-be clubs exist but the reality is that most of the Harley riders today are the older baby boomers, or the children of those who came back from WW II and grew up, pay their own way and finally got the motorcycle their parents wouldn't let them have when they were young. The "biker look" also goes a long way towards perpetuating that image. Leather...jackets, chaps, vests with "colors" or rockers, dark glasses etc. all seem to contribute to the "biker look" even though most folks wear them for safety as much as for "the look!" In fact, I am amazed by the young girls today who get on the back of the crotch rockets wearing nothing more than tube tops, Daisy Dukes and string sandals, showing they have no understanding at all of what "hitting the road" can really mean! That's the short version of my 2 cents!

Answer 3

Owning a bike does technically make you a biker. Not necessarily a member of a bike gang, but a biker. The good news, is that many of the gangs have settled down with age, and it's not nearly so negative a thing as it used to be. Most bikers are weekend warriors, and hold down regular jobs during the week. The reason there was a negative cannotation before, was that the bike gangs were a serious safety concern back in the day.

Answer 4

I've ridden all makes and types of two wheelers for over 35 years and was proud to be a biker. Now I ride a VolksWagon powered 3 wheeler and I'm proud to be a Triker too. Some people have their heads up their ***' and all they see is the classic "television Biker". We are all type of people. Good, Bad & Ugly. Some people are predjudice and classify us all the same. Open your eye's and except each of us for what we really are. Individuals.

Answer 5

Most people who discriminate against Harley riders are jealous. Subconsciously, they want to own and ride one, but either haven't got the courage, or the money to buy one. Harleys are the cornerstone of all motorcycle riding in this country, and a status symbol in the riding world.
If you want to discriminate against ALL motorcyclists, then you should boycott Honda. That is the company that got most of blue collar America riding bikes in the 1960's. The reason that Harleys are popular is twofold. They are American made, by Americans, and the money stays in this country, and they retain their value 3 times longer than ANY metric bike.

Answer 6

A long time ago the Hells Angels rode in Hollister and literally took over the town. It really gave Harley riders a bad name, bit over the years Harley has become the nations number one organization including more than 3 million riders already.
If you buy a Harley and join the club, you wont' regret it.

Answer 7

For me, it has less to do with the bike than with what they're wearing. I too, even though I should know better, tend to be leery of those decked out in black leather. Even though I've done that myself! What a hoot.

But there's black leather and black leather. Ones covered in patches and tattoos who look like the stereotypical biker are the ones I'm really thinking of.

No matter how much leather your average doctor or lawyer puts on, they're still not going to reach that degree of scruffiness that an "outlaw" displays.

Answer 8

I nevertheless imagine there's a large stigma connected to serious psychological ailment jointly with schizophrenia and personality complications. while such issues as melancholy and OCD i imagine are transforming into extra universal. I genuinely have a psychological ailment and in common words some people know. i imagine this is going for most people. those that see it as prominent are frequently those who imagine they have or for some reason look to wish a psychological ailment, without realising the finished implications of it. a million in 4 people struggle through from some style of psychological ailment faster or later of their life, so i imagine that's nevertheless the final public of people don't have a psychological ailment.

Answer 9

Nah, I usually assume the opposite, that the person riding is a poser. Most people who drive new harleys must have good jobs to be able to afford them, and can't possibly be drifters.

Answer 10

my dad just bought a brand new harley 2 weeks ago and he is no wear near hells angel or biker bad *** (although he thinks he is pretty cool now...lol) i call it a mid-life crisis and enough money to purchase something he has wanted since he was young....its a freedom thing and i have ridden on it with him and believe me it is kinda fun all your stress and worries dissappear...