Middle Aged Men on Motorbikes

Dominic

Most normal people would agree that it is " daft "  ,just like football violence and kid gangs etc , I agree, but you are not dealing with "normal "  all of these people really do exist in a parallel society and you wouldn't want to provoke their daftness !
 If you don't believe me take a trip to the Bulldog Bash this month on 10th ,11th -there are some great bands on the main stage .It's a Hells Angels MC event open to all and an annual shindig.Always a great weekend. Keep your Gob shut ,enjoy the music and see for yourself.It's been very peaceful for the last 8 years but it's still an eye-opener for those outside the Biker World.
 Anybody else reading .......go to the Bulldog,great Music and support the club who promote it.

57Deluxe

the utter bastards...

http://i66.tinypic.com/efnrz7.jpg

Nitefly

Dominic said:

Most normal people would agree that it is " daft "  ,just like football violence and kid gangs etc , I agree, but you are not dealing with "normal "  all of these people really do exist in a parallel society and you wouldn't want to provoke their daftness !
 If you don't believe me take a trip to the Bulldog Bash this month on 10th ,11th -there are some great bands on the main stage .It's a Hells Angels MC event open to all and an annual shindig.Always a great weekend. Keep your Gob shut ,enjoy the music and see for yourself.It's been very peaceful for the last 8 years but it's still an eye-opener for those outside the Biker World.
 Anybody else reading .......go to the Bulldog,great Music and support the club who promote it.

Is that the one where they shoot people?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/7752925.stm

Sweetly ironic for Emp!

Dominic

The Hells Angel member who was shot and killed by Outlaws MC was an extremely decent man known as "Gentleman Gerry " who was attacked on the ride home from the bash on the way back to London.
 He had worked on my bike only a couple of weeks before. This was nothing to do with the general public.

mike_l

57Deluxe said:

the utter bastards...

http://i66.tinypic.com/efnrz7.jpg

The lesser spotted Biker-Emp

chillidoggy

mike_l said:

57Deluxe said:

the utter bastards...

http://i66.tinypic.com/efnrz7.jpg

The lesser spotted Biker-Emp

That's what you call a proper bike. Not one of those noisy-arse, twin-cylinder pieces of doo-doo.

Emp_Fab

I'm more than happy with my past biker street cred.  Bandying around warnings of violence by third parties because I refuse to have respect for people who refuse to respect MY right to peace is pretty infantile.

Anyway, in my experience, long standing MCC members who have ridden all their lives tend to just ride - without the need to show off or announce their presence by deliberately making a racket.  As I said, it's the born-again bikers with the mid-life crises that feel the desperate need for such attention.

Lodious

Emp_Fab said:

I'm more than happy with my past biker street cred.  Bandying around warnings of violence by third parties because I refuse to have respect for people who refuse to respect MY right to peace is pretty infantile.

Anyway, in my experience, long standing MCC members who have ridden all their lives tend to just ride - without the need to show off or announce their presence by deliberately making a racket.  As I said, it's the born-again bikers with the mid-life crises that feel the desperate need for such attention.

Dunno, at least the middle aged bikers are happy with their need for attention, your need for internet attention just seems a bit sad.

Drew_TNBD

Emp_Fab said:

Note I'm not complaining about anyone on a sensibly silenced motorbike.  We have had the technology for many years now to not damage people's eardrums with exhaust noise, but for some reason (attention seeking), people choose to buy these ear-splitting things that scare the crap out of people, children and animals.

I don't believe the bollocks about blipping the throttle to make others aware that you are there for safety reasons.  I rode bikes for twenty years and if I ever needed to make anyone aware like that. I used my horn; the device fitted specifically for that one purpose.  Had I ridden something that could break windows at tickover, I'd still have used my horn.  Jesus, these twins are so loud at gentle throttle openings you'd have to be deaf AND wearing headphones not to be aware there was a bloke with too much money and a yearning for his youth in your vicinity.  No need to blip the throttle at all - unless it's to "show off".

The incident that sparked me to rant was some tool this afternoon doing it on a straight road doing 30.  No other cars, no junctions, just a little dick with a loud bike who wanted some attention.

Aren't there laws on noise ?  There used to be.

Awwww... the tiny man is scared of a wickle bikey!!!

Jimbro66

Emp_Fab said:

I'm more than happy with my past biker street cred.  Bandying around warnings of violence by third parties because I refuse to have respect for people who refuse to respect MY right to peace is pretty infantile.

Anyway, in my experience, long standing MCC members who have ridden all their lives tend to just ride - without the need to show off or announce their presence by deliberately making a racket.  As I said, it's the born-again bikers with the mid-life crises that feel the desperate need for such attention.

Blah blah blah blah................

FWIW Shouldn't this thread be in Speakers Corner, not Off Topic?

octatonic said:

Emp's just being a keyboard warrior.

Indeed, but giving him the benefit of the doubt I look forward to hearing what happens when he calls one of these guys a tool to his face instead of ranting here.

Dominic

You can't be helped can you ?
  Why is it infantile to try and explain to you that the sort of comments you are spouting will get you very seriously hurt in the wrong environment.....ie overheard down at the pub  by the wrong people. You don't  even know what you are talking about - the MCC  members "of your experience " are generally not the sort of people who would be particularly nasty; Thats not the element I was cautioning you about ; but the outlaw clubs,The MC s , would delight in being very brutal to you for those kind of comments. 
  Aside from that you would probably get clumped by any normal person who you call a TOOL without them provoking you beyond the fact that you didn't like the noise of their exhaust .......or for that matter anybody you insult by calling names ....would you walk up to somebody in the street and insult them because you don't like the colour of their shirt ?
 I don't know ,you might be a huge guy and able to deter the reaction but my guess is that 3 out of 10 people that you call a tool will take a swing at you.
 This poor guy on his bike ,probably his pride and joy was doing you no real harm .....so you launch an ill-informed tirade on here catching people who may happen to be of that age group or have those bikes in your crossfire. 
When somebody like me ,who was caught in your crossfire and insulted makes a point - you don't even apologise ;I have never commented on some of your posts about Chavs etc nor wished you ill will because it's not my business - being labelled a tool by you is my business.I didn't ask to be insulted by you or have my lifestyle slid under your microscope. I was merely telling you that your comments are inflammatory and you are lucky not have said them in the wrong company and to be careful you don't .
If I made unpleasant comments about ,say, the IRA somebody may wisely say " I wouldn't spout -off like that if you're ever in a pub in the Kilburn area .........." Why would that be infantile.? I would call it bloody good advice.
 Infantile is not putting the brain in gear before the Typing finger  or the inability use a little discretion.
Now write out 100 times ........I must smile at middle aged bikers on Harleys with noisy exhausts because there are bigger issues in life.

Drew_TNBD

G'wan lad. Knock his block off!!

underdog

Dominic said:

underdog said:

Lodious said:

Emp_Fab said:

Tavernor said:

I know nothing about bikes but googled the speedster and they look badass. Would an MC laugh at me if I rode one? Genuine question.

Depends on the MC.  If it's a club for fat old losers with shiny new leathers, immaculate bikes and big moustaches trying to pretend they're all badasses and outlaws, then no, it would fit right in.  If it was a proper MC, then possibly - if nothing else for the fact that it's a Harley; to engineering what Iceland is to fine dining.

Do you know what MC means? 

It means motorcycle club, which can be a vague blanket term that covers anything from your local church ride out group to the international back patch groups. I'm guessing you're using it in the far more specific term here though.

NO........an MC is a 1% 'OUTLAW' Club ..ie H.A.MC, OUTLAWS,BANDIDOS, MONGOLS etc 
They will "licence" MCC clubs in their territory and control it some of which will be support clubs (co-erced )
Some MCC s are also pretty serious.and are allowed to wear a front patch (1 piece)
Everything else is simply Riders clubs.
MC = 3 piece patch with top and bottom Rocker
         Serious Prospecting
          Lifelong club loyalty/ association
         Controls your whole life and family.
          

As I said, generally it's used as a term to cover any Motorcycle Club, back patch, side patch, no patch and patch the dog.

I've know of plenty of of motorcycle clubs that have nothing to do with back patches, or even support clubs, many many groups have the term MC in their title.

As I also said I knew you were referring to MC in the more specific term ie 1%er (we seem to be OK with this Americanism?) But I know of a group of 4 guys who have the blessing to be an MC from the local back patch crew, just 4 guys who decided they needed their own group, it's really not that big a deal anymore.

Support clubs are rarely coerced, it's a 2 way street they offer numbers and potential prospects to the big guys, the big guys offer credibility and a little security to the small fish.

Dominic

You are absolutely right  and there are MC clubs that exist with the permission of the local Senior club - it is pretty rare and I wasn't going to bore people who are not in the bike world with detail - you obviously know what you are talking about ......there is one very local to me that I know well. Yes, they are a source of potential prospects - when I said co-erced ,for want of a better word ,I meant  affiliated / approved ...but they do tend to make sure they support ride-outs ,clubnights ,parties and festivals of the Senior clubs. Quite a few end up getting patched over anyway.
The 1% patch has been used here since the early 80s ,I know it's American origin and reason but when you think about it all the big clubs are American origin anyway.........

chillidoggy

roundthebend said:

octatonic said:

cruxiform said:

vasselmeyer said:

I believe that for every mile you drive, you are 27 times more likely to die on a motorbike than in a car. That seems a high price to pay for "fun". Even if y are the most responsible of riders, it's the other drivers you need to worry about. 

Couldn't give a fuck. Life's all about taking risks. I could sit at home pondering all of the possible outcomes of riding a motorcycle or get out there and enjoy myself on my bike. Which I do, and have done for many years. If I was to die on my bike at least I'd be happy doing something I loved.

I had 2 close friends who died Imagine being the sort of person who doesn't do what they want because of fear.at the ages of 35 and 41 of cancer and of a brain tumour. This (often shit) life flashes by and I'm all for seizing the day. 

This.

The 27x thing is only significant when you know how likely you are to die in a car accident.
If it is 1 in 1,000,000 then the chance of dying in a motorcycle accident is 27 in 1,000,000.
I'll take that- it is still pretty unlikely.
If it is 1/1000 then on a bike then it is 27/1000- or 2.7%.

The other thing is you can do an awful lot to mitigate your own risk by not doing stupid stuff- blind overtakes, ignoring maintenance, riding with group of bikers who take risks.
You can avoid riding up the arse of cars and you can filter at a reasonable speed so you aren't rear ended by someone on their phone.
You can slow down in the wet and not ride when it is below 3 degrees.
The statistics include people who do all this stuff.
If you aren't one of them then you have a better than average chance of not dying.
You can do advanced riding qualifications too.

The 'you have to worry about other people' thing is a bit of a myth too- well, you DO have to worry about other people but there are ways of avoiding accidents as well, no matter what someone else does.
It is called riding defensively.

When I ride I am always expecting drivers to do dumb things.
They mostly don't but when they do I know I have it covered.
Could something still happen?
Sure, but that its true of anything.

The other point is I can't imagine being the sort of person who doesn't do what they want because of fear.

I'd be curious to see the mortality statistics for alcohol compared to motorcycling though.
I don't drink (not because of the risk of death, just because I don't like it) but I do ride.
Would be interesting to compare the mortality statistics of someone who doesn't ride a bike but does drink.

2015 stats:
Motorbike deaths in UK: 241 https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/statisticsformotorcyclistskilledorseriouslyinjuredforthepast5years
Alcohol related deaths in UK: 8,758 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/bulletins/alcoholrelateddeathsintheunitedkingdom/registeredin2015

What happens if all those motorcyclists were also piss-heads?

TheBigDipper

I'm a motorcyclist and don't like to be called (or thought of) as "a biker". It's something I do, not something I am - even though I'd be lost without the ability to ride it. Is that OK? 

ESBlonde

Father of my payroll clerk is definately middle aged, been riding since knee high as the family owned a bike shop back then. On a bike tour of czechoslovakia with other men of the same generation. Except he is now in ICU at a Czech hospital with a pinned knee, a pinned spine and broken ribs. They plan to fly him home in a week or so!

All that noise and wasted power to transport one person in discomfort.

I visited the Yorkshire dales for the first time on sunday 9th July and it was very nearly my last and that of a bicker in too much of a hurry, luckily I stopped in my side of the road so he could use it to overtake a truck otherwise he couldn't keep up with his mates!! Twats the lot of them laying down on the twisting lanes that have stone walls right on the edge.

I do get the thrill and did grass/scramble/motor cross type stuff as a lad, but the road is for all road users not your playground.

underdog

ESBlonde said:

Father of my payroll clerk is definately middle aged, been riding since knee high as the family owned a bike shop back then. On a bike tour of czechoslovakia with other men of the same generation. Except he is now in ICU at a Czech hospital with a pinned knee, a pinned spine and broken ribs. They plan to fly him home in a week or so!

All that noise and wasted power to transport one person in discomfort.

I visited the Yorkshire dales for the first time on sunday 9th July and it was very nearly my last and that of a bicker in too much of a hurry, luckily I stopped in my side of the road so he could use it to overtake a truck otherwise he couldn't keep up with his mates!! Twats the lot of them laying down on the twisting lanes that have stone walls right on the edge.

I do get the thrill and did grass/scramble/motor cross type stuff as a lad, but the road is for all road users not your playground.

Agree with you there seen many a power ranger look a like riding like absolute clowns with no regard for other traffic at all, but that's the same as some car users, it's not bikers or car drivers, they are just life's arse holes just becomes more obvious when they are using he same road as you.

chillidoggy

I used to be a mad sod on a bike. I don't have one now, haven't been on one for many years.

I do know this: The older I get, the more I am aware of my own mortality.

Snap

vasselmeyer said:

I believe those who take up such an activity in middle age are also known by A&E staff as "organ donors in-waiting". 

lmao, yep, that's what put me off when I go this mid life crisis urge. I thought - married, two kids, maybe I should stick to 4 wheels eh?