Due to the negative view upon riders, thanks to the New York incident involving the Range Rover, I think we should tell stories about positive interactions with bikers.
Yesterday I was driving my Focus from Missouri Bottom Road onto MO 370 (oddly where many riders evaded police during the 2012 ride of the century) as I saw a large pack of bikers where I needed to merge. This made me a bit nervous worrying I wouldn't have enough room. As I slowly approached the merging lane, I saw all the bikers lead by the Hells Angels Illinois Chapter, were all in one lane. The center lane to be specific. I safely merged as I was coming up on my exit just across the bridge as the riders signaled and merged into my lane. I was near the front, but the riders were slightly faster and they merged ahead of me. I waved as many bikers forward until they made a wide open hole for me to give them room before the rest of the group merged safely behind me. They headed north down Old 94 as I headed south towards Old St Charles.
I would like to thank those bikers for being kind and keeping the road safe while practicing what they love. I hope this does the job.
I don't have any stories like that, because I don't remember them. I do remember when bikers (and drivers in general) act like D-bags. That might be the problem with the biker image. Most of the time I see a biker, he/she is riding responsibly (perhaps fearing the death that would follow being run over by a truck), but that doesn't leave an impression.
I was in Myrtle Beach last Friday. It was the start of the fall bike rally. I probably passed 10K bikers.
Not one of them brake checked me. 
Rufledt wrote:
I don't have any stories like that, because I don't remember them. I do remember when bikers (and drivers in general) act like D-bags. That might be the problem with the biker image. Most of the time I see a biker, he/she is riding responsibly (perhaps fearing the death that would follow being run over by a truck), but that doesn't leave an impression.
The only time I've ever had a gun pointed in my direction is when the highway patrol shut down I-75 because a group of stunting bikers had taken over the interstate heading toward Atlanta. I was first in line, in a car, and officers with guns drawn surrounded and arrested the bikers behind me.
In my mind, the biggest problem is not bikes but how the combination of youth + testosterone + crowd mentality + powerful machines = a dangerous mix. Swap 'bikes' for imports, hot rods, mudding trucks, snowmobiles or watercraft, and the net sum is exactly the same.
Sometimes riding puts me in such a good mood that for hours afterward I am not a dick to anyone.
That nice guy in the supermarket that just smile/grimaced and didn't throat punch you to death for wearing pajamas and yapping into a phone instead of telling your kid to stop throwing all the gum on the floor and emptying your berkeleying cart onto the belt so we can all get on with our lives... that was me after a ride.
You lived that day because of the indirect peaceful serenity brought on by motorcycling.
just the other day I was behind a harley with stock exhaust. I was thankful
I don't think I've ever seen a Harley with a stock exhaust.
DrBoost
PowerDork
10/7/13 5:57 p.m.
I saw this guy, Jax. He was on his bike and passed a meth lab. He went and got all his buddies together, and with dynamite they blew that meth lab sky high! Nobody did anything to Jax and his buddies because he, out of the kindness of his heart, gives money to the local police on a regular basis.
There's a young kid on a nice Kawasaki (sport bike) who rides past my house 2-3 times per day. Appears to be doing 38mph in a 35mph zone.
Ya don't see that often!
When I was a fresh faced cop downunder, none of the colors wearing bikers I intercepted ever shot me dead.
Didn't see any bikes this AM (rain forecast) but the ones I saw over the weekend didn't bust my windows out with chrome helmets. 
mad_machine wrote:
just the other day I was behind a harley with stock exhaust. I was thankful
I was surprised that better than half of the bikes in MB sounded like they had at least mufflers. At least 25% had stock mufflers.
If you are flying colors you answer to a higher authority, Rules rule.
carbon
Reader
10/7/13 9:21 p.m.
I'm a good person who rides daily, I have helped countless people in my travels. My experience is, a higher percentage of motorcyclists are good people than you would find in a crowd of people off the street. This has been my finding in any group of enthusiasts (car people, etc.). People who are enthusiastic about things are generally of better moral fiber than people who are not. You dont make the sacrifices (and take the chance that some dip e36m3 will paralyze/kill you) that you have to make to be a motorcyclist unless you are a genuine enthusiast. There are of corse exceptions to this.
Motorcycles have literally saved my life, when I get depressed and can't see beauty in this world, I get on my bike(s) and 1) get some exercise and 2) travel the world, immersed in the experience in a way no cage could possibly allow me to be, seeing the world in all it's splendor. Riding is fundamentally different from driving, if you've never been a motorcyclist, I can't explain it to you, but on two wheels, I'm free in a way I'm not at any other time.
Ignorant people will always generalize about groups of people that they haven't taken the time to understand. Hearing all the negative comments about motorcyclists sounds just like all the stupid berks who hate on car enthusiasts. I love enthusiasts, the people I cant stand are the people who just float around never being passionate about anything. Those people are the problem.
I don't have an automatic dislike for bikers like many do (I used to ride on the back of my dad's old Honda when I was a kid), but I can't think of many specific occasions where I've thought to myself "well, what a nice biker that was.".....as opposed to the hundreds of occasions when I've thought the opposite (and a thousand more saying "that car driver is an shiny happy person."
That said, on my morning commute I occasionally get stuck at a light next to the same guy who commutes on some kind of BMW dual-sport looking thing. His exhaust is quiet, he rides with traffic, he signals when changing lanes, and wears all the typical BMW rider safety gear and yellow vest. I appreciate the fact that I've seen him a few dozen times in the morning and never seen him do anything that I would be annoyed about.
EDIT to above. I do recall one time years ago, in my Maxima, we were driving to a wedding in Charleston SC. Me and the wife.
I-95 got backed up so we jumped off to take US-1 or some other smaller highway that turned out to cut right through Myrtle Beach.
As luck would have it, it was "Black Biker Week" or something like that. And here we are, the only car in sight, and the only white people in sight, surrounded by a sea of black bikers (and later, in heavy traffic with Escalades and other SUVs towing trailers of bikes).
Nobody was rude or obnoxious, it was like being in a parade (a very loud parade). The only thing that I remember disliking was some girl on the back of a crotch-rocket wearing low-rider jeans with an ass 3 feet wide, g-string visible, and love handle rolls hanging over. And had to sit behind her for about 20 minutes
Umm who are those guys that show up at funerals for fallen vets? I don't think they show up in Cadillac SUV's.
around here, bikers raise a lot of money to help sick kids and what not by charging people for the privilege of joining them as they spend a saturday afternoon barhopping in large packs..
alex
UberDork
10/7/13 10:37 p.m.
I am a motorcyclist. I try to avoid groups of motorcyclists (unless I know them (and even them sometimes, too)).
Come to think of it, I try to avoid groups of any kind of people.
alex wrote:
Come to think of it, I try to avoid groups of any kind of people.
Explains why you don't go to Oktoberfest with me... kicks rocks, walks away
Yeah, there were some Patriot Guard riders at my wife's grandfathers funeral (WWII vet) several years ago. They were respectful and sympathetic. Luckily, there were no sign wielding morons there, but the 5 or 6 bikers who showed up were welcomed and thanked.
Nearly every weekend there is a "Poker Run" of some sort in the Daytona area. These runs raise money for sick kids, sick adults, or vets usually.
They frequently attract celebs to draw more attention, and raise more $$.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20131004/ENT/131009836/1064?Title=Actor-Steve-Buscemi-leads-Rossmeyer-charity-ride
Sure their open pipes are annoying, and yes, their "Cowboys and Indians" outfits are silly----- but give credit where credit is due. $4 million for charity is nothing to shake a stick at. And this is just one event, out of the hundreds that happen Nationwide each year.
Them Harley folks are good at the giving.
