My how times have changed/I'll say it again

the Ferret

the Ferret

Road warrior
Thread starter
From the earliest time I can remember (mid 50's) until just a few years ago, one thing you could count on with Harley riders is that they always wore jeans, black engineer boots and black leather gloves (fingerless in summer). In my mind those things are synonymous, Harleys, blue jeans (Levis), black leather engineer boots and black leather gloves. They may have worn a sleeveless T-shirt on top, or a sleeved tee with a leather vest, or denim vest if it was warm, or a leather jacket on top if it was cold. Here in Ohio we haven't had a helmet law in forever so I don't remember them wearing helmets much (and dew rags only came into vogue in the 90's), but you could always count on blue jeans , engineer boots and leather gloves.

Passed these two fellows on this mornings ride. Bear in mind it was 56 degrees when I took off this morning with my Modular Helmet, Tourmaster jacket, deerskin gloves, blue jeans and Alpinestar boots (and it was a bit nippy dressed like that). There's a new breed of Harley riders.



and I will say it once again, for the umpteenth time. "I am not tough enough to ride a Harley" lol
 
Doesn't matter what bike they're riding, seeing a rider with an outfit (or lack there of) like that makes me cringe.
 
Thread starter
I don't personally care what someone wears or doesn't wear. Their choice, let them live with the consequences. I'm not an ATGATT type of guy either, more of a MOTGMOTT (most of the gear most of the time) or SOTHGATT (some of the gear all of the time) guy.lol

It just seems so odd to me to see guys on Harleys (you know the rugged individual brand..the guys on steel horses) wearing shorts, and deck shoes and red high tops and no socks.. and I've even seen one wearing a pastel blue plaid shirt. I just can't wrap my head around it lol. To me it would be like watching a cattle round up and the ranch hands are wearing Jimmy Buffet flowered shirts, sunglasses, shorts and sandals (who knows maybe they do wear that nowadays). Just doesn't compute in my head.
 
I agree with the whole Harley dress thing that you are saying Ferret. I was just saying today even though we don't have helmet laws in Indiana I am noticing more Harley riders wearing helmets.
 
I was at a Harley Test ride event this weekend (which was actually really awesome) and took my go-to riding gear -- Hood jeans, Dainese Jacket and full gauntlet gloves and A* touring boots and a Shoei full-face. Definetely got a bunch of funny looks from the "regular" Harley riders at the event. I guess that's just the new reality for them, as they try to attract a new demographic.
 
I have guys that drive M1 Abrams, the toughest tanks in the world. 70 tons of near unstoppable mass. They wear helmets. Who am I to go helmet-less on two wheels when these guys armor up on tracks? My leather jacket and steel toe boots took a beating and lost at 45 - 50 mph during my last down. I don't even want to think what my skin would look like without them there to take the initial abrasive forces. I'm not planning to crash again, but once the bike and I part ways at speed, it's too late to throw my gear on then.

Ride safe. Rubber side down. Enjoy the ride!


Sent from an undisclosed location
 
The riding two-abreast nonsense makes me cringe too, but I guess there are no curves anywhere in sight, so maybe it's okay. Stupid is as stupid does.

I occasionally see elderly BMW and Gold Wing riders around here without helmets. That too makes me cringe. It just doesn't fit the image of what I expect.
 
I'm of the opinion that from Harleys to Hondas, if it makes you happy then ride it and enjoy. If motorcycling is going to draw new people into the mix, then you can probably expect a bit of a dilution of the common stereotypes. The "Harley crowd" is an easy one to fixate on as they represent such a large percentage of the overall mix, but I'm sure the same can be said of the rest of the types of rider groups out there.

You just never know what to expect any more. Jeez, here in Portland, I've seen guys on bicycles fully decked out in motorcycle riding leathers and guys on every type of motorcycle imaginable wearing not much more than a pair of shorts and a tank top. There are plenty of other examples around to bridge the gap between those extremes. To each their own.
 
Guth_imp said:
I'm of the opinion that from Harleys to Hondas, if it makes you happy then ride it and enjoy. If motorcycling is going to draw new people into the mix, then you can probably expect a bit of a dilution of the common stereotypes. The "Harley crowd" is an easy one to fixate on as they represent such a large percentage of the overall mix, but I'm sure the same can be said of the rest of the types of rider groups out there.

You just never know what to expect any more. Jeez, here in Portland, I've seen guys on bicycles fully decked out in motorcycle riding leathers and guys on every type of motorcycle imaginable wearing not much more than a pair of shorts and a tank top. There are plenty of other examples around to bridge the gap between those extremes. To each their own.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. Those guys are doing their thing; some people NEED that excess sensory input, the biting cold, the heat, the wind blasting in their eyes with just a pair of sunglasses, the ear-splitting thunder of the twin-cylinder pipes. Truth is, without that outlet, a good share of folks would probably wind up in some real trouble.

With me it is speed and lean angle; thank God for racetracks.

Oh yeah, it's Portland, expect anything in Portland(ia).
 
This always reminds me of a story I read about many years ago.
When Honda first came to the US and was trying to market to
everyone - "you meet the nicest people on a Honda" etc..
The press interviewed one of the lower level mangers about their
market and he said they had hoped to sell 50k units. The press guy said a year? and he said no " a month". The press said , who do you think will buy them? The Honda fellow said "well we are not trying to
sell them to people who wear dungarees and railroad boots.

I heard he was fired a short time later.
 
I wore dungarees and railroad boots at one time. The pants were not on my radar, we all wore the same thing - small town in Montana. But. railroad engineer boots were THEE thing first graders wanted to have.

Indian motorcycles and Triumph TR3's were my little cast iron toys. :D
 
The lack of a helmet law is no excuse not to wear one.
Whenever I go to a non-helmet law state I can't believe it when I see people riding without a helmet.
Forget the rest of the gear, at a minimum one should be wearing a helmet, for crying out loud!
 
Thread starter
yea this really wasn't a thread about what you should wear or shouldn't wear, just a commentary on how things have changed about what Harley riders used to wear for decades compared to what I see them wearing now.
 
The ferret_imp said:
From the earliest time I can remember (mid 50's) until just a few years ago, one thing you could count on with Harley riders is that they always wore jeans, black engineer boots and black leather gloves (fingerless in summer). In my mind those things are synonymous, Harleys, blue jeans (Levis), black leather engineer boots and black leather gloves. They may have worn a sleeveless T-shirt on top, or a sleeved tee with a leather vest, or denim vest if it was warm, or a leather jacket on top if it was cold. Here in Ohio we haven't had a helmet law in forever so I don't remember them wearing helmets much (and dew rags only came into vogue in the 90's), but you could always count on blue jeans , engineer boots and leather gloves.

Passed these two fellows on this mornings ride. Bear in mind it was 56 degrees when I took off this morning with my Modular Helmet, Tourmaster jacket, deerskin gloves, blue jeans and Alpinestar boots (and it was a bit nippy dressed like that). There's a new breed of Harley riders.



and I will say it once again, for the umpteenth time. "I am not tough enough to ride a Harley" lol
Click to expand...

Ferret, this is off topic, but I have to ask ..did you take that pic w/ your phone? If so, it amazes me that people can take a pic without dropping the phone while riding. small little phone, riding gloves, aiming and snapping a pic ...that is skill.
 
Thread starter
Jrns.. No I always wear a small point and shoot digital camera in a lanyard around my neck. Easy to operate, don't have to look at it, just hit on button with one finger, point camera in general direction of what you want pic of, and press shutter button with another finger. Turn off camera with the first finger. Only takes a second or two. Can always drop camera and lanyard keeps it from going anywhere and it will turn itself off. Never know when an interesting pic opportunity will arise.

Here you can see how it's done



My son took these two pics of me on a trip to the BRP a few years ago. Here you can see the blue camera hanging by my left side

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/image_zpszgxcmnyt.jpeg.html]

and here I'm taking a scenery pic

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/image_zpsbjz6agnk.jpeg.html]
 
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