Idiots on Motorcycles

Over the past week or so I have been inundated with conversation about the Streetfighterz, "Ride of the Century" due to it's prominence in the local press.  For those of you who are not familiar, the Ride of the Century it is a large gathering of motorcyclists, prominently sportbikes arranged by a local stunt group called the Streetfighterz. Here's a link to one of many articles about it if you want to learn more.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/dozens-arrested-by-police-during-weekend-motorcycle-rally-in-st/article_3c6d6e24-af0d-55a3-8b7f-c2492e5321f5.html

Many of my non-motorcyclists friends, coworkers & family have asked me about my take on this event and if I am/was a part of it.  Instead of using this conversation starter as a jumping off point to voice my biased opinions I simply replied, "Based on what you know about me, do you think I took part in this event?" Commonly the answer was "No".  I hope that the people that know me, motorcyclists or not, hold me in high enough regard to understand why the answer is "No."

I can preach about why I do not associate with this event but the reasons, i think, are obvious.  It's the same reason I don't partake in poker runs that involve riding from bar to bar or riding for long distances fatigued and miserable for the sake of bragging to my friends about how many miles I can put on my bike in one stint. It's simply not a good idea. My opinion is that there are idiots on all types of motorcycles the only thing that differs is how they choose to express what type of idiot they are.

I ride for fun and because I enjoy it.  Motorcycles are one of the single coolest sports, hobbies, passions that a person could have. It bothers me when people put something that gives me so much joy in a negative light. As a motorcyclist I feel I have a constant battle with public opinion about negative motorcyclist's behavior and it's my job to try and change it. I love seeing people on 2 wheels and I enjoy teaching classes to get more people on motorcycles because I want to share this joy with them. It's a little dangerous but with good decision making and education the danger is drastically minimized.


One last thought. There are a lot of good motorcyclists that chose to take part in the ROC this past weekend that have gone on record accusing the police of profiling them.  For them I will share a quote from my late mother, "Birds of a feather, flock together."  You understood what you were getting yourself into before you decided to partake in it. If you do not like the negative attention then maybe next year you will choose not to support it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of idiots on motorcycles; they come in all guises. It's our job as responsible motorcyclists to try and reverse the negative perception that so many of our counterparts like to exploit.