How to Recognize a Real Biker
During my middle-age-crazy years I rode a motorcycle for a while. I started out on a Yamaha Virago 1100 that I called El Vira; but after fighting the crosswinds of South Dakota on a trip to the big Sturgis rally, I decided I needed something heavier than 450 pounds, so I got a Harley. She was a 2002 Heritage Softail Classic, and I christened her The Blue Angel. She was big and powerful and shiny, and she had chrome in places I didn’t know bikes had places.
One of the ladies in our Ladies of Harley group wrote an article for the monthly newsletter defining the difference between a biker chick and a biker babe. I never considered myself either; I was just a biker, a real one. Here are a few ways you can tell a real biker from a wannabe.
- A real biker wears leather, not because it looks cool, but because a bug at 70 miles an hour hurts.
- A real biker’s leathers smell like road dirt and have bugs embedded in the grain.
- A real biker knows that a car is really called a cage.
- A real biker waves at other bikers – even when she’s in a cage.
- A real biker recognizes the sound of a Harley – and always turns to look.
- A real biker can pack for a two-week trip in a couple of saddle bags.
- A real biker knows that polishing all that chrome isn’t a chore; it’s an act of love.
- A real biker knows what it means to “ride it like you stole it.”
- A real biker doesn’t trailer her bike to rallies, she rides it.
- A real biker has more miles on her bike than on her car.
- A real biker knows it’s always a good day for a ride.
- A real biker can ride 300 miles in a day and be ready to do it again the next day.
- A real biker knows what it means to “keep the shiny side up.”
- A real biker knows all the best places to eat.
