05-02-2010, 05:40 AM
OK, pulling out the MLK reference is a bit over the top. I don't think comparing a biker running straight pipes to a champion of civil rights is even ballpark close.
I don't get the feeling anyone is coming out against "biker types". But an enthusiast that puts their enjoyment of freedom in the form of loud exhaust over the peace of their neighbors is hardly a hero. Pretty selfish behavior.
I may have the right to run power tools or play loud music at ten at night but it doesn't make it cool. Its the intrusiveness of the noise in quiet ares that is so over-the-top compared to the exhaust sounds of other traffic that makes people think poorly of bikers. Its not their bikes which are often beautiful machines or how the bikers look.
In our old neighborhood in Paukaa there was a guy that had a couple of beautiful Harley's, he obviously "babied" them when driving through our quiet neighborhood. He had the right to open them up but chose to be a good neighbor and I always appreciated it when I heard him rumble instead of clacking.
Just because you have the right to be a bad neighbor doesn't mean you should be one.
I don't get the feeling anyone is coming out against "biker types". But an enthusiast that puts their enjoyment of freedom in the form of loud exhaust over the peace of their neighbors is hardly a hero. Pretty selfish behavior.
I may have the right to run power tools or play loud music at ten at night but it doesn't make it cool. Its the intrusiveness of the noise in quiet ares that is so over-the-top compared to the exhaust sounds of other traffic that makes people think poorly of bikers. Its not their bikes which are often beautiful machines or how the bikers look.
In our old neighborhood in Paukaa there was a guy that had a couple of beautiful Harley's, he obviously "babied" them when driving through our quiet neighborhood. He had the right to open them up but chose to be a good neighbor and I always appreciated it when I heard him rumble instead of clacking.
Just because you have the right to be a bad neighbor doesn't mean you should be one.