You're not a real biker!

I love my new to me Suzuki M109R. This bike is powerful, comfortable, looks amazing, and pulls like a freight train..

Every time I park the thing it drawls people to it. This has sparked up a couple comments that I am not a real biker.

So these comments have me asking myself what is a real biker and am I a "real" biker? I have been riding motorcycles since I was a tiny kid on dirt bikes. At one point in my life I was putting 40k miles on two wheel between my bikes. Does none of that make me a real biker? 

So what makes a "real" biker. Does one need to be part of a MC, ride only Harleys, wear a cut and leathers, ride without a helmet, ride with a helmet, ride 50k miles a year on two wheels?

To me when I hear the term real biker I think of the old school motorcycle riders. The ones that would ride coast to coast. If there bikes broke down they could rebuild the entire bike with nothing but a tool roll and duct tape. If you talk to these old school real bikers they are brand loyal to Harley or Indian but they respected anyone on two wheels that showed them respect in turn.. now if you disrespected them you might find yourself in a hospital. But these are not your today real bikers. 

I think in this day and age we have two terms I hear over and over again. The first is real biker and the other is biker. Some people use these terms. Interchangeable but I feel they have there own group of motorcycle riders. 

Today most people think "REAL" bikers are motorcyclist that are in clubs whether that's a 1% club or not, That they ride a Harley, and wear the colors of the club. When they ride they typically they has 3 or more people in the group. They tend to put 10k+ miles on there bikes in a year.

Than we have the BIKERS. These are the motorcyclist that tend to ride only Harleys (Indians are becoming popular in the group), when they ride it's normally with friends and they tend to only neon ride. Neon riding is riding from one bar to the next even if that bar isnt but a half a block away. They tend to only put maybe 5k miles on in a year most of those miles are on poker runs for charities.

So this brings me back to the initial question, Am I a real biker or even a plane biker for that matter.. I would say I am neither and that's ok in my book. I feel that I am better described as a motorcycle enthusiast. I really think all bikes a cool.. I love seeing all the different brands and it saddens me to see that alot of the once amazing metric cruisers are going the way of the dodo bird. I love that Harley got into the adventure bike and I really want to test drive one. When I ride I typically ride by myself. I am not opposed to riding in a group but I really enjoy twisting the throttle and enjoying riding my way.

Whether your are a real biker, a biker, or a motorcycle enthusiast we all have one thing in common. The love of being on two wheels. Enjoy your ride and ride it offen.

Stay safe and keep the shiny side up..