You ride what?

As a motorcycle rider, of course I am aware of other riders.  And to be honest, I often wonder why other riders choose the bikes they ride.  The obvious answer is that we all have different tastes, likes and dislikes.  Take me for instance, I'm a pretty hard customer to please but this is not about me.  

There are sport bike riders, adventure bike riders, cruiser riders, chopper riders and other riders, but why?  What is the draw to say sport bikes?  Is it the speed?  I don’t know.  But I do know that the ones that ride them are very proud to do so, and they love their bikes just like the rest of us. 

I don’t know about other parts of the world, but there are definitely devoted brand riders in the US.  Harley riders come to mind.  Yet there are others that will only own a Honda.  There is nothing at all wrong with that but I prefer trying out new things.  I base my opinion about motorcycles using just a few things.  Form, function and quality.  By quality I mean made out of a metal of some sort.  I'm old fashioned so plastic still means less quality to be.  Yet there are good arguments for plastic parts.  They are cheap to fix if the bike is dropped or wrecked, and that is a good point.  Yet my argument is they are also cheaper to produce, so why do plastic covered bikes cost so much?  This has always confused me.  But I digress.

From what I can remember over the years Harley Davidson is the most preferred brand of motorcycle in the U.S. since the late 80s or so.  Not so much prior to that.  Yet they have always had a devout following.  Growing up in the 70s, I was all about Japanese bikes and of course British bikes.  I've owned a few Harley’s in my time but don’t now. I'm sure there is a reason for this, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.  Oh, cost - thats definitely one big one.  Even today I own 3 motorcycles all from different manufacturers but all exquisite at what they were designed to do.  One is a Cleveland CycleWerks, one is a Suzuki and one is a Triumph.  Ever since I was a kid I wanted to own a Triumph, Triumphs were my dream bikes.  Them and Norton.  As I said earlier I have had a few Harley’s and that is where I got my taste for a cruiser style motorcycle.  I  like the way they ride and are very comfortable in my opinion.  So several years ago I found out they were still producing Triumph motorcycles, and they were supposed to be very reliable bikes.  The old ones not so much.  Which is why the Japanese ruled supreme in bike sales in the 70s.  So me being me, I researched this newer Triumph motorcycle company, and the more I read the more I knew I wanted one. 

Now I own a Triumph cruiser and it's better than what I had imagined.  Back to the point.  We all have different tastes in bikes, brands and styles.  The point is we shouldn’t care what others ride as long as we ride.  All motorcycles are cool.  None are better than the other and these days they are expensive so I suppose quality is what is most important.  With that said, all bikes are made very well these days so one is not better than the other, reliability-wise.  So let's get out there and ride our bikes of choice, and treat other riders with the respect they deserve - whether some return that favor or not.  We are in this together so lets treat one another as such.  Keep the rubber parts down and be safe this spring!