r/BoomersBeingFools • u/CyanShadow42 • 1d ago

What is it with boomers and Harleys?

Some background: I am a lifelong motorcyclist, who likes to do lots of different kinds of riding, so I have a few different bikes. I'm also a bad influence and people who spend much time around me usually end up riding too, so my wife now rides and has a bike of her own. Between us we've got 5 bikes in the garage, all different types, and none of them Harleys because all of them together don't add up to the price of a new Harley and if I wanted that kind of bike I'd rather buy a Royal Enfield for all the 1940's tech without the $25,000 sticker on the gas tank.

The other day my MIL, the boomiest baby boomer to ever boom, upon seeing our garage, comments that she's "never seen so many motorcycles" with disgust almost dripping from the words. I point out that in her own neighborhood, I've seen a few garages with several Harleys that look almost identical except for color and a few accessories and suddenly having multiple bikes seems okay in her mind. I wish that was the only case of boomers being like "motorcycles bad but Harleys good" I've experienced, but it's just one of the more obvious and recent instances. Make it make sense please.

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u/SpicelessKimChi 1d ago

I have friends who are teachers, factory workers, lawyers, accountants and one is a university professor, and they all ride Harleys. The funny part is they all wear "cuts" that say different things on them. So a couple are veterans so they wear `USMC VETERAN' cuts and such but the others have, like, RIDE FREE and LIVE TO RIDE and other common sayings on them.

Ive asked and they say `well you wear your jacket when you ride' (I had a Triumph cafe racer style bike and a Yamaha sport bike when we lived in the states) and I'm like "yeah because that jacket has padding in certain spots to keep me from dying if I get into an accident!"

I wear protective gear and they wear a leather vest and think it's the same.

BUt I guess to them it's kind of a uniform?

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u/CyanShadow42 1d ago

Oh man, I remember an older guy suddenly grabbing my shoulder from behind while I was in the checkout line running some errands on my bike and then being surprised that it was "padded" as he put it. No duh, it's armor because I don't want to break bones that don't have to break if something goes wrong.

And they base their entire view of the danger on their leather cosplay and maybe a skull cap if lucky, and have no idea how good gear is these days. Geared riders are just walking away from crashes that would have hospitalized or killed someone a few decades ago.

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u/SpicelessKimChi 1d ago

I lowsided on my Triumoh once whilst wearing protective gear and once on an XR150 I had when we live on a small Caribbean island while wearing shorts and a tank top. I didn't het hurt going ~40 mph but I sure did going like 15 without even jeans on.