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/Armantien 1d ago edited 1d ago
This past summer, I went with my buddy and his family to our local Ren Faire. He wore a harley t-shirt. Anyways, we sat down at one of the show's that was pretty packed. There was a boomer sitting behind where we sat down so I asked if we were in his way. His response was to point at my friend's shirt and say "I'd never mess with a guy in a Harley shirt". Like... that isn't what I asked. I asked calmly, and politely if he could see the stage and he drops immediately into some weird pissing contest B.S. And, what the hell does buying a shirt have anything to do with it? I swear, people worship brands like they're gods.