Doesn't matter what you ride .. just that you ride!
Ummmm.. .I call BS!
We've all seen the pics .. the memes .. the sayings.. the quotes.. the rants. Doesn't matter what you ride. Show respect to all bikes. Can't we all get along ... blah blah blah..
I've blog'd about this before so I won't go deep into it, but my first 25 years were on Kawasaki's and a Suzuki. Rice Burners. Metrics. Jap bikes. And, I had a blast. They were low cost. Great values. Good performance. At the time, I truly enjoyed them. Loved a few of them. But, lets be honest here. Would I have chose the specific models I did, had cost not been an issue? No
In '09, I made the leap into American Iron via Indian Motorcycles. I LOVE Indian Motorcycles. I'm passionate about them. But since that day in July of 2009, I've also ridden and/or owned Suzuki's, Kawasaki's, Triumph, Ridley, Harley's, Big Dog, a custom, Yamaha, KTM.... and I'm sure another bike or two I've forgotten about. I've grown to really enjoy ALL bikes. And to be honest, I don't care what someone else rides. What someone else owns. We all have to make choices based on personal tastes, our personal finances , our egos and a dose of common sense once in awhile.
What I've found interesting over the last several decades is the fanaticism of many, around a specific brand. Back in the day, that revolved around Harley Davidsons. I'm not talking about the early 1900s, but rather when I started riding; the '80s. Lets be honest. They were bad-ass bikes. A lot of folks that were bad-asses, rode them. Problem is when someone buys the bike and thinks they just accomplished both? Point being, this is what I 'grew up ' in .. HD and the 'others' . I rode the others. From my perspective, HDs were not of the same quality of metrics ( somewhat true statement ) , there were too small for me , and .... I couldn't afford one. So, I rode my metric and played the game, from my side of the fence. But I have to admit , deep down I thought HDs were cool and visualized myself on one. Dreamed of having one. Well, one that would actually fit me!
In '99 , Indian Motorcycles made a resurgence producing bikes out of Gilroy, CA. We refer to these bikes as the "Gilroy" generation for obvious reasons. In Sep '03 they shuttered their doors for reasons I've discussed elsewhere and were purchased at auction soon afterwards, and several years later, Indian Motorcycles were produced out of Kings Mountain, NC. Approximately 3 years later, Polaris purchased the company and moved production to Spirit Lake , IA where it resides today. Two years after purchasing the brand/company, they introduced a new generation ( I refer to them as the 'Spirit Lake' Indians ) and they have been selling like hot cakes ever since! They are at an equivalent price point as HD and they are nibbling at market share. Now we've got a lot of new riders/owners on Indians ... and ... a new attitude resurgence.
I've got to tell you, some of the shit . the attitudes.. and sometimes the stupidity that I've seen as of late from some of these newbies, makes my head hurt. Now we've got Indian only events, Indian only associations, Indian only rides, Indian this and Indian that. And, I get it. Hell, I've participated in much of it, and continue to do so. But my god, that doesn't make Indian Motorcycles superior over other brands. Doesn't make Indian owners superior. But, if you put yourself in the mix, some of the folks have gone off the deep end and believe, exactly this, with a superiority complex. And it makes me want to go back to the saying I started this blog post with .. "doesn't matter what you ride!"
But, it does. It does to me. It does matter what I ride. Like I said, I LOVE Indian Motorcycles. I've gone off the deep end with this passion. But those that know me, know I've got a couple other bikes in the garage. I've got a 10 year old Triumph Rocket that hauls ass. A five year old Triumph dual purpose that has proven to be more fun and versatile that any bike I've ever owned or ridden. And a 2 year old ZX14R that was the fastest production bike in existence on the day I bought it; it scares the piss out of me with all that power. But, they are part of the mix, part of the fun, part of the experience. I always come back to the Indians when I'm headed out for a ride with my buddies, a ride to a rally, or the bar for a quick sip. There is nothing like them. They are awesome machines and my go-to choice; period.
Funny thing that most (all?) of us that own Indians know. Park that Indian, whether it's from an era of Springfield, Gilroy, KM or SL in a mix of others (usually HDs) and the attention normally gravitates to the Indian. Just a fact. I've seen this scenario repeat a thousand times over the last decade. Non Indian owners get butt hurt. Indian owners get big heads. Attitudes develop. Shit talk begins and continues. It's all part of the fun, the game, our world. The problem is, when folks let it take over their lives, allow it to brainwash themselves, and create divides that cause a lil chaos. And, I've seen way too much of that that last several years.
Does it matter what YOU ride? Well, not to me. I hope it does to you. What matters to me, is what I ride. And I love my Indians. ...... Just Say'n
p.s. Yes, riding something.. anything .. is better than nothing
We've all seen the pics .. the memes .. the sayings.. the quotes.. the rants. Doesn't matter what you ride. Show respect to all bikes. Can't we all get along ... blah blah blah..
I've blog'd about this before so I won't go deep into it, but my first 25 years were on Kawasaki's and a Suzuki. Rice Burners. Metrics. Jap bikes. And, I had a blast. They were low cost. Great values. Good performance. At the time, I truly enjoyed them. Loved a few of them. But, lets be honest here. Would I have chose the specific models I did, had cost not been an issue? No
In '09, I made the leap into American Iron via Indian Motorcycles. I LOVE Indian Motorcycles. I'm passionate about them. But since that day in July of 2009, I've also ridden and/or owned Suzuki's, Kawasaki's, Triumph, Ridley, Harley's, Big Dog, a custom, Yamaha, KTM.... and I'm sure another bike or two I've forgotten about. I've grown to really enjoy ALL bikes. And to be honest, I don't care what someone else rides. What someone else owns. We all have to make choices based on personal tastes, our personal finances , our egos and a dose of common sense once in awhile.
What I've found interesting over the last several decades is the fanaticism of many, around a specific brand. Back in the day, that revolved around Harley Davidsons. I'm not talking about the early 1900s, but rather when I started riding; the '80s. Lets be honest. They were bad-ass bikes. A lot of folks that were bad-asses, rode them. Problem is when someone buys the bike and thinks they just accomplished both? Point being, this is what I 'grew up ' in .. HD and the 'others' . I rode the others. From my perspective, HDs were not of the same quality of metrics ( somewhat true statement ) , there were too small for me , and .... I couldn't afford one. So, I rode my metric and played the game, from my side of the fence. But I have to admit , deep down I thought HDs were cool and visualized myself on one. Dreamed of having one. Well, one that would actually fit me!
In '99 , Indian Motorcycles made a resurgence producing bikes out of Gilroy, CA. We refer to these bikes as the "Gilroy" generation for obvious reasons. In Sep '03 they shuttered their doors for reasons I've discussed elsewhere and were purchased at auction soon afterwards, and several years later, Indian Motorcycles were produced out of Kings Mountain, NC. Approximately 3 years later, Polaris purchased the company and moved production to Spirit Lake , IA where it resides today. Two years after purchasing the brand/company, they introduced a new generation ( I refer to them as the 'Spirit Lake' Indians ) and they have been selling like hot cakes ever since! They are at an equivalent price point as HD and they are nibbling at market share. Now we've got a lot of new riders/owners on Indians ... and ... a new attitude resurgence.
I've got to tell you, some of the shit . the attitudes.. and sometimes the stupidity that I've seen as of late from some of these newbies, makes my head hurt. Now we've got Indian only events, Indian only associations, Indian only rides, Indian this and Indian that. And, I get it. Hell, I've participated in much of it, and continue to do so. But my god, that doesn't make Indian Motorcycles superior over other brands. Doesn't make Indian owners superior. But, if you put yourself in the mix, some of the folks have gone off the deep end and believe, exactly this, with a superiority complex. And it makes me want to go back to the saying I started this blog post with .. "doesn't matter what you ride!"
But, it does. It does to me. It does matter what I ride. Like I said, I LOVE Indian Motorcycles. I've gone off the deep end with this passion. But those that know me, know I've got a couple other bikes in the garage. I've got a 10 year old Triumph Rocket that hauls ass. A five year old Triumph dual purpose that has proven to be more fun and versatile that any bike I've ever owned or ridden. And a 2 year old ZX14R that was the fastest production bike in existence on the day I bought it; it scares the piss out of me with all that power. But, they are part of the mix, part of the fun, part of the experience. I always come back to the Indians when I'm headed out for a ride with my buddies, a ride to a rally, or the bar for a quick sip. There is nothing like them. They are awesome machines and my go-to choice; period.
Funny thing that most (all?) of us that own Indians know. Park that Indian, whether it's from an era of Springfield, Gilroy, KM or SL in a mix of others (usually HDs) and the attention normally gravitates to the Indian. Just a fact. I've seen this scenario repeat a thousand times over the last decade. Non Indian owners get butt hurt. Indian owners get big heads. Attitudes develop. Shit talk begins and continues. It's all part of the fun, the game, our world. The problem is, when folks let it take over their lives, allow it to brainwash themselves, and create divides that cause a lil chaos. And, I've seen way too much of that that last several years.
Does it matter what YOU ride? Well, not to me. I hope it does to you. What matters to me, is what I ride. And I love my Indians. ...... Just Say'n
p.s. Yes, riding something.. anything .. is better than nothing
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