I ride a Honda Rebel. It's a 250cc, but it gets great gas mileage and it's lightweight and agile.
The problem is that most folks think that motorcycles are large, noisy Harley Davidson's.
They sometimes want to know:
Don't you get blown around on the freeway? (Not really. I do have problems with headwinds and passing, since the Rebel is not really a powerful bike.)
Aren't you afraid on that smaller bike, being around the larger vehicles? (Only when the other vehicle is yakkng on the cell phone, reading, yelling at kids, or whatever else while they drive.)
When are you going to get a real motorcycle? (If you buy me one, I just might ride it once or twice.)
What fascinates me is that often those remarks are from folks who are not actually riding motorcycles at the time.
I wonder if they ride motorcycles at all. I have run into a few of those kind. They don't ride a motorcycle, but if they did it would be this really big, overpriced, underpowered, poorly built Harley.
Okay. Thanks for the scoop.
Don't get me wrong. Harley Davidson's can be nice looking bikes. It's just that they are not as well built as Honda's, and the Sportster looks like absolute crap and if I cannot pickup my motorcycle before people start laughing to much at me, then it's too big of a motorcycle.
I had someone remark that my motorcycle looked like a "little Harley". I found the remark fascinating because a Honda Rebel forum that I wander into had a discussion about folks insulting the Rebel. Someone stated that they got a complement and was told that it looked like a "little Harley". I suppose that it does look like a Harley, and I know that generally it's meant as a compliment.
In a later thread, someone posted a link to an article on the American Motorcyclist Association. The article is about riding smaller bikes.
Here is the link:
http://www.ama-cycle.org/news/2002/RidingSmall.asp
Rather fascinating article.
Essentially, someone else is stating the exact reasons why I don't move up to a bigger motorcycle: the smaller ones are more nimble and tend to be a funner ride.
Ta!
I just started reading your blog. I know I'm gonna love it because you are saying the exact things I have about harleys and rebels. As a rather small female, I want to be able to pick up my bike if it goes down, it has and I have. Further, when someone talks about it looking like a Harley I am not impressed, maybe I should be but I'm not. If I wanted a Harley I would buy a Harley. I want a bike that is dependable and well made and I think that pretty well puts harley out of the picture.
ReplyDeleteI have always been impressed with Honda's and was not dissapointed with my Rebel.
ReplyDeleteI know that Harley Owners bristle up when I mention that Harleys are not well dependable, but really? They paid around $15,000 - $20,000 for an image.
I wonder how many people wanted a motorcycle and bought a Harley and found it was too big of a motorcycle to learn on and gave up on motorcycles.
Balisada