Harley ???: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

Some things don't change much over the yrs do they? The arguments never end and they always sound so much like those lofty debates in the high school cafeteria.
Back in the day, when I had only been riding/wrenching different bikes for a decade or so, I was absolutely convinced I would never settle for anything but two wheels. I was NEVER gonna get a car. If I had a date, I could always borrow one.... I didn't need no steenkin cage. I worked in a shop, I raced, I wrenched at home, at friends, etc. I read every bike mag out there. I taught friends how to ride, I joined associations, etc. Heck, I even thought I could rig a trailer behind a bike so I wouldn't need a truck to get to races. I was all that and a bag of chips. I knew everything about bikes...<SNORT> What a maroon

I was firmly on one side of the <brand> vs non<brand> debate. I could quote stats, racing results, reputations, ride reviews, blah blah blah. I could talk pros/cons of all the major brands n models. I had all kinds of slogans, mottos and sundry t-shirt wisdom sayings. A few yrs later I knew it all. Oh yeah, ask me anything about bikes, and I knew it. Just like any other 21 yr old, I knew it all. blah blah blah

Then I grew up some and realized I was just another opinionated Adam Henry kid who didn't know jack about life or anything important. Not sure I know much now either.

I also realized that I had nowhere near enough time in saddle to know anything about being a 'real biker' or even if there was such a thing.

Then it dawned on me. They were just bikes. Same as a car or a truck, nothing more, nothing special, just different (well, borrowing a car for a date was lame).
They weren't human, had no gender, and no personality, and they can't haul much stuff.
Bikes of a particular brand weren't cool or lame, and they didn't make you cool or lame.
Getting hit or hitting things while on a bike (of any brand or style) hurt a tad more compared to the same in a car.

Riding one brand doesn't make you any more/less a 'real biker' than anyone else. Not riding with someone because of the brand they rode was not exactly the height of maturity.
Getting beat up by m/c gang wannabes because you were riding the 'wrong brand' kinda sucks though, especially when you had no decent ID on them for police. Kinda has a tendency to diminish one's all fired up enthusiasm for the 'specialness' of bikes, and the supposed fraternal order of the two-wheeled hand wavers.
Crashing a bike into a car at a <ahem>high rate of acceleration, and surviving has a tendency to make you re-think your priorities a bit. So does seeing a good friend challenge all 3 of Newton's Laws of motion at once, and not making it.

It's been a few yrs since I sold my last bike. Now I have more important financial priorities, but someday might buy another bike. I doubt I'll be very brand concious, but I certainly will be paying attention to features, function, and fit. It's a throw away item anyway.