Stereotyping gives bikers a bad rap

THEY’RE usually big, bearded, tattooed and ride two-wheeled machines that make more noise than a bachelor party at the 50 Cent household – that is if the financially challenged rapper still has some digs to party in.

Thanks to the stereotyping of movies, television, books and the media, the perception of bikers necessarily paints a picture of hairy and mean ‘don’t mess with us’ types, probably with a long list of criminal activity to back-up their tough guy image.

But let’s be honest, the common riff-raff can no longer afford heavy-duty bikes.

Nowadays it’s lawyers, engineers, businessmen and hard-working guys who make up a large portion of the biking community.

And a community it is. I speak from experience when I say if you’re in trouble, your biker friends will not hesitate to come around to your house with groceries and words of encouragement.

Even if your trouble is more of an emotional nature, they are always there to help you through the tough times.

This is what is at the heart of being a biker – you stand together, because it was a long, hard fight to convince Tannie Santie down the road that her daughter was in the safe hands of respectable people.

Despite this, there is still a generalized public notion that bikers just beer guzzling ruffians out to break break legs and causing trouble wherever they go.

All they really do is take their dream machines and, along with their friends, enjoy an ride out to calm the nerves of everyday life.

That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Cultural divide

But, and it’s a big but, bikers also need to understand that there is a great cultural divide within their cultural divide.

You get the odd chap who has been riding his Triumph since before you were born and will never consider riding anything else.

Then you get the adrenalin junkie, the man who lives for pushing 300km/h with his fire-spewing super bike, flashing in and out of traffic to get to work.

The adventure rider traverses gravel roads just for fun and the track racer who rides a Pesola to work because he feels his 200 horsepower track shredder is just too fast for robot hopping.

And of course, the inevitable ‘bad guy George’ who lives for rallies and revving his Suzuki with his right hand while sipping a brandy from the left.

Don’t discount the ‘laaitie’ on his 50cc either, because one day in the not so distant future he will be a junkie that gets his fix from the twist of the wrist.

Yes, they all exist in their leather clad glory.

So what makes up the mental checklist to define who can claim the rights to being called a ‘biker’, as opposed to those guys who just ride bikes?

The answer is nothing. All guys travelling on two wheels are bikers, so the need for a superiority stance is basically feeble.

Just be cool, and remember, even Valentino Rossi regularly whizzes through town on a scooter.