[il_ragazzo]

I'll just mention... My intention wasn't to single out specifically "law enforcement" as having an issue with or anything like that. I'm talking about friends, family, passer by pedestrians, shop keepers, whom ever... they see/hear about something another motorcyclist did/does and now you get the brunt of the lecture as if your guilty of it too just because you have a bike.... :

My most memorables just happend to have a couple of officers in them...

Krey

That's where I thought you were going with this when I read the thread title, and just thought you decided to focus it more in the body.

ALL THE TIME, I must defend my choice to own/ ride motorcycles from closed minded people's scrutiny. I used to get border line blamed/ lectured at for squidly behavior that other people have witnessed while they were driving . I have seen a lot less of this since I turned the katana from a fully faired bike into a cafe standard. And my DR doesn't seem like people have an inclining to say anything to me about it. It's as if they only blame sport bikers for it. on the other hand if people see that I have my helmet but can't see my bike they may strike up an offensive conversation. But more often than not if they are ignorant enough to be so presumptuous, then I can generally defend my self well enough against the imbecile's passive aggressive verbal assault .

[rexazz2]

LEO are just like bikers and everyone else , you dont need to be anyone special to be a douche bag
More people remember douches unfortunately

[BareKat]

Guilt by association?

Nop, I'm usually guilty of something.

It is now I'm selectively naughty.

[Bigyellowkat]

Had my neighbor come over to my house a few weeks to complain about the noise i was making with my loud sport bike at 3:00am waking up her kids. I opened my garage and pointed to my bike that was in pieces and told her bike was out of commission since winter due to upgrades and paint. She apologised turns out it was the straight pipes on her next door neighbors Magnum.

[gsx]

I have little old ladies always give me the "bikes are dangerous" talk at gas stations. I think its because im 5'7" @ 135lbs soaking wet and i look like im 16 (im 23). I just politely explain that im young and cant afford to put gas im my truck every week because gas is 4.30 a gallon and i get 16 on a good day in my truck. I think because people whom dont ride look at a katana same as a 250HP turbo Busa, automatically assume that i do nothing but squid around like the "dangerous street-racing crowd" they see in movies. I look at it this way, if you don't ride, you will think that bikes are the devil and anyone who rides is lucefer's offspring. I laugh. Funny thing being, no one thinks of little 50cc scooters as dangerous, and we all seen a 16 year old kid buzz about in and out of traffic. IMHO the fact of the matter is that 50cc scoots do not have any throttle to get you out of the way when needed, and most people who ride them do not have that concept.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QySxN0YIHOE"]Scooter Hit by Car - Motor Scooter Rear Ended - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRvTVjJYLeI"]girl on scooter hits car crash - YouTube[/ame]

[ShadowFetus]

Both those people were idiots, I bet the dude regrets wearing shorts, though it could have been much worse

[Slofuze]

Scooter Hit by Car - Motor Scooter Rear Ended - YouTube

girl on scooter hits car crash - YouTube

Stupid is as stupid does.

[sassyduck]

I get the "motorcycles are dangerous" talk all the time. Yes, thank you. I am aware of the risks.

[rexazz2]

Both those people were idiots, I bet the dude regrets wearing shorts, though it could have been much worse

shorts and flip flops

[Apok]

shorts and flip flops

That is weight reduction!
Tho I can't figure out why he didn't remove the helmet too....
That is weight reduction and aerodynamics.

[Wild-Bill]

And Darwin!

[black&blue]

Gotcha, I get plenty of that. "You ride a motorcycle? You know people die on those right?" everyone and their mother has some horror story they heard through a friend through a friend. My mom was pretty bad about that but I'm 21 and she knows it, still just a 5 year old in her eyes lol

This is why I still haven't told my dad I ride. He's a worrier, the worst kind. My mother's OK with me riding and understands it as both a hobby and a way to save a ton on fuel costs - she requested I not tell my dad so that Dad can sleep at night.

Of course, this is notwithstanding the fact that I was a damn hoon as an 16-20 year old and it took more than a few years for that part of me to mellow out.

I've been stopped on my bike ONCE. It gets noticed far, far less than my bright green Explorer does.

In SoCal at least, you can stay out of cops way by not looking like a hooligan.
wearing gear is a good start, having a bike that looks relatively plain is another plus, then adding something like saddlebags like I have makes the bike a little less sportbikey looking and more like a tourer.
It's also part of why i chose to keep the bike dark blue instead of giving it a WOW color.

Of course, I've also heard tell of friends being hassled for factory equipment. A buddy got a fix-it ticket for the factory orange transparent windscreen on his Buell Firebolt. Luckily, Ponch and John have left me alone, but I'm just dreading the day someone decides to hassle me for not having reflectors or something (FWIW, most of my factory stuff like reflectors is long since missing, along with a lot of the original bolts )

On this weekend's ride with S.C.A.R, we saw quite a few squids- including at least two squid females, a girl on a gixxer in just a tanktop and jeans and another wearing an armored jacket and helmet but with ****ing capri pants and sandals. I'm like, you're riding in SANDALS through Laguna Canyon?

[ShadowFetus]

That is weight reduction!
Tho I can't figure out why he didn't remove the helmet too....
That is weight reduction and aerodynamics.

Swap that helmet for a du-rag, Harley riders do that all the time. Not only is it light weight, it also adds +10 to coolness and armor.

[stretched600]

And Darwin!

Murphy too!

[bagndrag]

A lot of Harley guys around me will go out of their way to avoid eye contact at lights with anyone riding a streetbike and will flip you off in passing if u wave. I know wave just becouse it annoys them so much. Although is not neary as bad for me now since I cut the bike down and removed the plastics. I also get hit at work from the secretary about how I am going to die and she doesn't wanna see me squished on the highway cuz everyone gets killed on them