{"id":12629,"date":"2015-06-01T14:39:45","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T04:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/?p=12629"},"modified":"2015-06-01T15:36:33","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T05:36:33","slug":"fraternity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/fraternity\/","title":{"rendered":"FRATERNITY?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"999870_608515859179052_500004873_n\"

The bad old days.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once upon a time (that\u2019s always been a good way to start a story, hasn\u2019t it?), motorcyclists held firmly to the belief that they were a fraternity.<\/p>\n

A brotherhood, as it were. Of the handlebars, no less.<\/p>\n

I was one of those believers.<\/p>\n

My belief was grounded in my experiences, which admittedly were rather limited at the time. I rode a bike and viewed others who rode bikes as my kinsmen. Certainly, were you to wander around Mt Panorama during the Easter races, or attend a rally, this belief would be bolstered. The majority of my fellow bikers were welcoming and friendly.<\/p>\n

But there were sections of the riding community that were not at all \u201cHail and well met, fellow rider!\u201d<\/p>\n

The outlaws for one.<\/p>\n

Them weirdly aloof BMW touring chieftains for another.<\/p>\n

And men who rode Moto Guzzis. They were the submariners of the motorcycle world \u2013 deranged, desperate and smelling strongly of pig-headedness.<\/p>\n

But everyone else seemed to be of a mind.<\/p>\n

As I got older \u2013 and boy, that sure happened in a hurry \u2013 I came to realise I had been fooling myself. The brotherhood I had imagined I was a part of was entirely illusory and largely a product of my na\u00efve desires to belong \u2013 even though I did not take up riding for that reason. I imagined that I wanted<\/em> there to be a brotherhood and had therefore convinced myself there was such a thing.<\/p>\n

But it was a lie. And as the years wore on and the miles passed, it became ever more evident that I had been bullshitting myself. And with that realisation, I finally admitted to myself that I actually didn\u2019t much like most of my fellow riders.<\/p>\n

Yes, I am somewhat of a misanthrope in any case. Moli\u00e8re had the absolute right of it when he stated: \u201cWe ought to punish pitilessly that shameful pretense of friendly intercourse. I like a man to be a man, and to show on all occasions the bottom of his heart in his discourse. Let that be the thing to speak, and never let our feelings be beneath vain compliments.\u201d<\/p>\n

So that is how I roll. You don\u2019t like it? Click elsewhere now. Shit\u2019s only gonna get worse.<\/p>\n

But my misanthropy is irrelevant to the fact that in this day and age, the vast majority of motorcycle riders are bone-deep knob-ends. I once imagined that the ratio of dipshit-to-decent bloke within motorcycling was about the same as for general society \u2013 perhaps even weighted a little further towards the decent-bloke end.<\/p>\n

I am now convinced it is the other way around.<\/p>\n

This does not mean that I live in a cave like some piss-stained curmudgeon and throw rocks at each rider that passes. But that might well be the next stage.<\/p>\n

For as surely as chrome sparkles in the sun, so many of you are a disgrace to motorcycling. You ride like shit, you whine like curs and you\u2019re deranged enough to think we\u2019re all one big, happy two-wheeled family. Far too many of you like to play dress-ups and ride in parades. What\u2019s left seems to spend its time bemoaning what other riders wear or what speed limits are being ignored.<\/p>\n

Such creatures are certainly not my comrades.<\/p>\n

I have a large and wonderful circle of great friends. I have never lacked in that regard. All of them ride. I have no business or any friendship with people who don\u2019t ride bikes. And all my friends don\u2019t consider other motorcyclists \u2018brothers of the handlebars\u2019. That\u2019s probably why we\u2019re friends.<\/p>\n

After all, true friendship is based upon shared politics, passions, needs and hatreds. It is strengthened by mutual experiences.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not based on simply owning a bike. Or even the same brand of bike. That\u2019s just a marketing exercise.<\/p>\n

Now calm down. If you\u2019re broken down on the side of the road, I will stop and render assistance if I can. Not because you\u2019re a fellow rider, but because you need help. My misanthropy does not extend to leaving you for the vultures.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s just be clear on this; just because you\u2019re on a bike does not make us mates, or brothers. I got over nodding at other motorcyclists decades ago. I will certainly acknowledge you if our paths cross on some outback road, but you need to stop bobbing your head at me around town like we share some special secret.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t. We never will.<\/p>\n

My motorcycling truth is not yours, nor is yours mine.<\/p>\n

That is the searing solitary glory of motorcycling.<\/p>\n

We all ride alone. Even in a group, we are alone.<\/p>\n

I have all the mates I\u2019ll ever need and I require no-one\u2019s affirmation or approval \u2013 and in fact I am much happier if you don\u2019t approve of what I do and how I ride.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t take up motorcycling to make friends, or join a fellowship. I was never that socially needy or inept.<\/p>\n

I took it up to ride bloody motorcycles.<\/p>\n

I love motorcycling. I love it like a shark loves blood.<\/p>\n

Motorcyclists? Not so much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once upon a time (that\u2019s always been a good way to start a story, hasn\u2019t it?), motorcyclists held firmly to the belief that they were a fraternity. A brotherhood, as it were. Of the handlebars, no less. I was one of those believers. My belief was grounded in my experiences, which admittedly were rather limited [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[67],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12629"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12634,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12629\/revisions\/12634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}