Yeah I'm just ribbing.

 

Well, I grew up around HD's. Never really liked them until I was older. I remeber my uncle was in a 1% club in Florida called the Stormtroopers in the mid 70's. I huess because I was around them my whole life growing up, I came full circle.

 

In the late '50's saw a couple of Harleys for the first time. One pulling a boat on a trailer and one pulling a camper-trailer up the Alcan (Alaska) Highway. All gravel at that time. Husband & wife moving to Alaska. I was about 10 or a bit younger. I KNEW I would own a Harley.

 

Those guys were some badasses.

 

I was inspired by my Dad to ride a Harley, he was FDNY not an "outlaw biker".

I like my secure 9-5, I like putting my feet up and relaxing without having to look over my shoulder. I like my quaint quiet life with my little house in a nice town, weekends with the wife and kids, there is nothing I envy about the 1%'er lifestyle at all to be honest, I don't even really like to party much anymore, a couple times a month is more than enough for me.

 

hahaha

 

My inspiration for Harley's was my father, even though he was a brit bike fanatic. He did however buy me my first harley, which was a SX 175 cc dirt bike. That thing was one of the toughest bikes I've ever owned. I swear you could take a ball peen hammer to the tank and it would barely dent it. After that I became very interested in harley's. My first street bike was a Honda, but it wasn't long after that I bought my first shovel and the rest is history.

On a side note, there were lots of 1% ers where I grew up. If anything, I found them somewhat intimidating...until I got to know a few. I can't say they were very good role models though. That was years ago. I don't know any these days. I just love bikes...and not just HD's. I do have a high appreciation for brit bikes.

 

I was inspired to ride by HD's latest commercial. When I saw the soccer mom on a Harley, I thought... Man, I could do that.

 

Always had a draw to 2 wheels.

From mini-bikes as a kid, to dirtbikes, mopeds, or a car bumper, rope and a bicycle .

I finally broke down and bought a Honda Shadow back when I was around 30 and like a couple others I have read, did so because it was cheaper option to see if I liked riding in Florida with all the tourists and retirees.

After about a year we sold the house and built a new one, but the time in between we didn't have anyplace to store it, so I decided I would sell it and get something better later. Later came and I thought about it but remembered I only rode the Honda maybe 10-12 times in the year plus that I owned it.

A couple years ago I got the itch to ride again, but this time I said I'm only doing it if I get a Harley. I knew part of the reason I didn't ride the Honda was because it just wasn't much fun, I thought it rode poorly and the chain drive was noisy.

After much deliberation and hinting to the wife to gauge her opinion I decided to do it, and started shopping. Check out many used bikes, even made offers on a few, but after a couple visits to the dealership to look at the bikes I pulled the trigger and bought the STC and couldn't be happier.

The wife and I have had more fun since buying that bike than we have in years, and have met some really great folks in the process.

 

This may sound completely twisted, but I think what first got the bug started in me was...

...CHiPs...

Yes, the TV show. As a young kid in the 70s it was the big show on TV and the connection between a TV show and a young boy and his friend riding around on their bikes with Rawpowers on the right grip was not a stretch in the least. It may not have made me say "I want to ride a Motorcycle one day!" but it certainly planted the seed. I can remember the freedom that a bicycle gave me as a young kid to ride up to the liquer store and get candy or rides to the local baseball card shop or hobby store.

I got older and wanted to ride dirt bikes but an overprotective mother put the cabash on that REAL quick. Dad was not really for it but he already went with me to race BMX so I don't think he would have been against it either. That rebuff of my riding desires probably cemented that riding seed even further. I got into cars, since I could, and my gear head ways pushed in that direction for the next two decades or so. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I missed the freedom that riding a bicycle gave me as a kid...the feeling of being able to touch the world as I moved through it. The doors and windows of a car, a cage, provided a barrier between me and my surroundings which never registered on a concious level with me. When the chopper craze started though bikes got more and more of my attention and that old draw to wanting to run around on two wheels came back.

When I got my first bike and started riding, the sensation I felt...the wind through the hair, that feeling of nothing between me and the world around me...reminded me of another time in my life...a time of Rawpowers and CHiPs. So while I must say that I feel I identify more with riders who ride for the sense of freedom they get when they ride and who base their individualism not on how what they wear or what they ride compares to any other "group" but rather what feels right for them rather than a motorcycle LEO if I'm honest with myself, that celuloid of Ponche and John riding nearly empty So Cal freeways on their Harley Police Bikes, in a way, began my journy to riding.