Last Updated 6/6/2010

(story continued from here)

 

As he explained what had apparently been a life-changing experience, it occurred to me that he was putting into words the whole biker experience from the fresh point of view of someone who had just arrived. He was so excited, it almost made me laugh out loud.

 

I realized he was describing what being around bikers was all about. It was like he was re-introducing me to an old friend, a friend I had almost forgotten about and was very happy to re-discover. I'd been around bikers for so long I'd forgotten what gives our lifestyle such appeal. I had taken for granted the essence of the experience that had super-charged my Honda-riding friend.

 

Then he asked me if I was a biker.

 

Taken off guard but also responding very quickly, I said, "Yes, I am a biker."

 

For the first time in my life I didn't have a problem understanding the definition of biker. I didn't question my qualifications, brand, style or dress. I'm not even sure I had a Harley T-Shirt on (yes, I own a Harley as well as a Sabre).

 

It doesn't matter. At that moment, I understood that being a biker was that feeling of comfort you have when enjoying a sport that celebrates the outdoors and a free spirit. It's the feeling you get when you ride alone or the thrill you feel when you hear 100 bikes rumble down the road. It's also the feeling you have when you sit around the fire at night planning the adventure for the next day. It's like those T-shirts that say, "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand."

 

The experience I had helping a newcomer to the biker world is also a part of the real biker definition. It hit me like some sort of religious epiphany that being a biker was not really what you looked like or what you ride or how often you ride. It was the inner peace that you achieve when you are on that scooter and you're a million miles from work, worry and pressure.

 

Real bikers are all members of a kinship with no concern for status or wealth. Instead, they have a "Live and Let Live" philosophy, while still watching each others' backs.

 

After all these years, I've finally discovered the answer to the real biker question. If you get a shiver up your spine when a good sounding scoot goes by, have ever stopped to help another rider in distress, or can't sleep because you're thinking about the morning adventure, don't worry, you're a real biker. It doesn't matter if it's a sport bike, a cruiser, or a dirt bike. If it's got two wheels and you get that special feeling when you saddle up, you get the membership card for life, no questions asked.

 

Somehow, this two-wheeled piece of steel has become a catalyst for bringing out realness in people. So the next time you see a Gold Wing or a sport bike go by, or you run across a broken down Honda, give the rider the respect he or she deserves, because they probably are a real biker. My Honda friend was. He was a real biker the minute he pulled into Sturgis and got that special feeling.

 

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