OR
Why Can't We Be Friends?
Opinions by Butch
I have been looking at the Motorcycle scene lately, and what I have witnessed is truly sad. Now a lot of the new "up and coming" yuppie bikers think that what is happening is NEW and IMPROVED...well, I am here to tell you that the newest trend towards Low Fat hardtails is anything BUT new. I have had quite a few choppers and I have seen, or built everything that these guys think so new and wonderful. Granted, back when the REAL builders were making these monsters there were no Blockhead motors, S&S didn't exist yet, and aftermarket goodies like we have today were pretty limited. Imagine if you will a world where aftermarket engine cases didn't exist. Scary huh? Well, we didn't have the benefit of all these things that the "builders" of today have. We had to improvise, barter, trade, beg, and eek...heaven forbid...actually WORK on our scooters. Yes, hammers, torches, wrenches, "heliarc" welders, slide rules, and the help of our bros put together some of the most "real" custom motorcycles to ever traverse our highways. The results of our efforts; depending on what look we wanted, looked a whole lot like your basic "ground-pounder" low fat hardtail you see today with the billet controls, evo motor, and for Gods sake, signal lights.
With the trend to "cash in" on the popularity of American Motorcycles, dozens of companies have formed building totally aftermarket motorcycles. Fat, Low, Lean?, and pretty much just the way chopper builders have been building for decades. Now I understand money, don't get me wrong, these companies have a good idea; cash in on the weaknesses of the factory by offering bullet proof motors in "custom" packages. But what I am seeing now makes me tend to think that things have gotten out of control. "Reproductions" of the Captain America and Billy bikes for instance. There is nothing "reproduced" about them. They are Blockheads with accessory covers attached. The Captain America bike had NO front brakes, yet these monstrosities have dual discs. Hell, I cringe everytime I see one in a magazine. Even the smallest picture I have seen of one jumps off the page as being WRONG! It irritates my sensibilities and my sense of what makes the chopper world go around. For Pete's sake people, if you want a chopper, BUILD the damn thing. Did God quit issuing imaginations somewhere back in the 60's when these "new" bikers were being born? Hell, I know of a kid that has more imagination in his pinky finger than some of these new "builders". I use that term loosely, very loosely.
I maintain my individuality by NOT adhereing to what todays so called "Master-Builders" (read that Masturbators) are telling the public are the newest and best items on the market. They want the dollars so freely spent by the yuppies on needless B/S when that same yuppie could have easily built several nice basic rides for the money plopped down for his billet covered monstrosity that looks just like his buddies'. And besides, when was the last time you saw a set of aftermarket Triumph cases? Mr. Joe Yuppie doesn't ride old Triumphs so no one is going to go to the trouble to make goodies for my bike. I have to do that myself. And take a look at my friend PackRat's chopped honda. As you can tell, he doesn't follow the trend like cows to slaughter, he has his own sense of what is right and will continue to follow his own moral standards. The world does not revolve around the "Factory" so why should all the aftermarket companies keep chasing that same "factory"? Sure, I have an attitude about what is wrong in the motorcycling industry. I have that right being one of the people who helped get motorcycling where it is today. I suffered the indignations, arrests, harrassments, and general apathetic attitudes through the 70's and 80's so that these high rolling scum bags can ride on un-molested having never known what it was like to be refused service cause the hair was too long, or because they are wet from riding in the rain, or just because they rode up on a ratty old Panhead. Yet, do these people acknowledge the contributions of myself and countless other died in the wool scooter bums?....Hell no!! They haven't a single clue as to what it used to be like, and if they had to go thru just a little of what "WE" did back in those fun/horrible days, then they may not be so free with their use of the term "biker". Ya know, it would be a breath of fresh air if just one yuppie were to walk up to me and say "Thanks".
I try to practice patience with these morons because like myself, they too have to go through their growing pains. The learning curve is a little less steep than in my day so they seem a little less inclined to learn the true meaning and responsibilities of being a biker. These guys will probably never have their asses kicked because they made a lewd proposition to someone elses ol-lady, nor will they have to polish a patch's bike with a toothbrush and chrome cleaner. At best, they will suffer public humiliation from a "real" biker when he picks the little prick up by his factory authorized leather jacket and dumps him unceremoniously into the corner of the "Dew Drop Inn" that he never should have ridden his FLHSTCXYZLMNOP up to in the first place.
Now that I twisted off on that tangent, let's resume the topic of discussion i.e. today's newest trend towards yesterdays wonderfully low choppers. Why can't people get original ideas anymore? I would love to see Paughco make a single shock swingarm frame for a Honda gold wing with a 6 inch stretch and about a 34 degree rake. That would be Righteous, but no, that is not what is "in" today. Today it is hard tail, or pseudo hard tail frames that are supposed to look like the bikes I was building back when building a bike meant something. I suppose if the yuppies were to assemble their own rides, I MIGHT begin to respect them, but probably not.
Today, with everything being computerized, there is little chance that an accessory from an aftermarket manufacturer won't fit. This makes assembly much easier and as such, makes it possible for anyone, including Mister Platinum Card, to build a motorcycle. Unlike my era when it was a crap shoot whether the parts you ordered were gonna fit or need extensive modifications. We didn't send parts back...hell, took too long to get em in the first place. So mister yuppie can in effect, be just like the aftermarket companies making aftermarket bikes and build his own bolt together billet bike to look just like it rolled off the assembly line of "Buttholes R Us" motor factory. I have even happened upon a couple of advertisements for "rolling chassis" project bikes made from brand new parts. This is a good thing I suppose if you are a guy with a pocket full of cash, a spare engine and tranny, and a little assembly time to spare, but most of my bros don't have any of the above except time. Who would want to purchase a new motorcycle without a motor?..... Not me. If I am gonna go to the trouble of building from parts, I am going to shop around, buy used when I can, and get the best deal for my hard earned cash. Witness my bro Badger. For less than 5 grand, he built a beautiful bobbed '53 Panhead. Can mister Yuppie scum do that? The answer is Yes, he can, but he won't because it requires heart, patience, and the humility to ask questions when you don't know what to do next. I don't understand where these guys get their egos from, but they seem to have so much of it that it comes in the room two weeks before they do. When they can put their egos aside and be real then I can see them becoming someone I might hang out with. Hell, if that day ever comes, I might even invite them over to my house....
Attitude?...Hell yes!
Butch
The Selling Out of My Generation