Put up, or shut up...

Not to toot my own horn, but...

I ride in all kinds of weather. I use my bike to commute all year
round unless there is snow or ice. I have ridden in rain, in cold, in
hurricane winds, on interstate, county roads, gravel, and dirt paths.
I did the Iron Butt Association Saddle Sore 1000 mile ride. I ride
for fun. I ride for transportation. I ride for exploration. My bike
is economical (especially with new tires!), it's efficient, it can go
slow and fast. It's maneuverable in tight curves like no other bike
(except maybe the 250cc and smaller scooters). It has a ton of
storage space under the seat. It looks sharp in its Vivid Red
Cocktail. I can park it damn-near anywhere. I have seen over twenty
thousand miles of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama,
Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio (and soon to be Illinois and
Missouri) on this little bike. Even still, I know I am nowhere close
to "badass" nor do I feel the need to be. This is just how and who I
am.

There is a small select percentage of arseholes with big cruisers who
like to give us scooterists a lot of attitude. They swagger around in
full dress leathers. They rev their engines right beside you in an
attempt to use the sonic vibrations of their straight pipe mufflers to
blast you off the road. They say "how fast does your little moped
go?", "I've been thinking about getting a scooter for my girl...",
"Why didn't you buy a REAL bike?" They buy lots of flashy chrome and
slap it on their bikes. They quietly make jokes and laugh at you,
sometimes even at the gas pump. They segregate, alienate,
discriminate, and (try to) dominate.

Come to think of it, so do a lot of the "go nowhere really fast" small
percentage of arseholes with sportbikes.

Here's the one thing that makes it hard for me to tollerate lip from
these guys...

In my (not so humble) opinion, trailers are for boats, lawn equipment,
trash, or for when your bike is broken down and you need to take it to
get it fixed. I just hope this guy is not in that small select
percentage. I have good friends who don't like to ride on the
interstate, in bad weather, or (usually) long distances, but they are
good folks who don't swagger, rev, mouth off, and discriminate. Real
Riders respect other Riders no matter what kind of bike they've
chosen. In that respect, if no other, I am an undisputed, Real Rider.