Have you ever met a stranger riding a Harley?  I haven't, not in 26 or so years of on again, off again riding.

Isn't it neat how "Harley People" treats each other like family?  We stop and help each other if we are on the side of the road.  I was riding home once and got really sleepy, maybe because we were up all night partying with other Harley People.  It was about 12:30 in the afternoon and I stopped to lean back on the T-Bag and close my eyes for an hour.  Or so I thought, about every five minutes I would hear a Harley down shift and come to a stop, just to see if I was ok.  Not one cager, not even a passing state trooper stopped to check on my well being.

We open up our homes to strangers simply because they are passing through on a scoot.  These passers by will be housed, fed and shown a good time while they are in our homes.  Some times we even end up going with them on their trip because they invited us along at the last moment.  Some times we take parts off our own bike to get another rider down the road.

All this because of a simple mode of transportation a mode that really isn't all that comfortable on long journeys.  Lets face it and be truthful, there are a lot of modes of transportation that are more comfortable to travel in, but none as fun as a scoot.  And none of them have the same drawing and camaraderie as the Harley.

Yet, the general public will shun us; mothers will pull their children in tighter to keep them away from us.  Young girls will lock their car doors at traffic lights when we pull along side.  The elderly will leave a restaurant if we are there, all because of our simple mode of transportation.

If the general public would really look at us and emulate our actions and interactions with each other this would be a much better world.   Bikers and specially Harley riders emulate and live by the golden rule.  Others speak of it, but we live it.  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Author,

Jim ‘Taxi’ Lefty
American Legion Riders
Chattahoochee Post 251
Duluth Georgia