The common bond of strangers

[scharny61]

I was at a service station today (gas station to you Americans) and noticed a chopper with an XS650 motor. I was checking it out and the owner returned to his bike after paying for his petrol. Immediately, we were talking about his bike. His passion was apparent. He was a rough sort of dude and normally I'd not really associate with him. If it wasn't for his bike, I wouldn't have talked to him I reckon. Just goes to show that appearances aren't everything.

It occurred to me, strangers that would not otherwise normally mix had a common bond , over a bike of all things! It's a strange world, isn't it?
The ammount of times I've talked to strangers about bikes, it never ceases to amaze me that a piece of machinery is sometimes all we need to connect with other humans.

Here I am, in Australia, communicating this to people I've never met yet it doesn't seem strange to me.

 

[hamamatsu]

That common bond not only exists between XS650 riders, it extends to riders of all old bikes. My buddy rides a restored 1970 BSA A-65 650cc twin, I ride a 1981 XS650H, when we go riding and stop for gas or a coffee, it seems like people come out of the woodwork to ask questions and make comments. The old bikes are a sure fire way to strike up a conversation with bikers you never met before and might not meet again.

 

[1974jh5]

My XS gets double takes from other riders and at a stop someone will, as the OP says, bond over an old bike. Well, except the Harley types who think it's beneath them to acknowledge riceburners.

It's the same with old British cars, the owners go out of their way to acknowledge each other and talk about them. Here in the States if you pull up somewhere in an MG/Triumph etc, someone will come over, comment and then invariably: 'I had a (insert whatever) 25 years ago, it was a piece of shit but I wish I still had it'.

 

[TeeCat]

It's the same with old British cars, the owners go out of their way to acknowledge each other and talk about them. Here in the States if you pull up somewhere in an MG/Triumph etc, someone will come over, comment and then invariably: 'I had a (insert whatever) 25 years ago, it was a piece of shit but I wish I still had it'.

This literally happened to me a few months ago. There was an MG parked in front of the Advance Auto as I approached the store to get something, and the owner was sitting in it. It was reflexive for me to compliment him on his car, and to tell him about the two B/GTs I had when I was in college and grad school.

TC

 

[picker]

In my short 50 years I have just noticed a separation of people in general, Bikes and cars certainly bring different people together but really most all of us aren't that far apart.
I still remember when it was safe to hitch hike across the country, breaking down you were sure to get help from others , I remember once I broke down and a cop pushed my car off the highway and into a gas station, then just left...No shakedown or anything.
Times they are a changing someone once said.

 

[scharny61]

That common bond not only exists between XS650 riders, it extends to riders of all old bikes. My buddy rides a restored 1970 BSA A-65 650cc twin, I ride a 1981 XS650H, when we go riding and stop for gas or a coffee, it seems like people come out of the woodwork to ask questions and make comments. The old bikes are a sure fire way to strike up a conversation with bikers you never met before and might not meet again.

Yeah, nothing like an old bike to start someone thinking of days past. I remember my first bike, a Honda CB200. Pretty lame by by todays standards but it always reminds me of my first serious girlfriend It was fun to ride too!

 

[scharny61]

In my short 50 years I have just noticed a separation of people in general, Bikes and cars certainly bring different people together but really most all of us aren't that far apart.
I still remember when it was safe to hitch hike across the country, breaking down you were sure to get help from others , I remember once I broke down and a cop pushed my car off the highway and into a gas station, then just left...No shakedown or anything.
Times they are a changing someone once said.

Dead right about us not being far apart. Sometimes I think all we need is an excuse to talk to someone. Try going up to a stanger and just saying G'day. They think you're after something.
I still think that there are just as many good people out there, we just hear too much about the bad.
Keep on talking to people is my motto!

 

[scharny61]

That common bond not only exists between XS650 riders, it extends to riders of all old bikes. My buddy rides a restored 1970 BSA A-65 650cc twin, I ride a 1981 XS650H, when we go riding and stop for gas or a coffee, it seems like people come out of the woodwork to ask questions and make comments. The old bikes are a sure fire way to strike up a conversation with bikers you never met before and might not meet again.

You may not ever see the other person again but I reckon it adds value to your and their life though, don't you think? Go old bikes!

 

[leggers]

You may not ever see the other person again but I reckon it adds value to your and their life though, don't you think? Go old bikes!

Very true

 

[avenue]

Before we get too xs-centric, this "bond" we're speaking of, and it's a damn good one, applies to most scenes, if not all of them. I've experienced the same bond with skateboards, bike racing (the pedaling type), aircooled VWs, and wrenching on old cars/motos, among a few others. Every crew has its own international, unspoken, handshakes/head nods.

I will say, I've noticed the strongest bonds are centered around engineering/mechanics/critical thinking (bicycle racing/fitness fitting into this category, for sure. same goes with the skateboard). This, of course, is my own experience but I like to think it extends beyond my, ahem...our, mechanically inclined minds.

 

[bbillington]

^^I don't know about a common bond in bike racing. I'm tight with my team and my friends/former teammates, but most of the elite masters in this area think that they can buy speed or are so full of themselves that they couldn't give two shits about anyone else. Not to mention most of them can't wrench to save their lives.

Commuters, on the other hand are a pretty tight bunch... I always stop to help someone who appears to need it, and have bummed tubes off of strangers when I've double flatted or had other unanticipated mechanicals.

 

[TeeCat]

Before we get too xs-centric, this "bond" we're speaking of, and it's a damn good one, applies to most scenes, if not all of them. I've experienced the same bond with skateboards, bike racing (the pedaling type), aircooled VWs, and wrenching on old cars/motos, among a few others. Every crew has its own international, unspoken, handshakes/head nods.

I will say, I've noticed the strongest bonds are centered around engineering/mechanics/critical thinking (bicycle racing/fitness fitting into this category, for sure. same goes with the skateboard). This, of course, is my own experience but I like to think it extends beyond my, ahem...our, mechanically inclined minds.

^^I don't know about a common bond in bike racing. I'm tight with my team and my friends/former teammates, but most of the elite masters in this area think that they can buy speed or are so full of themselves that they couldn't give two shits about anyone else. Not to mention most of them can't wrench to save their lives.

Commuters, on the other hand are a pretty tight bunch... I always stop to help someone who appears to need it, and have bummed tubes off of strangers when I've double flatted or had other unanticipated mechanicals.

Hey, guys...

Good to see some brethren! Former USAC Cat 4/Masters, Mid-Atlantic District here... road (criterium), individual time trial, track Cat 4 (mass start, individual pursuit). Packed it in after five seasons when it became basically a part-time job.

Indeed, I think all disciplines have their share of those who either embarrass or enhance their respective communities. I encountered both in bike racing, certainly: you have the hyper-aggressive nimrod who forgets that we all have to get up and go to work on Monday after the urban crit gallery is dismantled, and then you have guys such as former paralympian Ronne Irvine, who was the utter model of graciousness and good sportsmanship, and could never do enough to make a lesser rider feel welcome. In my very first race - a training race at Tradezone - I got shot out the back right off the gun, and just wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Ronne was the reason I came back the next week. So, yeah... case in point about commonalities and their value.

TC

 

[nj1639]

I go with the viewpoint that there are no strangers out there, only friends you haven't met. It's served me well through the years. Give anyone a few minutes of your time and you'll find a common bond.

 

[Oxblood]

I've experienced the same bond with skateboards, bike racing (the pedaling type), aircooled VWs, and wrenching on old cars/motos, among a few others. Every crew has its own international, unspoken, handshakes/head nods.

I loved the aircooled klick, everytime one of my bugs/ghia's broke down some one always stopped. I was rocking a red mohawk with my chains, punk patches, and spiked leather jacket one day in vegas when I was 19 and ran outta gas in the ghia. A 30 something yuppy looking dude in a passat wagon with his wife and two kids pulled up to help much to the chagrin of his old lady. Gave me a ride to the gas station and made sure I got back on the road before leaving. He had owned a bug back in the 80s.

Another time, also in Vegas, my buddy's Baja bug ran outta gas down a side street. He wanted to call a tow truck. I argued and said all we gotto do is start pushing and someone will help but he wasn't down. I pushed that bug alone maybe 500 feet to the main drag before a pickup with a aux fuel tank stopped and filled him up. Once again, another old VW owner.

 

[ReycleBill]

I was at a friend's house a couple of days ago riding my XS and helping him work on his Sportster. My friend's wife runs a dog grooming business out of their home.

One of her customers-- a really straight laced looking fellow-- came driving up in a Subaru to pick up his dog. He saw our bikes and started talking bikes. I'm one of those old scruffy looking bikers and wouldn't ordinarily strike up a conversation. Turns out he rides a Hog now but has also owned lots of other bikes in the past. When he realized that under the saddlebags and fairing I was hiding an XS, he told me he had one in his shop at home that he hadn't ever got around to repairing. Then he gave it to me.

 

[nj1639]

I was at a friend's house a couple of days ago riding my XS and helping him work on his Sportster. My friend's wife runs a dog grooming business out of their home.

One of her customers-- a really straight laced looking fellow-- came driving up in a Subaru to pick up his dog. He saw our bikes and started talking bikes. I'm one of those old scruffy looking bikers and wouldn't ordinarily strike up a conversation. Turns out he rides a Hog now but has also owned lots of other bikes in the past. When he realized that under the saddlebags and fairing I was hiding an XS, he told me he had one in his shop at home that he hadn't ever got around to repairing. Then he gave it to me.

Oh you dog!!!!!
Congrats.....a friend you had never met.

 

[ReycleBill]

Oh you dog!!!!!
Congrats.....a friend you had never met.

Indeed, we only need look around.

 

[MrBillohnooo]

Several years back, when Jerry was still alive, I pulled up behind a broken down VW bus. They were Grateful Dead followers, and needed a condensor and points out here in the middle of nowhere, Texas. I, being a VW person, went to the house, got em a used distributor, and just gave it to em. They returned the favor by giving me some of their tye dye'd shirts that they
sold to pay for their journeys. I sill have one of those shirts.....