MAJOR RANTING Major Ranting
Major Ranting
Us Vs. Them
What I like about people (myself included) who ride American motorcycles is that they are not afraid to tell you how much they love their chrome-clad, iron-infested bikes. I also like the fact that those same people don’t have a single care in the world if you or anyone else on this here planet agrees or enjoys it as much as they do. It must be from decades of other non-American bike riders telling us that our machines are inferior due to air-cooled motors, weight, or some other bullshit comment they decide to lambast us with.
We have all heard the comments about how our bikes aren’t that fast or that they are built with outdated technology and materials (neither of which is true). But I have found if you press most of these types of bike riders more, there is a root cause for their actions. It almost always ends up that they just really couldn’t seem to afford to buy an American steed or that their “better half” wouldn’t let them spend the money on a Harley-Davidson, Victory, or Indian. This is a laughable excuse since some of the poorest people I know have enough pride to buy American time and time again. This type of buy-cheap-products-and-exploit-the-product’s-few-good-features-until-you’re-blue-in-the-face action happens all of the time with a myriad of products, not just motorcycles.
Yes, most of us riders have thick skin and major amounts of pride when it comes to riding bikes made by Americans for Americans. And when do we ever care what type of bikes they ride? We sure as hell don’t care enough to talk them up about their wannabe lookalike cruisers.
Just remember that every day there are piles of worthless cheap sport and cruiser bikes being shoveled into landfill pits or melted in recycling ovens while every single part of our proudly bought and ridden USA-made bikes, no matter what shape they are in, commands serious coin online and at swap meets — usually for even more money than when they were originally produced. Let’s not even talk about how well American-made bikes hold their resale value.
We know there is no substitute for having a good ’ol American motorcycle between your legs no matter what some guy on a LED-light ridden and gadget-guilded Goldwing visiting your local bike night has tried to convince you.
So, the next time somebody starts giving you heat about riding an American bike over something else, don’t get in a tizzy. Just be a good capitalist and talk to him about American pride, owner satisfaction, and proper return on investment.
“USA-made bikes, no matter what shape they are in, commands serious coin online and at swap meets — usually for even more money than when they were originally produced”