Bikers' image with the public - we've got a long way to go!

[datsun fan]

We, ( me, Ollie & Lauren) went to visit a very ill friend in HDU the other day,

upon entering the ward - " Oh! local hells angels are here!"

I think she was joking but not sure

Quite surprised as two were in light colored textiles and Ollie in "standard" Heine Gericke leathers - not a tassle, tattoo, studs, chains etc, in sight.

I guess some see a crash helmet and associate it with the Hells Angels...
When they do get the news, its usually something like the shooting of one on the M40 the other year....

[Wigan Chris]

"oh, so your a biker then?"

i always feel obliged to correct this question whenever it is asked of me, however pedantic it makes me sound.

"biker" to me is, as you describe above, the tassles/studs/tattoo's brigade, and rightly or wrongly, carries some negative connotations with the general public

i would class myself as "someone who owns a bike", someone who rides for fun, a mode of transport and as a hobby, rather than as a lifestyle choice.

Nothing wrong with either i hasten to add.

[Mabels Old Man]

I'm sorry to say that by definition you are a biker " one who rides a motorcycle/bicycle ". Cantsay it bothers me much to be honest.

[YEN_POWELL]

I would be a biker, but I don't own a van, wallet on a chain, leather waistcoat, large dog, some form of reptile and have a bike that's permanently off the road.

[Whealie]

Presumably this was a nurse who said that? In which case you answer:

So are you a nymphomaniac or a baby-murdering Münchhausen syndrome by proxy nurse? Or do you think stereotypes don't help?

[Snaphappy]

I'm quite happy to be a biker
dont think hells angels or any other gang style MC should be called bikers as most dont even own a motorcycle its more the ignorance of the few idiots that think you have to be a brain dead thug to get on a vehicle without seatbelts and twenty airbags
Unfortunatly they will never learn

[Warthog]

Despite being a grown man, and tipping up on litre sports bikes, my best mate's dad used to call me the Pizza Boy, so H.A. isn't so bad!!

After all, I'd have to question which is more of a menace to society....

[Wigan Chris]

I'm sorry to say that by definition you are a biker " one who rides a motorcycle/bicycle ". Cantsay it bothers me much to be honest.

thats the point i was trying to make. Yes, maybe owning a bike makes me a biker, but it does not make me what the public calls a "biker". And as that is what most people mean when they ask "so your a biker then", thats why i feel the need to correct.

[StumpyFingers]

When I started Riding bikes I was called a Rocker, someone who rides a bike, as against a MOD, someone who rides a scooter. The HELLS ANGELS label was not well known over this side of the pond.

[Tony Varadero]

I am a biker and proud of it. Biking to me means freedom an stereotypes are excatly the opposite of freedom, they tend to stick people in boxes
Whatever the public perception (or the perception of some ignorant narrow minded members of the public) of the word is i don't give a "sexual intercourse" lol

I walked into sainsbury's one evening in my leathers and I heard someone say "....here is one of the new fascists...."
their problem not mine...