What does it mean to be a biker?
Why do we do it? What is the motivation to ride a machine that leaves you
exposed to the elements and poses imminent danger from other machines and their
operators? Many have tried to answer these questions. Most of what I have read
has fallen short of being able to describe the true soul felt reasons. It may be
that it has become too cliché ridden to even try to talk about riding motorcycles. The word freedom has been abused by both
commercial and literary interests rendering it comical to any consideration of
inclusion. Americans love any term that contains the root word free.
A biker is more than someone who
rides a motorcycle. It’s a philosophy and a way of life that covers a wide
array of political and moral stands. No one political belief system speaks for
the motorcycle community. Bikers tend to be conservative in their political
views. This could be due to their
disdain for governmental controls of personal liberty and the fact that the sub
culture was largely founded by WWII veterans who were very patriotic and held
deep seated beliefs in self determination.
Today at the extreme end, some are anarchists who want no state control
of their lifestyle and have little to do with the status quo’s governing body.
Much has been written concerning
the bikers code, such as what is expected, what is acceptable, and what is not.
These are largely opinions of the writer
and are greatly influenced by their own bias. Bikers tend to be individuals who
are, by and large, dedicated to self definition. Many build their own machines and
take great pride in their accomplishments. Yet, the waves of commercialized
builders on television are presenting a distorted view. While many bike builders are simply artists
and business men who create a product to sell, when it comes to media builders,
they themselves are the product. The televised motorcycle build is the backdrop
for a pseudo reality show that is more concerned with the drama and chaos in
the relationships of the characters.
As with most things in the US, the
biker lifestyle has been commercialized, sanitized and packaged for public
consumption. It allows the wanna-be’s to assume that what they are witnessing is
reality and then they are led to reenact what they have seen on TV. Smart
marketers get the audience to buy the proper labels to outfit themselves in,
particularly garments with the shows name, and viola, instant biker. It is all
just too convenient and leaves me feeling flat. How about you?
