Conformists.

[nik_the_brief]

Are bikers conformists?

Are Monster owners, in particular, conformists?

Is there a 'typical biker'?

Can we generally be categorised? Or are we all individuals?

Serious questions guys and gals and I'd truly appreciate your views. :lol:

[A Yerbury]

Conformists?? I used to think not, however there is a very conservative strain of rider -more so with ducatis?- that seem to object to any thing "different" ,any thing they can not and do not want to understand and whilst clearly enjoying enjoying some vague cool biker cachet they really have more in common with the daily mail Womens Institute masses with their "I dont get it, I hate it, They arent harming anyone but string em up anyway" mentally. Au contraire bikers can be alarmingly conservative! lets all get monsters, form a nice neat line and take a picture, NO JAP CRAP!

IMO

[CraigMac]

Alex,
Well put.
My thoughts are with you in our our of need!!
Regards
Craig

[MikeG]

Interesting question, conservative Ducati riders? Maybe its down to an age thing? Head on the block! I have found that other Monster owners tend to be of the not 18 age group, so maybe they seem conservative. If you check out some other forums or the mcn discussion boards, they seem to be populated with more than the fair share of "abusive?" types. Maybe we are a more conservative group on the whole, but this doesn't mean there is no room for those with "interesting" opinions and comments as long as it doesnt get to the stage that some of the mcn pages have got to, where the entire thread is about calling each other purile names and slagging every other bike off.
I dont like to think of myself as conservative, and one of the reasons I continue with the Monster is that it reminds me that I am an individual every time I start the bike up and ride off the Stepford Estate that I live on. BMWs and 4x4s.
So despite the fact I am seen as odd because I ride a motorbike every day of the week and I have to cope with the weather etc. I am not odd and neither am I conservative. My partner wants me to get rid of the bike coz of the kids and its dangerous etc. But it is probably the sole remaing item that keeps me an un-conservatie human. Sorry about the wandering rant but hey!

[spacemonkey]

Conformists? Contortionists more like...

[Rabbit]

Or are we all individuals?


/Monty Python

Yes, we are all individuals

[nik_the_brief]

/Monty Python

Yes, we are all individuals

I'm not! :D

[peteS4]

going back to what alex said at the top........ i didnt buy a duke to fit in with some cool club and look good, i got my baby because i love the streetfighter image...... which as it happens is ALL about doing your own thing..... making something thats special to you and to hell with anyone else...... i have seen some real bags of !*!*!*!*e in that mag but to the owner its just perfect, the only trouble is one of the best bikes to fighter has now been done so much its in danger of losing the one thing it was meant to stand for........ sid and aunty doris started to put the 916 seat on everything and it became as common as the run of the mill jap bellybuttons.......... while its true some may only have gone for a ducati in the begining just for the name, once you get one it does things to you....... some may only go for tiny little mods not really worth doing and others like paranoid dave is now moulding his own plastics !!!!!!!!


the ones who really feel their monster........ its heartbeat....... and love her for her and not just because every poll done says ducati is the coolest brand going..... we are more individual than any of the jap posse who all want the same looking bike, same paint job.... same lid and leathers etc....... i dont think the true riders in this club do conform.......... if you did you would have brought an sv600 or some other jap pile of poo.................. just look at how different our bikes are when we get together

[stef]

...mmmph..mmmphmmhpmhmh.... [still protesting silently, and off to join the box of frog that is the BMW R100 Owners and Riders Club]

[Phoenix]

the ones who really feel their monster........ its heartbeat....... and love her for her

Or him for him - I do I dooooooo :D

[nik_the_brief]

...mmmph..mmmphmmhpmhmh.... [still protesting silently, and off to join the box of frog that is the BMW R100 Owners and Riders Club]

Scarily enough I nearly bought an old R80 before I fell in love with my Monnie!

Glad I saw the light though :D

[DesmoDog]

Individuals? Well we're all part of a club, so there's got to be some group mentality. I think I'm different, but so did the prisoner and he was just a number.

[DesmoDog]

I had put a long rant together about Harley owners and aftermarket catalogues.

[nik_the_brief]

I had put a long rant together about Harley owners and aftermarket catalogues.

Yep, there are certainly some 'categories' of bikers with very rigid structuring, Harley owners being very much like that, or even the power ranger brigade as mentioned above. Also the IAM white Pan and day-glo Sam Brown brigade. Many motorcyclists seem to have a certain image that they want to emulate.

I think that's one of the things that sets Monster owners apart for me personally. There seem to be a much greater range of the sort of people who own them. There doesn't seem to be a 'typical' Monster owner.

Obviously many of us have shared interests etc. but one of the things I like so much about having a Monster is the individuality of it. It's harder for people to 'pigeonhole' you. :cool:

[A Yerbury]

just look at how different our bikes are when we get together

well actually no pete?! the thing is most monsters are red or yellow and the furthest many go is a tail chop and some cans?...Pd is very much the exception to this rule, copmpared to what folk get up to in the states we are pretty reserved bunch over here? perhaps this british pointless obsession with "resale value" is the problem? obsessing about the wrong thing perhaps?
AY.

[DesmoDog]

Thats what I was going to say, but I baulked at drawing comparisons to HD owners an Ducati owners. End of the day though.