WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

We are regarded and treated according to the way people think of us. Although we have been told to never judge a book by its cover, we do anyway. This is just a bit of human nature that we all deal with daily. Most times, we will look at the kindly elderly lady walking slowly through the supermarket with a kind, altruistic, and watchful eye… until you hear her on her cell phone telling somebody to F%#k off!

That’ll have you reconsider quickly, as you will get out of her way. On the other end, I have seen guys that I would not fight with a bazooka, and watch as they stop to help somebody whose bags just spit open outside Shoprite. 

It is all perception, and the perception that most Americans have of us is not all that good, kids.

Like Wendy Pojmann pointed out in Connected by the Street, the media did this – and then, I think, half of American riders embraced it… if even in a light way.

Sunday cruiser dress code almost demands the black leather vests and half helmet. I am not picking on just the cruiser crowd here. Sport Bike riders, with the $700 helmet and $5 Haines tee-shirt flapping in the wind as they lane-split at 1,000 miles per hour, do not help either. We hope that it is at least a “Beefy” tee.

Where are the good guys in American media and culture? They were once there.

SCUBA can thank a lot of its popularity to Mike Nelson and Sea Hunt. Many of us might have been bitten by the Travel, Motorcycle & Adventure Bug when we first saw Jim Bronson heading up the coast of California – a universe away from Woodside, Queens, for this 11-year-old kid.

Yes, Reno Raines was a bad ass… but still a good guy in Renegade.

Nope, today most media show us as anarchistic outlaws, or two-wheeled killers.

But, there is a glimmer of hope – especially with American commercials.

Who doesn’t want to hang with Flo, Jamie, and the rest of the Prog Gang… sorry, club.

Even when they poke fun at us, it still makes me nod my head in agreement. ‘Cause it really isn’t “just” a motorcycle, and Alan should bring his bike everywhere. Then there is the Vabysmo ad that has a granddaughter taking grandma for a spirited ride across the desert. Grandma even has an outlaw-ish jacket that has a rocker across it heralding “Improved Eyesight.” Cool grandkid – and at least, for 60 seconds, the young are actually riding. Rinvoq has a strong woman who is not letting rheumatoid arthritis slow her down, or from kick-starting that Thumper, getting that motor runnin’, and heading down the highway. There is another drug company that finishes with a gent swimming in a beautiful stone canyon lake, his bike on the shore. But let’s not forget the rider that is tooling along, half of him in full black leathers (of course - let’s not stray too far from that ‘bella figura’), the other half in his undies. Coverage… I get it. 

But the perception shown is amazing.

One side looks like a fairly normal guy, the other…Ummm, where is that bazooka?

The greatest commercial with motorcycles in it is from Taiwan’s TC Bank, about a group of five seasoned men, average age 81. They rode together maybe a half century back, and are fading, they have all rounded third and heading towards home… and they know it. Then at a quiet lunch, celebrating the life of one of them now gone, one of them slams a picture of them from back in the day on the table and yells… 

“Let’s Ride Motorcycles!” It tugs at a rider’s heart…but the greatest thing about this is that it is a true story. Five octogenarians, 13 days, and 700 miles.

If you have never seen it, search it out on YouTube. It’ll grab you, and twist you a bit – but in a good way. Really.

Welcome to the Jungle was started as a column “Dedicated to your Riding Survival.” But, maybe the most important thing is to get out and ride… like our Taiwanese riders, if you do not ride, you have nothing for which to survive.