What's a Biker?

          Ya know... I hear a lot of folks talking about riders who are, or aren't, "real" bikers. (grin) And it ocurred to me that I really don't know what a "real" biker is! Oh, I have some thoughts about it  —  who doesn't have opinions?

          So I thought I'd take advantage of your patience, and your good nature; and put down some of the things I think of, when someone talks about "real" bikers. Of course, as always, you're perfectly free to disagree  —  and I'm sure some of you will! (laughing)

          What makes someone a biker? Is it the "look?" Is it the lifestyle? Is it a love of bikes? Is it the desire to ride more than almost anything else? Is it being a club member? Is it putting bikes ahead of everything else in your life? Or does it have to be all of that, and more?

          Well, I don't know. (smiling) When I think of a "biker," I think of someone who loves to ride; someone who isn't happy unless there's a bike in the garage (or in the driveway, or the street, or even in the house!); who curses the snow, and the ice, because they keep him/her (yes, I think women can be bikers, too) from riding; someone who even if they haven't learned yet how to take a machine apart and put it back together, have a need to to learn how, and do it.

          I think that maybe a "biker" is someone who "lives to ride," and who can't see a life without two wheels in it. I'm reminded of someone I know only on the 'net; a woman who lives in Australia. She is currently rebuilding one MotoGuzzi for a runaround machine, has one totally rebuilt to show quality, also has a Kawasaki GT550 or 750 (which she was trying to sell the last I heard) and a Ducatti 350 single racer which is bored and stroked... as well as other machines. She's ridden all over Australia  —  good roads, bad roads, no roads at all; and she wrenches her own bikes. Isn't someone like that, a "biker?"