February 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

February 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

I saw a conversation on Facebook the other day talking about vests, jackets, patches and pins. Motorcycle regalia is not an exclusive Harley thing. Other motorcycle companies put out their own style of clothing and metal pins and cloth patches. But nobody does it better than Harley-Davidson.

Yes, I’ve heard over the years from biker types that they don’t need no badges; I mean pins and other means of telling other riders where you’ve been and what you’ve done. That’s their choice, but it’s those bits of history that you attach to your vest that is just another part of the Harley lifestyle. All I can say is if you are a new rider, buy a sewing matching that can sew through leather; it will save you lots of money in the long run!

This is another in a tongue and cheek series on getting into the Harley-Davidson lifestyle.

When you ride a Harley –Davidson motorcycle, don’t wear white tennis shoes. It’s common on other brands but it’s just safer to wear boots my friend. Vintage is always correct, new looks just that, new. On the other hand it would be wrong to buy a biker jacket on E-Bay with scrapes and tears that are not of your making. It’s just bad karma. Matter of fact, everything in the motorcycle world is about karma. And prayer.

As in running in 10k races, don’t wear a rally t-shirt at the rally you currently find yourself attending! If you wear a dealer  t-shirt from a place you haven’t been, announce loudly in any social situation that “This is a t-shirt of shame!” Then you’ll be okay.  A doo rag is to keep your hair and sweat out of your face. A really faded one shows that you had it in the nineties when the helmet law went away, and everyone threw their helmets away. Well, for a time anyway. Then common sense and seeing a bunch of wrecks along the way changed our minds.

Have you noticed that many riders, ones that are known to have ridden many years and have “seen the elephant,” usually  wear helmets? They have been there and done that. But go to Duke’s on many Sundays and you will she many newer riders braving the hot sun on their recently divorced, now I have a Harley and a hot chick, bald heads. Make your own informed choice.

A “Clubman” hat was popular in the forties and fifties. A pogo seat had a spring in a tube running vertical on the bikes frame that was your shock absorber in the days before rear tube shocks. A cheese grader was a bumper looking attachment that was popular in the chrome laden fifties.

Schott leather jackets are the coolest vintage motorcycle jackets, if you can find one. Brando wore one in the movie “The Wild One.” A kidney belt was the wide leather belt usually with metal studs that riders wore years ago. It supposedly kept your insides intact without the rear shocks that were common on early bikes.

The commonly referred to  1%, outlaw, or three patch clubs are different than a HOG group. HOG has been around since 1983, and is the largest motorcycle organization in the world. HOG is called a “social riding organization.” That’s the difference.So there you go.  A clubhouse is what we don’t have.  The term “church” is used by some mc clubs to describe their club’s meetings.  Getting whacked is what we don’t do either.

A basket case is a project motorcycle in many parts, waiting to be put back together by some stalwart motorcycle person. A bike in a barn is sometimes a basket case, sometimes not. Many times these bikes are up in the rafters of a barn. It seems that farmers back in the day, when their sons or daughters started terrorizing the countryside on their bikes, had the bikes hoisted up high so the kids could not get to them. Then they were forgotten many times. Thus, “Barn Find!”

Willie Hank

Panther Creek historian

Youths Gone Astray since 1955