CaptCrash

Life, Motorcycles and Labels...by CaptCrash

I work with teenagers, it's rewarding, confusing and sometimes awkward. One of the fun things is to be running around among kids and, occasionally, you recognize yourself! There's a moment when you're watching some knucklehead be a knucklehead and you think "Hey, that's me 30 years ago!" One of the things that make the adolescent years so awkward is teens clumsy attempts to define themselves. They aren't sure what or who they are and they claw and swat at ideas and things that they think will make them someone. I always find it interesting to watch them buy the clothes, or get the haircut or show off that thing that they think will be the thing that makes them unique and special.

There's a checklist that kids run down and think: IF I wear this, do that, or listen to this--I'll be that thing. Really. Look. For every 'tween girl who's wearing Hannah Montana lip balm there's a suburban white kid wearing an untucked 'long tee' and saying "fo' shizz homey". Or, there' s the kids that are TOTALLY unique and wearing girl pants and eyeliner--OH and if you don't dye your hair black/purple then, well, how can you call yourself unique? There's Emo rules you know! (Scarves are old school but don't forget to have an anime haircut!)

There's a playbook out there people! There always has been. Why do you think I cut the sleeves off my Molly Hatchet t-shirts? Heck, I saw a kid last month with a pink Izod and upturned collar. Hello 1980 Preppie. Need some docksiders to go with that? Tie a sweater on and you're done! Biff! Biff, where's the Evian? Teens work extraordinarily hard to have the right stuff. Cell phones and music players are a great example of this! Just wait until your kid's in Middle School and see. Fender Bender, smallest of the Crashes, absolutely HAD to have a phone with a keyboard...HAD TO. Luckily, I HAD to have him turn in a report card with straight A's. He studied, got the A's and now has a phone with a keyboard...that I can take away if the grades drop...(evil snicker...)

Somehow, having a full keyboard makes him feel more complete, loved, valued, or cool. OK, he's 13 years old but think about your motorcycling friends--aren't we kind of the same way? At some point don't we all just want something because it's...cool?

Myself for example, I got a new jacket for Christmas. Were my old ones worn out? Naw. Had I slipped so far behind the technological curve that I needed to get a new jacket to stay on the cutting edge of safety? NO. Did I switch from an un-armored jacket to an armored one? Nope, always been armored. Did I go from low visibility to Hi-Viz? Nyet. Better weather proofing/wind proofing/water proofing? That's a big negative GhostRider.

I got a new jacket cause it's so danged cool! Really. I dig it. Next video we shoot you'll see it! It's like a good tattoo! Why hide it? Show it off! I just like it. Does it make me a better rider? No. Does it make me more stylish? Yeah, I think so.

One of the most important questions a rider can ask themselves is "What am I?" How do I define myself? It's a fair question; how do you define yourself as a rider? Is it by the style of bike you ride? Is it by the riding company you keep? Is by your riding style? Who ARE you? Why are you riding the bike you're riding? What does motorcycling do for you or your self image? Are you riding a bike because you love to ride or because you think it will make you something you're not?

We often tell kids that clothes don't make you cool--you make the clothes cool. What you wrap yourself in doesn't define you; that's good advice like "don't straighten the pins on your hand grenades cause they might fall out!"

Although I could make this long I'm getting right to the point. IF you decide to start riding because you look at a rider and say "I WANT TO BE HIM"--you're starting in a hole. You can't be him. You can only be you. You've set an impossible standard. Good luck with that Sisyphus, here's some grease to put on that rock. That's a moving target you'll never hit. You'll never be that person. You can never have the experiences they had, you can't have the thought processes or dreams or ideas they have. They are they; you are you! The sooner you stop trying to be someone else the better off you are.

IF you buy a specific brand or type of bike because it defines who you want to be? You're still starting in a hole. It's another painful challenge. Just how is that motorcycle gonna make you fast...or smart...or cool? Some things start from the inside, Steve McQueen on ANY bike makes it look cool. But Poindexter on an MvAugusta is still...Poindexter; Poindexter with a cool bike but still Poindexter TO THE BONE. I would argue that a bike CANNOT make you cool. You have to make YOURSELF cool and then whatever you ride is cool by association.

Should I have poser rant here? A "wannabe 1%er" rant? No. Why? Because every flavor of motorcycle subculture has posers. They're not unique to cruisers; there are sportbike posers and adventure touring posers and dirt bike posers and sport touring posers, chopper posers, ratbike, britbike, long distance and even ANTI-BIKE posers. For lots of folks Motorcycles are like Paris Hilton to a 15 year old-- damn famous, so hot and full of "I am whatever you want me to be" that we have a entourage of wannabes and people trying to get into the glow wherever we go.

People want to be part of the motorcycle culture. Some just want to ride, some just love machines, others love the challenge of making a plan and executing it whether it be rebuilding an old bike from their youth or riding across the country without ever being on the superslab. Others just want the camaraderie of like minded people who are interested in the same sorts of things.

And some? Some just know that motorcyclists are the cooooolest people they've ever seen or met and just want some of that cool to rub off. They're careful to buy the right stuff and work hard to look the right way, they worry about doing it JUST RIGHT and there's no reason we shouldn't help them out.

Yeah, I don't mind people who are infatuated with bikes and want to pose with them--because they're people who can learn to love them. My job is to grin and bear it until they change from Wannabe to Rider; and trust me, no one stays a Wannabe forever; it's just not possible. They either blossom into a Rider or they wither and disappear. So look around you, look for that annoying guy who's trying too damn hard and give him a hand, show him how it's done. Sometimes when you kiss a frog, you find a prince.

And honestly? Weren't we all frogs once?

Be Safe.

Matt

I don't want to kiss a frog or a prince though haha! Nice read. I don't necessarily agree with everything you said, but it's nice to see people contemplating things like this

BLIZANTHIMUM

makes me glad ive been a motorcycling GOD since day 1.

**wannabe4life**

CaptCrash

Sleeves, no sleeves...what's it matter as long as it's Molly Hatchet?

loopy

bull crap we were dragracing $hit cans before we learned two wheels were better

turbolq4

BLIZANTHIMUM

dammit, busted!

CaptCrash

Fake it 'til you make it!

CBRF2Old

Epic Fail there Capt.

As to your point