Icebreaker

Pretty much the very first weekend we took our motorcycle out for a little spin in New Tampa, it became pretty clear that people are just nicer when you’re on a bike.

It’s a little ice breaker…far cooler than asking “What’s your sign?”, by the way. It first happened at a gas station when a pretty small, ham-n-egger looking yuppie was ALL about this motorcycle. That’s another thing I’ve noticed ~ everybody wants one. The guys who look like they’d have a difficult time reaching the handlebars? They want one.

He chatted W up about the bike, said he’s looking at some different types of bikes, trying to talk the girlfriend into it, etc. (Another note: those guys are always talking some woman into the idea).

You can’t pull into a parking lot without someone remarking about the motorcycle; old bikers, unapproachable looking men with scowls, the yuppies, young guys with Hyabusa’s….it’s just a conversation piece, I guess. Kind of an expensive conversation piece but can you put a price on friendship?  🙂

Anyway, it’s kind of refreshing to chat with strangers for a few minutes all because of what you rode into town on. On Sunday, we met a guy at a gas station driving a Dodge who let us know what he thinks of Fords because he has to haul a lot of weight to his 200+ acres in Georgia. As we were leaving, he told W that his truck (huge, by the way) will never sound as “cool” as our bike. Chances of us chatting with this guy if we drove into the station in my Saturn is remote. Just an observation.

Where else can you be cruising down the road and have some stranger ride up and tell you about the Saturday night group ride starting down at the Yamaha dealership?  Or have the Harley clothing shop guy take the time to map out a cool ride through Tarpon Springs?

Another thing. Those crusty looking, tattoo’d riders with unkept facial hair and sleeveless t-shirts? Well, don’t judge a book by the cover, friends…my limited exposure at garages and stores where these guys work has confirmed what I always knew. Good ole’ boys really are good.