Genocide against patriotic Americans who ride motorcycles? Right or wrong -- you decide.

Newninja, it looks like Bob Nelson told you the truth. The reason we won't allow pocket rockets and high-tech ricers along with us on Harley runs is that their unreliable junk just isn't up to the American road.

1. They are unsafe. Riding all day in a hunkered-over position assures that you can't see the equally-unskilled cager next to you, or hear when that sodden lunatic sees double from excessive boozing and crushes you under that ill-driven car.

2. Jap junk is built for a very, VERY short service life and then, it ends up in the scrap pile. Girls know that and those with any taste avoid the sort of greasy little kid that rides such junk, preferring instead to be on the same saddle as a much more intelligent man on a Sportster. After all, if he buys a throwaway motorcycle, then he'll throw away his girlfriend just as quickly.

3. Riding too fast for conditions is suicide waiting to happen. That goes double for ill-maintained rice burners with tires so hard that they cannot grip the road. Those tires on your Ninja are only good for about a month before they lose their plasticising oil, and become as slick as glare ice. The Metzler tires currently on my Harley FLHTCUI were new this February, and will remain only until they are down to 1/2 tread, probably before July. Then, because I am more safety minded than you hotshot rice burners, I will replace them.

Five will get you ten that you don't even do a pre-ride safety check before you hit the statrer and go out. Do you even know how to test your brakes safely and make sure your turn signals work properly?

Well, I could go on all night, but you heard it before and rejected it because it came from an old man with 40+ years of safe riding behind him. After all, what could we know that you don't know?

If you fail to listen to salty old riders who care, then kid, you are the next in line for the Darwin Awards.

Per Newninja:

Personally I think we would see the average IQ of the population increase in only a generation or two if we eliminated stupid product warnings (sticker on table saw -"keep hands away from blade") and let people choose for themselves whether or not to use a helmet, safety harness, etc..

Re: table saws. We have a full cabinet shop here, but before anyone goes to work in that shop, we put him through OSHA safety fundamentals, OSHA woodworking shop safety, and OSHA First Aid. It will cost me over $5,800.00 to get a new cabinet maker checked out on comprehensive shop safety. That is cheap insurance in any activity that poses an inherent risk.

Motorcycling poses inherent risks unique to this mode of transportation. That is why we mandate special endorsements on drivers' licenses. The same applies to all my Class-A CDL drivers: we give safety its due.

No one can be ignorant or careless and remain safe. If you ever thought that "Darth Vader" helmet gave you a coat of invincibility, think again. Hotshots on closed racecourses have EMT's handy to peel them from the road, but out here in the real world, those hotshots would not survive.

The best way to learn motorcycling is from proven motorcyclists. ABATE has chapters in every state, and these proven riders can show you how to ride safely -- the way they have been riding for 35 years on average.

You will notice that they ride a dozen makes of scooter, but the most often encountered is the old reliable Harley-Davidson -- because they are safe, reliable, fun, and you will find that they last long enough to hand it down to your grandkids.