Weird interaction with a middle-aged woman yesterday. I was gassing up my '79 airhead/dnepr rig while a woman was fueling a mini-van at the pump behind me. She finished first and walked towards me. I'm used to people stopping by to chit chat about the sidecar rig so I was a little astounded to get a monlogue that went a little like this:
"So BMW makes motorcycles now. What will they think of next. I guess you young people (I'm nearly 40) just don't have enough things to spend your money on. Wasteful, just wasteful."
My snappy comeback: "uhhhhhhh......yep....."
I think I would have ripped back with, yea, this 50mpg and 8 dollar fill ups really hurt.
I know that I rarely get my truck out. There is little that I can not do or haul with one of my motorcycles.
Or you could have said something to the affect, "Yeah, they stole the technology from the Russians. It's a copy of a Ural motorcycle..."
Grin...
Thats a good one
I understand her point of view. However, many things at first glance appear "wasteful". The bike is just not a hobby it is also a form of transportation that happens to be very thrifty with fuel. The primary purpose is a passion to ride motorcycles and specifically a motorcycle with a sidecar. It is not wasteful to pursue that passion. People watch TV at night that could be considered wasteful of ones time, you could go on and on. This is a good wholesome passion that is positive towards all with very few downsides. If that didn't work with her, maybe she was having a bad day.
Originally written by hackellis on 10/3/2006 1:40 PM
I understand her point of view. However, many things at first glance appear "wasteful". The bike is just not a hobby it is also a form of transportation that happens to be very thrifty with fuel.
This has always been a "pet peeve" of mine. We are one of the only countries in the world that has more cars than people. Or, for that matter, more cars than motorcycles! I'd like to find a way to change that perception in people, but as long as the only time they see bikes are when they're lined up at the bar or cruising in a pack down the highway, the notion will persist. As a student, I fought very hard for a dedicated motorcycle parking area at the local college. It didn't happen until we got a new president who, aside from being a complete ass, was a motorcyclist. For the next two years I never saw more than 5 motorcycles parked there. More often than not there were only two, mine and the president's. Same thing at 3M. Nearly everyone I met owned a bike, but they'd rather drive the SUV and whine that they wish they were out riding the bike instead of sitting at work.
I think her viewpoint was more from the standpoint of it being a BMW motorcycle. She was thinking that BMW had just entered the motorcycle market and it was just a new yuppie status symbol. My sidecar has a BMW auto style badge on the "trunk" which makes it more apparent to people not familiar with bikes that the rig is bavarian powered. She probably wouldn't have said a word, had I a big Harley rig.
Good recommendation for Perry's Sidecar that the woman had no idea that the bike she was looking at was 27 years old.
Originally written by slowrideR on 10/4/2006 10:25 AM
I think her viewpoint was more from the standpoint of it being a BMW motorcycle.
I think her viewpoint was from a postition of total ignorance. One can be judgemental and one can be ignorant; but one should never be both!
I always thought "BMW" was short for "Bald Man's Wheels"
I get that every 5 years or so. Raised eyebrows- "when did BMW start making motorcycles?!" (Often from a BMW car owner)
The toughest one for me was many years ago in Berkeley. A really old Jewish guy (possibly w a touch of Alzheimers?) got really upset with me for driving a German war machine. He was surprised it was even legal. Nothing glib to say...
If all else fails, hit them with the facts...
First BMW cycle - 1921.
First BMW car - 1929.
Sarge
People are silly. I also get "Hey, when did they start making motorcycles?" every two or three years. It doesn't really matter to me; I have a tendency to ignore cagers, generally.
Originally written by Sarge on 10/9/2006 11:35 PM
If all else fails, hit them with the facts...
First BMW cycle - 1921.
First BMW car - 1929.
Sarge
With memory failing here at a tremoundous speed... what was the date BMW made their first... airplane engine?... THAT IS HOW it all started... right???
Be well... Ara
As soon as I read the question "1917" popped into my head.
But that might of been the year I first kissed a girl...
Originally written by Sarge on 10/9/2006 10:35 PM
If all else fails, hit them with the facts...
First BMW cycle - 1921.
First BMW car - 1929.
Sarge
According to the BMWworld website:
http://www.bmwworld.com/bmw/history/index.htm
------------------------------------------------------
1916 -
Gustav Otto, Franz-Josef Popp and Karl Rapp
The Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG (BFW) is founded, and partner Gustav Otto (right) merges his three-year-old aircraft factory.
Rapp owns the Rapp Motoren Werke, which is renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH and whose first CEO is Franz-Josef Popp.
In 1922, BFW and BMW GmbH combine to form the BMW company that we know today.
[BMW Group considers this date the official beginning of BMW.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1917 -
Two Austrians, Franz-Josef Popp and Max Friz, backed by a Vienna financier, Camillo Castiglioni, take over Rapp's business and rename it Bayerische Motoren Werke -- BMW.
BMW's first aircraft engine -- the Type IIIa -- goes into production. A water-cooled six-cylinder inline engine, it features a unique "high-altitude carburetor" developed by Friz that allows it to develop full power at altitude.
A rotating propeller is the inspiration for the BMW logo
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1923 -
The 1923 BMW R32 motorcycle was a 500 cc cycle designed by Max Friz.
Earlier models created by the company, including the Flink {1921} (148 cc) and the Helios (500 cc), were chain driven. BMW even experimented with a belt driven cycle before determining that shaft-drive was the most effective and reliable way to power a motorcycle. BMW motorcycles have been shaft driven since the 1923 R32.
[This is the date most BMW riders give as when the first "true" BMW motorcycle was introduced. It was the first model to be "branded" as a BMW.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1929 -
The Dixi on display at the Berlin Motor Show
BMW buys the car factory at Eisenach/Thuringia and with it the license to build a small car called the Dixi. The company concludes a license agreement to build radial engines with American aircraft-engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1932 -
The New 20hp BMW 3/20, the first model to be developed entirely in Munich, wins the Concours d'Elegance in Baden-Baden.
[first car completely designed, built and branded by BMW - get my vote for their first car.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ain't the internet great?... 😉
