Once I was speaking to a very rich, powerful man at a black tie dinner. He said, “At an event like this, we’re all dressed alike - black suit and bow tie. Everyone is equal.” His words have remained with me all my life.
Since we climbed down from the trees, man has sought identity within a social group. Clan, tribe, village, state – all relied for their continued existence on a shared identify, a commitment to common goals. The need to belong is, and has been since the dawn of civilization, a survival trait.
In modern times, there’s not quite the need to band together to protect our families from marauding wolves but we’ve retained the need to gather together with people who share our beliefs and attitudes. It’s still there. Primal.
One of the ways we identify ourselves as belonging to a social group is in how we dress. Many groups have a common style of dress – military & police are obvious examples. Everyone dresses the same, with minor variations to denote rank, specialist function or a sub-group.
In LA, wearing an item of a particular colour, red or blue, identifies you as a member of one or another of the dominant street gangs. Throughout South-East Asia, elections are a colourful affair with each major party represented by a different colour. During a campaign, convoys of supporters decked out in yellow, green, red drive cars and trucks festooned with huge flags, forming ad hoc rallies wherever they happen to stop.
The colour provides an immediate common link with fellow wearers, allowing all to bond at an almost subconscious level.
So, too, with Harley-Davidson. We all dress pretty much the same, and while you can put extra chrome, kits and accessories on your bike, they are basically all the same. What you do, and how much money you have is not important when you’re on the road.
We all know the uniform – denim with leather boots, black sunglasses, t-shirt, leather jacket and for many, a vest adorned with pins and patches. Before I joined the Harley lifestyle, I never owned a black t-shirt. Now, I scarcely have anything but!
I was at a party the other day for my oldest friend’s wife. There were seven or eight of us from the club, and for some reason, no-one had ridden. Someone commented, “I don’t recognise you guys. You’re all out of uniform.”
Harley-D actively trades on this, and the brand is certainly at the upper end of the scale for lifestyle/obsession. Harley-Davidson is a leader in offering branded material for the faithful to buy. From expensive leather jackets to skull-emblazoned underwear, it’s all there.
Worn leather and steel. Black tie with dinner suit. They’re not so far apart. Just different sides of the same coin.
See you on the road.
Dressed properly, of course.
I was recently in Indonesia watching a mass of humanity carrying out their daily business on motorbikes of all shapes and sizes. I got to thinking about speeding laws and how they impact on us as motorcycle riders.
There are some who say that speeding probably isn't an issue for Harley riders as we ride slow, cruising bikes anyway. Well, I have a recent model tourer that is capable of breaking speed limits in every gear, and cruising all day at 140 km/h - 30 km over the maximum speed limit anywhere in Australia. So, I reckon it potentially impacts on almost every Harley rider in Australia.
In Indonesia, the traffic looks chaotic, but they’re not travelling at any great speed. 100 km/h is impossible and even 80 km/h is a challenge! Their fatality rate is about double that of Australia, but, in general, speed is not a major factor in accidents, with officials instead citing poor road conditions and driver error.
Traffic statistics in Australia quote “speed” as a major cause of over 50% of serious accidents. No break-up or analysis of what that really means. Plenty of credible scientific studies suggest that road conditions – surface, confusing speed signs, camber, etc are possibly a greater contributor to fatalities and injuries than speed by itself.
Speed cameras have become one of the weapons of choice in the war on speeding motorists. I’m sure they started out as a genuine, well-intentioned tool. But then governments got hooked on the revenue to be squeezed from poor motorists. This clearly does nothing to remove the perception that speeding fines are a type of unfair tax on motorists – cars and bikes.
Recently, the government in my state audited all its speed cameras to verify whether any change in accident rates had actually occurred as a result of their installation. The audit identified that around a quarter of all speed cameras served no purpose other than raising revenue. I wonder how many others were marginal.
Personally, what concerns me most about speeding laws as implemented in Australia is that, being "one size fits all", they are a very blunt instrument to manage/reduce road fatalities. The arbitrary number of a speed limit does nothing to encourage riding to conditions, and does not reward experience or skill. I’m sure we all know some people who are fabulous riders – highly skilled, very much in control of themselves and their bike. Others, however, are unsafe at any speed, and a menace to themselves and others on the road. And yet the law treats them both the same!
Although most of the discussion about speed revolves around cars, bikes add extra levels of difficulty. Constantly worrying about speed limits and the possibility of a speeding fine, or even losing your licence, takes your concentration away from the road. The same government that shut down speed cameras has also admitted that the complexity of constant speed limit changes is also a contributor to road accidents by constantly distracting the driver.
One of Australia’s leading race drivers, Mark Skaife, has argued that part of the solution to death and injury on the road is not more restrictive laws and increased enforcement, but a greater emphasis on driver education. He advocates driver training in schools and greater expenditure on roads to provide better driving conditions and environment. He cites the example of Germany, which has high speed roads, with minimum speeds, and yet a much lower traffic fatality rate than Australia. What they do have is driver education as a key part of school curricula.
Are speeding laws a de facto government tax or are they a genuine measure to protect riders and drivers? And more to the point, does a nanny state environment which takes away responsibility for driving from individuals, lead ultimately to better or worse drivers?
What do you think?
