Joined
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1,477 Posts
The response to our most recent troll was interesting and telling. Some people were contentious, some defensive, swearing they were not like other Wingers.
But all seemed to passively accept the negativity of the stereotype. That is given that a lot of Wing riders are old and or fat, then that is a bad thing.
I feel exactly the opposite.
I've been crazy to ride since i was 5. I always had to have the fastest bike made, no matter my finances. I used my sport bikes to tour. I thought a tourer was a Commando with a bed roll on the back.
I might never have owned a Wing if I had not been given one at 30 as a gift. I've met a lot of old Wingers. I've never met any that had anything to apologize for, or had to feel inferior to someone who was younger and thinner. Youth is just a gift. Being proud of it is like being proud of the nice clothes your mom got you. You didn't earn it by any special effort, and it will soon be gone.
Identical twin studies show that even people raised in completely different environments with step siblings of wildly different weights and different family eating habits, will almost always weigh within a few pounds of their identical twins. Being proud of your weight or your intelligence is like being proud of the size of your prison cell.
The one thing you can justly be proud of is how you live your life. How you treat your fellow man. Are you a force for good or evil in the world.
I've never been a joiner, and I don't get the vests, pins, patches, etc. But some people do. So what. Some people like beer. I prefer a good Cabernet.
Far from being disgusted with the older Wingers I have met, I have found that I view most of them with unalloyed respect. They know things. A lot of them rode when bikes and roads were not what they are now. A lot of them have had life experiences that make mine pale by comparison.
What I am most in awe of though, is the never say die attitude of some of the very Wingers that get the most disrespect. Some of these people ride until they're too crippled to hold the bike up anymore, then they get a smaller bike or trike out the Wing. They still may go to Wing Ding or other get togethers to meet their friends. Then when they're too crippled to walk any more, I've seen them put little scooters on their trikes. They just won't quit.
They wake up every morning, look death in the eye, and say "Get out ya damned fool, it ain't all used up yet". They keep the spark of life focused in a hot blue flame, instead of passively letting their candle burn down like the vast majority.
These people use every second of life that God gave them. They know how to live and how to love. I always enjoy meeting them, and usually end up learning from them. And the vast majority that I have met,
Make me proud to be a Winger.
But all seemed to passively accept the negativity of the stereotype. That is given that a lot of Wing riders are old and or fat, then that is a bad thing.
I feel exactly the opposite.
I've been crazy to ride since i was 5. I always had to have the fastest bike made, no matter my finances. I used my sport bikes to tour. I thought a tourer was a Commando with a bed roll on the back.
I might never have owned a Wing if I had not been given one at 30 as a gift. I've met a lot of old Wingers. I've never met any that had anything to apologize for, or had to feel inferior to someone who was younger and thinner. Youth is just a gift. Being proud of it is like being proud of the nice clothes your mom got you. You didn't earn it by any special effort, and it will soon be gone.
Identical twin studies show that even people raised in completely different environments with step siblings of wildly different weights and different family eating habits, will almost always weigh within a few pounds of their identical twins. Being proud of your weight or your intelligence is like being proud of the size of your prison cell.
The one thing you can justly be proud of is how you live your life. How you treat your fellow man. Are you a force for good or evil in the world.
I've never been a joiner, and I don't get the vests, pins, patches, etc. But some people do. So what. Some people like beer. I prefer a good Cabernet.
Far from being disgusted with the older Wingers I have met, I have found that I view most of them with unalloyed respect. They know things. A lot of them rode when bikes and roads were not what they are now. A lot of them have had life experiences that make mine pale by comparison.
What I am most in awe of though, is the never say die attitude of some of the very Wingers that get the most disrespect. Some of these people ride until they're too crippled to hold the bike up anymore, then they get a smaller bike or trike out the Wing. They still may go to Wing Ding or other get togethers to meet their friends. Then when they're too crippled to walk any more, I've seen them put little scooters on their trikes. They just won't quit.
They wake up every morning, look death in the eye, and say "Get out ya damned fool, it ain't all used up yet". They keep the spark of life focused in a hot blue flame, instead of passively letting their candle burn down like the vast majority.
These people use every second of life that God gave them. They know how to live and how to love. I always enjoy meeting them, and usually end up learning from them. And the vast majority that I have met,
Make me proud to be a Winger.
