Ducati Monster Forum

Today the whole team goes to lunch in different cars.  I was told that my former boss sees a biker on the roundabout passing them on the other lane.  He comments to the other ppl in the car "look at that asshole. There is no need for that n leaning like that". They then tell him that it was me. Lol

He actually says to me during lunch "was leaning like that necessary ?and why switching lanes fast like and not gradual? 

Throughout the years I have learned that talking about bikes with square coworkers is pointless and can be used against me if I ever call sick etc as a result of bike.

When I ride, I ride as I always do no matter if coworkers there or not.  I am not going to slow down extremely or go fast or such.  I will ride however I usually ride.  F'em :-)

Any coworker's pregnant dog about your riding to you?

 My coworkers always seemed to end up getting themselves bikes after I have been around for a while.maybe it was me coming in to work with a big sh!t eating grin on my face.......

I often ride with my co-workers.  ;D


Those that don't ride have been in a car with me driving so nothing would surprise them. [evil]

That being said I work in the car biz, so most are car guys anyway.

I am in I.T and surrounded by managers that are into golf.  I was told that 'I must not love my mother' or 'care about my life' or 'donor' and all the usual by co-workers.  I just shrug it off.

Sounds like you work with a bunch of douche bags. I've never had a bad comment about bikes at my work. Many of us ride and when they built a new station they even designated a covered area as moto parking.

I work with Men.  ;)

I was gonna say that. But then I thought of the women they fill spots with and I couldn't. Notice I said "fill spots."

My other pilot rides and we often ride together.  As for anyone else that finds out I ride bikes?  Well they all have a story of knowing someone, who knows someone else who had a friend get killed on a bike, so I tend to keep my riding addiction to myself.

I tell guys who reckon Im crazy to ride bikes that Im not crazy, they're just chickenshit. Some of these cockheads are threatened by people that have the grit to do something they would like to, but are too scared, or their mum/wife wont let them. Some douchbag guys are particularly threatened by the women who ride. Women who ride have my admiration big time.

All my close friends ride, do martial arts, other risky sports, etc. I respect the people who admit they are too scared to ride, rather than putting others down for doing so.

I save the harsh response for the dickheads who dont show respect for others interests or sports.

I am lucky to be self employed so I do not have to deal with steel trap minds anymore.  If I ride the bike to work my crew usually ignores me or says something like, give me a raise so I can afford a bike.  Which they can but it is better than admitting they spend there money on other toys, or GF's.  

What!  Don't like sport bikes, you're fired.  Naah I have a good crew and I treat them right, they only work half a year for me then they are off drawing uniployment, riding quads and fishing.   But yea, in the past I have worked with some of the most mind numbing motofobic people on the planet.  Not fun but then I think that is part of their plan.

I just found out because of chrome spell check that motofobic is a real word.   Interesting stuff in a search, also motofobia. WTF

http://www.forbiciotto.com/ (http://www.forbiciotto.com/)  I also found this intersting Italian helmet company while searching motofobia.  A leather Shoei?

Often my wife hears "How can you let your husband ride a motorcycle?"  Her answers vary, but always in my favor.  I don't hear from people about how dangerous riding motorcycles is, when I do it is often from folk having difficulty operating their walkers.  Only one person at work told me how dangerous riding is, a physics professor.  He used as an example a story about a graduate student who was hit crossing Houston Street on her Ducati and, as a result, broke both legs, costing her a semester at school.  I asked him what would happen if she was hit by a car walking across the street.  No response.

Because of my career (repair manual writer/editor) my co-workers have always been gear heads and many ride or used to.

We used to have an annual Chilton ride where a half-dozen or so would leave for a week, or a long weekend ride (to a rally, or for a week on the Blue Ridge Parkway or the like).

And you'd think that in a hospital my wife would run into someone anti-bike, but usually they're just impressed that she rides (which honestly is just thinly disguised and non-intentional chauvinism). Not that she cares either way.

So honestly it's been YEARS (maybe decades) since I ran into anyone who was anti-bike or bike-ignorant.

Never had anyone at work comment negatively.  Most were surprised I could afford a Ducati.  Happy to say I inspired 3 others at work to buy bikes this summer!

You guys, thats great. [thumbsup]

I have people say "I don't know how you do it with all the crazy drivers out there."  I just say, "I have to look after my actions and be ready for theirs, it's just defensive driving and paying attention."

Funny how for motorcyclists defensive driving & attention to everything around you isn't just a concept or novelty, but a survival mechanism that many that have never ridden a motorcycle on the street just don't understand the concept of.

JM

even better... work around children. i walk into a classroom with helmet in hand, im a superhero.

True. Kids get it. They wave to you from cars and the sidewalk, so I always wave back.
They remember that stuff and it may  lead them to ride one day. A ride on the back of a Z900 changed my life.

Reminds me of a dog in the back of an SUV I saw while riding.

The dog was so stoked "HEY LOOK THERE'S A GUY RIDING A MOTORCYCLE!!!!!!"  [laugh]

A ride on the back of a CB350 did it for me, I was maybe 8 or 9.  [Dolph]

+1, wish they could see the smile under my visor =).

I was leaving work for two track days at NJMP.  One of the girls in the office said I should stop at Six Flags on the way by and do something exciting.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't get it   ;D

[laugh]
Dogs get it. They look so happy at speed!
I was 9 on that Z900. I remember the road flashing by and big lean angles. It's never left me. We need to convert them young, to the True Way [evil].

I've only had one person say something negative.  something like "it's so dangerous, aren't you afraid?"  My reply was "I'm more afraid of dying without living."

 [thumbsup]

Saw a Guy get off a Harley one day with the the slogan on his T-shirt " Only a motorcyclist understands why a dog sticks its head out the window of your car."

So true.

let me play the devils advocate for a moment...you don't give a rats ass about what your co-workers or bosses say about them seeing you ride the way that you did ( which to them seemed aggressive-regardless of how it was in reality)...these are people to whom you are forced to have a report with and communicate with....your willingness to dismiss arrogantly ( which is how I read the origional post) does close certain doors for you.

1) if they are/were looking for a long  term employee to invest in and promote, are they going to look at the team player who is safe and productive and predictable that they can count on for being there? of course they are, because risk assesment is an integral part of people when they look at you as an employee.

2) whether they can understand it or not, but did you make an attempt to explain the dynamics of perhaps why you might have been doing what you were at that moment so as to possibly lessen the impression of aggression? that could be one of the moments where perhaps you open a door of complexity that might not have been opened, regardless of how likely it really might or might not have been. use the idea of physics and dynamics as a way to bridge that gap.

just some food for though when you have an "in your face-I don't care" flagrant attitude...

Unlucky you - I'm in IT too and the front end dev who sits next to me rides (talked him into his first track day) and my boss Autocrosses a tweaked MR2

^Reason #347 why Bruce Springsteen is the only boss I listen to.  [laugh]

Mostly positive conversations since there are enough people around that ride that it is an accepted norm though there have been some accidents with riding co-workers that reinforces the riding is dangerous viewpoint with the non-riding along the way.

 You can't change anyone's opinion about politics, abortion, religion or motorcycles.  [coffee]
 It is what it is and I don't give a rat's ass about what anyone else thinks so gave up a long time ago trying to be a good ambassador to the sport and just try to treat others as I hope to be treated.

I used to get a hard time from my uncle who would call bikes "donorcycles."  He's an incredibly nice person, but a bit hard headed.

Finally, I pointed out to him that the rate of crashes in small planes (like his) is fairly high for his age group and instead of being "donors" the pilots are picked up with a sponge.

Nothing else since...

Add a cape for extra effect.  ;D

Coworkers are a mixed bag.  I had a boss that was a fellow Ducatisti once.  Best year of my career.  Then he got promoted and I got a total neurotic douche for a manager.  He didn't understand bikes.  I didn't try to convince him, and we never argued about it... but for that and a variety of other reasons, we just didn't get along (biggest reason: the workplace was his god... above friends, family, even his wife).  Someone mentioned earlier that some people may be threatened by those of us who are willing to take risks.  That may have been the case with this guy.  He was a neurotic ninny and always worried.  Taking a big physical risk in order to go enjoy something was beyond his comprehension.

My manager now doesn't ride, but he doesn't give me guff about it.  He's got his own taste in risky outdoor sports.

But yeah, coworkers are a mixed bag.  Some ride, some are even Ducatisti, others don't (but wish they did), and then there's the nervous ninny types.  Thankfully I don't have to put up with a lot of them.

Last year I battled cancer.  Now when I get guff about the motorcycle, I can tell people I've already stared death in the face.  Life is short, so enjoy it.  When your time is up, it won't matter whether you're skydiving, riding a motorcycle, driving a Volvo, or ensconced in an M-1 Abrams tank.

Pick your risks and figure out your mitigation strategies accordingly.  You can lie in bed all day and risk death by cancer and heart disease.  Or you can get out there and be active, risking death in other ways.  I choose to live.

Well put, and cheers [beer].

Forgot to mention... one coworker I recently met has been shopping on-again-off-again for a Monster.  He stopped by my desk when he saw the pic of my former 900SS, and we BS'd about bikes for a while.  I gave him fair warning: "you will get nothing but encouragement and temptation from me!"  [evil]

Another life let down when they learn the helmet is to protect you from yourself..... [cheeky]

I used to think like that and worry about it. But then I stopped. Life is short.  I will ride as I normally do and won't change it because of coworkers.  I am no longer an ambassador for the sport.   I did try to explain that was not even close to aggressive ride and leaning a bike is part of the fun of riding.  But he just didn't get it.  He can't understand why when I am
On bike I assume every car is out to kill me.  He says that isn't the case.  I explain everyday we encounter close calls. His reply was we deserve it since we go to fast and endanger others.  It's a lost cause.  If a boss acts based on my riding then so be it.  I do make fun of  him very lightly about golfing occasions  but he def takes the bike hate way too much.  Oh well.

+1 brother. Your boss is a dickhead. Invite me to the next office party [evil].

I get a lot of "just be careful" and "cars don't see you" speeches at work but it is mostly because my coworkers don't want to see me get hurt.  I also get a lot of stories about people they know that were injured on a motorcycle.  I am an avid whitewater kayaker and when people see pictures of my kayaking I definitely hear more about the kayaking than the motorcycle.  People I work with pretty much tell me I am crazy for kayaking and I think they are surprised after each kayak trip that I have made it home in one piece.  Once, after I had received a promotion, I had a boss imply that now that I had the new job I should really take things slower and not do things that he considered dangerous.  Besides the mc and the kayaking he suggested I give up playing hockey.  I pretty much ignored him and I ended getting a new boss soon after that.  I also had someone at work tell me I was stupid because I went on a solo backpacking trip this summer.  I am ok with people not really understanding what I am about, there is not much I can do about it.

Jim :)

^^^One more reason to not work for other people.........  The other reasons?  I am unemployable.  Never had a real job but once and I never wanted one again.

I would choose not to work for other people, if I could figure out how to make money at something else.

As Scott Adams pointed out in a recent WSJ op-ed, it's not the ideas, it's the execution.  I just have no idea how to execute any of my ideas.  So I make my way to the cubicle farm every day and leave the execution up to someone else.

Maybe someday I'll figure it out.

At work I'm known as  "Isabelle, the girl whit the red bike in front of the building".... [laugh]   there's always 30 workers who smoke in front of the building......and they all know its my bike..... best anti thief ever  [thumbsup]

tous apelle Isabelle? Joli nom !!!

Tanks [thumbsup]

I prefer Tony Danza myself...

Or teenagers.  I work with so-called troubled youth and it gives instant cred.  Not that it's necessary they "like" you, but at the same time teens tend not to take in information from adults they have no regard for.

As far as what my colleagues think, I think I'm just a curiosity at best.  In general, those of us on bikes are conscious of how we think others perceive us.  Meanwhile, others are busy being oblivious.  Sometimes they come up for air to cast a judgement like the OP's boss. [roll]

Tanks blow shit up...   ;D

The only negative comment I got was when my previous boss took a closer look at my KBC Airbourne helmet... 

JM

Pic of the offending helmet?

version 1 or version 2?

I love the Pin-Up artwork....and did you end up with the censored version?

The one with the girl laying down instead of standing up like a bowspit.  I'd say censored, because she's wearing a bikini, although barely a bikini.

JM

I want that shirt!!

I'm a tattooist, and for a long time I was the only one in the place that DIDN'T have a bike, so I caught shit for that.....but no worries, now I give the guys shit for only having ONE.  [laugh]