Journal entry #2

We have all seen them on the road; faceless daredevils on too wheels passing car or weaving through traffic at speeds that will churn anybody's stomach. I'm talking about motorcyclist, and im not refering to the rough and tough Harley Davidson cruzers, but the fast-living crotch rocket riders. I have always been intrigued by these type of people since I was little. I remember looking out my aunts passenger side window when a man on a sport bike drove next to us. He looked over and saw my wide eyes and knew I was facinated. He gave me a wave and took off like a bat out of hell. From then on I have always been envious of people on sport bikes.

Bikers are highly accessable to me (or to anyone for that matter.) With the rising gas prices more and more people are switching from cars to motorcycles. Some motorcycles can get over 70 MPG! Not only are sport bikes gas efficent, but they are serious performers. They are called crotch rockets for a reason, the absolutly hual. Sport bikes rivals the performance of 6 figure cars for the price of a economy car. You would probably wonder why something so cheep and thrilling isent more popular, but agian there is a reason for that as well. These machines are absolutly dangerious. They offer no protection to the rider in case of an accident and have poor breaking abillity; for this reason, most people automaticly rule motorcycles out of the question for daily transportation.

This group of people meets the requirements of a sub-culture because they have their own Rituals, Artifacts, Identity and Language that is not shared with anyone else. Their bikes are their artifacts; their gear give them identity; they have their own slang; and have their own rituals.