BUYER BE WARY
I’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I’LL SAY IT AGAIN. BIKERS ARE
THE BEST GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU ARE EVER GOING TO MEET. SURE, THERE ARE A FEW RATS AND SNAKES IN THE MIX, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, WE ARE THE REAL SAINTS AMONG A WORLD OF CAGE-DRIVING SINNERS.
The public at large might look at us strangely and feel the need to stereotype us as being uneducated and unkempt, but you and I both know that is all just a load of bulls—t. Our burly, bearded, and tattooed brethren of the past may have projected that label strongly, but have you seen the number of people of all ages, creeds, colors, and sexes currently riding American V-twins all over this country of ours? There is no way the world of prudes and straights can pigeonhole us as just the same group of “bikers” any longer. It just can’t happen in this day and age. We are not just hairy guys on bikes with sleeveless shirts, loud pipes, and do-rags anymore. In fact, we are such a wide demographic of riders that it seems almost unreal for a guy who has been reporting on the biker lifestyle for this long. Big business is looking more and more into our demographics to better understand our way of being and, most of all, our spending habits. And I am not talking about companies and businesses inside the custom-bike building
and riding realm. I am talking about big corporations worldwide. Nonmotorized companies are on the hunt for us so they can sell us toilet paper, popcorn, automobiles, clothing, and even products for children, such as diapers and strollers. See, yuppies might call us scumbags, and metric bike riders think we are insane for riding air-cooled classically styled motorcycles. But highly educated corporate marketing folks call us brand loyalists. And they love our sort because we are no-nonsense buyers who usually stick with purchasing what we know and love. We start buying these items from young adulthood, and usually, we stick to the same brands for the rest of our lives. These same aforementioned companies and marketing firms also like that we are an opinionated bunch who don’t get too into trends and the latest fashions. Yes, we of course live in a time where most of our spending activities are monitored online and in the real world no matter how sporadic one’s spending habits may be. But I can bet you that we are at the top of the heap to many of these businesses due to what we buy and why. I like to jokingly call us apex consumers. We live a lifestyle that is free of most other types of people’s trappings and their level of wishy-washy consumerism. We as a group spend our hard-earned money on what we want and when we want, no matter if we are rich or poor. Think about what you buy and why. I am almost sure you haven’t switched brands of peanut butter in the past decade, and I sure as hell know you aren’t riding a Yamaha. HB JEFF G. HOLT
@JEFFGHOLT
@JEFFGHOLT
