I would say about 1/2 the Korean riders of big bikes wave at each other. I would say that the other half just ignore riders. The fact that other bikers here in Korea ignore you doesn’t mean that they are arrogant. It’s just that waving at total strangers is not something that Koreans are prone to do or culturally conditioned to do.

http://thunderfromtheeast.blogspot.com/

I caught this tag way late but it looks like others are still responding. As with others who’ve responded, man, you really need to get out and “look” around a bit here in at home. From MCs to RCs, leather, vests, patches and pins are just all part of, what some believe, to be a biker’s lifestyle. I’m not sure why you “see” an open vest, hairy chested, beer gut hanging, bearded rider here and “feel” his individuality though his looks are about as stereotypical as stereotypes are gonna get as far as bikers go. On the other hand, you seem to “assume” that just because the Koreans may dress similar, they are just being clones and surrendering their individuality…that’s kinda shallow minded of you, no?

How about a baseball or football team, are they all stupid robots because they all participate in the same activity and dress alike?

As for the “slow ride”, I’ve been in plenty of charity runs, poker runs, etc. and it’s real common here, just as common as the loudest pipes, burn out, or weenie bite (for the ladies).

Bottom line Jeff….they look funny and out or place, in your eyes, because they are Asians and you’ve been programmed all your life, directly or unconsciously, to associate Harleys/Cruisers/Bikers as an American “thing”.

Before you or anyone else get defensive, I’m not trying to be offensive here. It’s just my “two cents”…

You may have figured it out by now, but I’m from SE Asia. I’ve lived here in the U.S. all my life; first fight, first love, first blood, and first ride, all right here. Naturally, I consider this country as much mine as the next “Joe”, hell yeah, I pay taxes!

But everytime I get on my HOG and hit the road, there’s always someone, “not the majority”, but someone, some jerk-off in a pick-up (which I also own one) or kid in a suped up two door would pull along side and make “a-hole” remarks at the “asian” biker wannabe. I always want to scream right back, “put down that taco, turn off rap, and get out of that Nissan” and…..nah, it ain’t worth the trip.

I love the wind, I love the road, I love the ride!!! Simple as that, no BS!

Voman

Love the pics and the site. Just one question :

Do you have a certain greeting when you see another biker on the road in Korea? ie. Over here, when a biker sees another biker they nod there head appreciatively.

At any rate I wasn’t pointing fingers, although it may have sounded that way…my apologies

Don’t misunderstand. I never said any of the Korean biker uniforms or leisure uniforms were ridiculous. I said intriguing and amusing, and I don’t mean “amusing” in a derogatory manner.

I agree with most of what you say.

Judging from your last paragraph, it seems to me that you may have completely misunderstood the purpose and intent of the entire post. I was not wondering about how “weird” korean bikers look or act. I was simply pointing out that korean is very much a culture of group mentality. It is important to be identified as being part of a certain group. In Korea, that identification is made and fostered through the wearing of certain uniforms.

As the Korean biker culture has developed separately from the US biker culture, there are massive differences is clothing, attitudes, riding manners, and riding styles between US bikers and Korean rides. I was simply pointing out a few visible differences.

Also, I am very close with many, many Korean riders and ride with them very often. I never said they weren’t “people” or were in any way inferior to US bikers.

About the leisure uniform…it’s ridiculous I agree but no more ridiculou than wearing jerseys to a baseball game…it’s just their style. You almost never see the 20-30’s crowd dressed in this manner.

As far a the riding attire…it’s just like in the states, just their variety. I tend to see them as RUB’S (Rich Urban Biker) mostly, especially the “Cop” style guys. They obviously have money otherwise they couldn’t afford those bikes in Korea. They’re no different than Dr. Bob who rides his brand new V-Rod to the office because it makes his 20 something nurse think he’s a risk taker, and he thinks he might get laid.

I’m with Joker as far as most bikers today. They think a few tattoos and the latest $60K copy of OCC’s spiderman bike make them a biker. B.S. It’s almost like the true bikers are the guys riding the Jap and Euro bikes because thats all they can afford.(Case and point The Horse Magazine showcases more foreign bikes than Harleys on a monthly bases.)

Which brings me to my next point. Koreans have developed their Biker style out of HD catalogs and what they see the Americans living there wear. You can’t get magazines like The Horse and Easyrider or V-Twin in Korea unless you’re military. They don’t know about “Biker” Style. It’s the same situation when they have mispelled english words on their T-shirts. They don’t give a F&*& they’re wearing it because it’s english letters not because it say’s something profound. At any rate who gives a damn about what you’re wearing as long as you’re ridin’.

I think if you took half the time you took wondering how weird these people dress or act and got to know them you’d realize they’re just people. People like you, me, and everyone else, just trying to enjoy the time they have in the best way they can.

Mi gook in Korea

Ha.. Sure. There are tons of people that don’t wear patches and tons the don’t wear black.

Leather is your best protection against massive amounts of skin and blood loss if you have an accident, and the most common color for leather is black. Plus, as the old saying goes, “black goes with anything.”

There are lots of wannabes… Biker clubs wear black and lots of people want to LOOK like a biker club member, so they wear black.