Whenever a person or group of people try to live their lives free, those who are stuck in unhappy lives will be jealous. Some people have a hard time letting go, freeing themselves from the day to day trials and tribulations of everyday life even for a little while. Others seek an escape from the stress and anxiety often associated with modern day life.

I guess for me, that’s part of why I am a Biker. There is something about riding a bike that inspires a sense of freedom in me. The open road, the wind in my face, the smells, getting back to nature, the power of my bike. It’s all these things and more that make me feel free. It’s unfortunate that there are some people who, for whatever reason, can’t find something or someway to let go and experience the sense of freedom that we do. These people, for whatever reason, are the ones who point to us and call us rogues or rebels. They say that what we are doing is wrong and that our culture is a “disruptive influence.”

As Bikers, we live our lives a little differently. We work and have responsibilities, but we still know the feeling of freedom. Maybe its because we smile just a bit more and are a bit more relaxed that turns these people green with envy?

A person who works hard and has no free time sees a person on the road riding his or her motorcycle and thinks “I wish that was me!” The thought of being free doesn’t leave their mind. They long for it. They crave it badly! How many of you out their have had a friend tell you how they have always wanted to buy a Motorcycle and just go out riding? How many of them ever actually do?

Here is a typical story : A man is driving home from work when he see’s a group of motorcycle riders pull up next to him. He looks at this group of people riding together having a great time, He starts to think, “I wish that was me”. He then decides, “I’m going to buy a Motorcycle!” He starts thinking about riding. How great it will be to have his wife on the back of his bike and the wind in his face. We could ride up to the lake or maybe that little motel way up in the Mountains. Thinking of the great times he will have he starts to feel that small sense of freedom. He thinks “This must be what those Biker get to feel, Wow!”

He turns into the driveway, parks his truck and rushes into the house to tell his wife about his fantastic idea. “Hi honey, I’m going to buy a Motorcycle.” His wife looks at him and says “What? Did you get overwhelmed by the fumes at work again?” “You can’t ride a Motorcycle. The man answers back, “I’ll learn!”

“You must be crazy”, she says. “Those things are death traps! You will kill yourself and we can’t afford it!” “Honey this is something I really want” replies the man. “NO NO NO!!! I won’t have one of those things in my house! What kind of message would it send to the kids, our neighbors?”

They argue about it, but it the end, the man never gets his motorcycle. He never goes to the lake with his wife or takes that trip up to the little motel in the mountains. He never feels the real sense of freedom one can only get when taking a long trip on a motorcycle. He spends the rest of his life wishing he had never seen that group of Motorcycles. He is angry and bitter.

Now when he see’s Bikers he puts them down. He hates Bikers, not because of who or what they are, but because of what he can never be. He hates them because of what they represent. They represent a kind of freedom, sense of belonging, a oneness with nature and the world that he longs for, he craves, but can never have.

We live here in America, the home of the free, but many are not free. They have never experienced the sense of freedom that can only be experienced on two wheels and, for whatever reason, never will. They live boring, uneventful. “safe” lives and complain about those who don’t.

Don’t hate these envious people, pity them for they will never know the sense of freedom and brotherhood we get from riding with a group of our Bro’s. They’ll never know the wind in their face, the feeling of peace and oneness with nature we feel as we ride threw the country side or down a long lonely highway. They’ll never know the clarity of mind that comes from a long ride alone or the closeness and bond of a long ride or weekend away with someone special. Just thank your higher power that you’ve found a way to escape, a way to be free, even if for some it’s just on the weekends.

Ride Safe and Ride Free because when it all come down to it, this is all about the Ride!

Your Bro L.J. James AmericanBikerX.com

LJ James hosts a Radio Motorcycle Show each week LJ James loves to help show the truth about the Biker World and series like Sons of Anarchy

This Month I want to talk about the Brotherhood mentality verses the gang mentality in the Motorcycle Club world . Now for those of you who may be asking what is the difference? I will set up a scene to help give you an idea! At a small Bar a member of a Motorcycle Club walks in he sees four Bikers playing pool, He can tell they are a bit nervous, They see his patches and they know who he is with. Now how does he act? Does he walk over to the pool table knock the 8 ball in the pocket say games over and tell one of them to buy him a beer or does he walk over introduce himself and let them know when they are done shooting pool they are welcome to stop over at the bar and have a beer and talk with him! One is the gang way of thinking the other is the Brotherhood way of thinking! I really don’t think I need to tell you which is which!

Now one thing everyone needs to remember is all of the original Motorcycle Clubs Started out with the idea of being a tight nit group of Brothers and just about all of these Motorcycle Clubs got along. Don’t forget many of the men who started the first MCs where returning home after serving their country during times of war. They where looking for that feeling of Brotherhood here at home that they had been left behind. These where good men seeking adventure, looking to ride their Motorcycles and have a good time with others like themselves. Today most Motorcycle Clubs have gone back to that way of Club thinking, There are very few Clubs that still have the Gang Mentality that was seen mostly during the 70’s threw 90’s. During the late 90’s things had just gotten too far out of hand and most Motorcycle Clubs began to realize the Gang Mentality was not the way it was meant to be and it was not the way they wanted it to be anymore, This was not what the Clubs where started for ! Many Clubs who had been friends where now fighting with each other. No one wanted to wear club support gear and things where just not fun anymore. These MC’s had all started their Clubs with the same ideals and ways of thinking, How and why had they grown so far apart that they now hated each other!

Well the answer to how is during the 50’s and 60’s the golden age of the Brotherhood years of Motorcycling the Motorcycle Clubs where really huge. During this great time many of the Biker Movies that came out showed Motorcycle Club Members as Bullies and thugs. The Bikers in these movies would pick on those weaker then them, take over small towns and the Clubs in these Movies all fought each other just like the street gangs of the time! So of course over time many new Bikers came to believe that this was the way it was. So when New Clubs started this was how they would act and the Original Motorcycle Clubs now had members who where young kids looking to prove how tough they where by starting fights with each other. The Original Motorcycle Club Members had been threw wars together and they where as hard as nails they had nothing to prove to no one, But these younger members felt that they did and would imitate the Biker Clubs from the Movies they had scene and soon it was Biker against Biker, Brother against Brother, MC against MC. This began the Dark age of the Motorcycle Gang Mentality years.

Now for the question Why did this Happen? Well When something Changes the way of thinking and being of Groups like the Motorcycle Clubs so far from their original ideals, You have to ask was it just an accident these movies did this? Or is there more to it? Was there a plan behind it? Is there someone or some group out there that would benefit from having these large groups of Motorcycle Clubs who are run in a very military fashion and are made up of many ex-Military Members fighting against each other? If these Clubs all got along and worked together the world could be a very Different place! Are there people out there who are afraid of this happening?

Today there are very few Clubs left that have the Gang Mentality most have gone back to the Brotherhood way and the word Gang in the Motorcycle Club world has become almost the equivalent of a racial slur. Now as Motorcycle Clubs are beginning to go back to the way it was at the start and trying to put the past behind them, I am noticing that there are more and more Biker movies and TV shows Coming out. Will these shows show MC’s in a good way? Will they go out of their way to stir up the quarrels of the past? Will they show us as mindless Bullies much as the Movie Wild Hogs did? Most Important will we let them influence how we really are? Or have we learned from our past? If all continues to go well we could soon be making are way into the second Gold age of Motorcycle Club Brotherhood back to where it all began!!!

Are you part of the Problem? or part of the Solution? I am Your Bro, L.J. James AmericanBikerX.com

LJ hosts a internet Motorcycle Show each week LJ loves to help show the truth about the Biker World and series like Sons of Anarchy