why do bikes seem to have a "cool" factor?

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Its been a cool factor because media has suggested so for decades. Think of all the movie that gave it a cool factor, cool as ice, top gun, mission impossible, salt, tron and the rest. Power of media!
 
Hi RPM said:
^ hey Mr.Sherin, when are you gonna get your bike out? :P lol

dont mean to thread jack..

the thing is, you are wearing all this gear, you got something that can destroy ferraris and lambos, its pretty cool :P lol plus consider it being a huge toy
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Next Sunday, I'm getting on my bike as soon as i'm out of the airport. 9 months without a bike makes me a very dull boy.....

PS I have no idea who you are, I don't recognize the username
 
turbodish said:
I've never had anyone suggest "oh that's so dangerous".

The most I've had people comment on is "But it's raining and you'll get soaked", or "Isn't it too cold to ride in the winter". I've also had people comment on where I put stuff when I go to Home Depot on it. All those comments reflect on practicality.
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holy **** really??? You must be like the only person in this country who's never heard it. Hell, I hear it at least once a DAY at my office.
 
Myztyk said:
holy **** really??? You must be like the only person in this country who's never heard it. Hell, I hear it at least once a DAY at my office.
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Well, I think my mother may have said it every now and then, but mothers don't count.

Not counting her, over the years I've actually heard more about how Smart cars and VW bugs are dangerous on the highway than I ever have about my motorcycles.
 
Because I ride one :)
 
My thoughts growing up for cool (mostly super sport bikes) factor:
Was they are fast!
The sound of them.
Wheelies!
Looks of them.

I was also a huge fan of the early 90's 5.0 mustang.
For pretty much same reasons. Fast, sexy, sounds awesome.

But I did the mustang thing, and now trying the Bike out.
 
87m6chris said:
Or maybe just 75 horses? Like, 75 is pretty manly too eh?
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Or how about 32? That's sort of manly, too...right?!

turbodish said:
I've never had anyone suggest "oh that's so dangerous".

The most I've had people comment on is "But it's raining and you'll get soaked", or "Isn't it too cold to ride in the winter". I've also had people comment on where I put stuff when I go to Home Depot on it. All those comments reflect on practicality.
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Man, anyone under 30 thinks bikes are cool and anyone with kids thinks they're irresponsibly dangerous.

To answer your question, OP: they're cool (for younger people, at least) 'cause helmets are mysterious, speed's badass, and being a passenger's really intimate, they're "different" (teens/young adults with cars are a dime a dozen, but teens/young adults with bikes aren't). We also have a little more than a century of rebellious stigma and glamorization attached to the concept of motorcycles. Everyone imagines themselves riding a motorcycle, but very few actually do.
 
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fastar1 said:
I think it's mostly a North American thing. Anywhere else you'd see scooters mopeds and small bike everywhere, all the time. Bikes there make people go 'meh'.

Here at home they are very uncommon so they stand out a little more, plus their look & sound clearly associates them with speed and risk. But there are also clues that are pervasive in culture and media that kind of romanticize motorcycles, and we pick up on those clues naturally from a very early age.
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Being a kid visiting Greece, and seeing all the bikes/scooters everywhere is what got me hooked on bikes. Thought it was so cool. Especially that my kid friends in Greece were riding. Got to ride a scooter when I was like 12:) My friends in the T-Dot hate walking with me cause I would hear a bike coming and have to stop to watch it go by and drool for a bit. lol
 
knowledge said:
Or how about 32? That's sort of manly, too...right?!


Man, anyone under 30 thinks bikes are cool and anyone with kids thinks they're irresponsibly dangerous.
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What if your under 30 with kids? :s
 
Saw Easy Rider at an early age, wanted a bike ever since. That movie to me is everything that's cool about riding
 
turbodish said:
Well, I think my mother may have said it every now and then, but mothers don't count.

Not counting her, over the years I've actually heard more about how Smart cars and VW bugs are dangerous on the highway than I ever have about my motorcycles.
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Hmmm...might be a lifestage/where you work thing too. Still...crazy!
 
turbodish said:
Anything "niche" will tend to be viewed as "cool" by some, "pointless" by others, and not even given a second thought at all by the vast hordes.
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Vast hordes? Now that's elitist!

The more internet I read, the less cool motorcycles become. Only the memories of Evel Knieval and Henry Winkler roaring across the television screen keep me strong.
 
agreeing to some of others have said, I see it as cool is because of the distinctive features and unusual shape when a person on a motorcycle travelling on the road among a bunch of boxes on wheels, with doll colours and similar forms.
 
I saw The Great Escape when I was about 6 yrs old. Nothing was cooler than Steve McQueen on that Triumph.
 
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