From: kstell@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (kevin.l.stell)
Subject: SQUIDS and Dealers 
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Lines: 47

Yesterday, a friend had asked me to accompany him to a local motorcycle
dealer. It has been a while since he last rode (>10 years), and I myself
have never bought a new bike from a dealer. What follows is an experience
of that visit and of an observation of "SQUILDLY" behavior by other 
customers and/or sales personel:

BACKGROUND:

I ride with a group of friends, who mainly are into "cruiser" type bikes. My
friend was hell bent on getting an Intruder and had seen a few used ones. He
wanted to see what the new ones were going for, so we happened upon a dealer
that sold both Suzuki and Yamaha. 

The place was fairly busy, so we browsed a bit. We happened upon a few 
Intruders, most of which had SOLD signs on. My friend had been bitten.

Well the salesdroid appeared and as my friend started chewing the fat, I 
moseid on outside. The next thing I know, I see 3 or 4 sport bikes pull in.
I could stereo-type the type of riders (backward ball hat, oakley, IQ <40),
but I won't. Well they went inside, I didn't think much of it. I figured
to each his own. I went back in to see if the salesdroid had his fangs
firmly implanted into my friends back,  when I noticed the "hormone gang"
talking to other salesdroids/managers. Lot's of laughter, jokes etc. No big
deal.

Here is the part that concerned me. The "HG" and those shop personel that were
not busy with customers went back out, where said "HG" members fired up their
rides and did the obligatory reving up of those 600 beasts. At this point,
one decided to see how much rubber  a Katana 600 could deposit in the drive.

SQUIDS, I thought to myself. BUT I was appalled that the salesdroids/manager
not only condoned this behavior, but encourged it, to the point were they
were betting how long he could keep it up and egged him on to pull a wheely
as he rode off onto a busy street around rush hour. THe girl that was riding pillion on another bike, seemed rather hormonal about this display, and urged her
"pilot" to quickly catch up. The others followed, making sure there Kerkers
could be heard as well as felt.

I felt embarassed at this point to be a motorcyclist. I felt the eyes of those
in cages, witnessing this display, then glancing over to the dealers lot and
damning all those on two wheels. Needless to say, my friend felt a little
uncomfortable and we left. 

I will now turn off my frustration and go ride... peacefully, to clear my
anger. I only hope that the cop who is following me home, has an open
mind and doesn't associate me with them. 

BTW, I can't afford a new bike.....