Just a few of my observations on the sportbike/cruiser segregation:
1. Generational Differences – typically your “younger” crowds ride the sports and the “older” ones like me prefer the cruisers. This also creates differences in music, interests, and preferred hang out areas.
2. Truth in stereotypes – Sportsbike riders are seen as the dangerous ones cutting in and out traffic giving bikers a bad name in general (speedsters with no regard to others safety). Cruiser riders are the roughnecks who look and smell dirty from the old Hollywood movies (think Hells Angels).
3. Predisposed historical prejudices – I know this will be controversial but here goes. Cruisers in general were associated with the Harley Davidson motorcycles, and were considered very “American”. Opposed to sportsbikes which are mainly “rice-burners.” Case in point when I pulled up next to a HD rider he was all nice to me until he found out I had an Asian built bike; then he told me to get a real bike LOL. On the other hand, I seen Sports bike Riders call any Cruiser Rider as a “Honkey Tonk Confederate Flag Yielding Whiteboy.”
4. Riding differences – Cruisers like to cruise. Sports riders typically ride hard. The last ride I went on was with all sportsbikes (20 of them) and I was the only cruiser. I could barely keep up even though I had pegged my speedomoter at 120mph. They had Hyabusas, Gixxers, R-1’s, etc. In the deep turns their lean angles were amazing. I couldnt do that and would have scraped my pipes/pegs. Luckily my M50 is built more like a sportsbike with a cruiser body (inverted forks, and same suspension as the gixxer). Then I had a friend with a sportsbike that went a ride with a bunch of cruisers. He was bored out of his mind. So you’ll rarely see a mixed riding group.
Again these are just my observations and encounters and do not reflect my opinions. In my world if you ride a bike…youre a biker! I dont care what you ride!!