Chicago/Mid-West people, the words/rant of a southern man..

[good_ol_boy]

been back and forth up here in chicago for work since this summer.

(in my down time i work security for famous people, musicians and what have you and i also guitar-tech for big name bands. I'm regularly a typical, blue-collar warehouse worker.)

HOLY CRAP, it's colder than a mf'er, super windy and i've seen snow ass-deep lol. may not mean much to y'all, but I'm from southern-middle TN, in the country in a town with 1 red light where that stuff just don't happen. AND on top of it all, parking in this city is RIDICULOUS! Either you can't find a spot, unless its 2 blocks away OR it's $15 to park (I just park in my yard back home). Car's & truck's rusted out like crazy. Do y'all not have garages? (sorry, i don't know anything about the big cities really. i guess i sound like a stereotypical redneck.) No wonder so many people take public transportation. Also, no one can hardly understand my accent lol. I've literally been through drive-thru's and have had people at the window tell me to pull around and talk to them face to face, haha. I also got in trouble for carrying a firearm and having ammo in my truck when i made my first trip in the summer (I have my carry and conceal. I guess that's null and void here) The cop told me i wasn't even allowed to have it at the place i'm staying at for "home protection". He was cool about it though and let me slide (thank god, it's a BIG offense up here). He told me my pocket knife was illegal too, wtf? You'd think with all the crime, y'all would be allowed to carry something? I've always carried a knife on me since i was a little kid. Here 2 more weeks and i refuse to come back (no offense). Also been profiled as a "gang-banger/criminal" (I'm HEAVILY, HEAVILY tattooed). I do fly my OUTLAWS MC gear, a lot.. Never had any problems with it in any other state/city i've worked in. I thought y'all were more "liberal/open" about that kinda stuff. The "rules" seem a bit too much for me.

Not complaining, just a completely different world up here.

Thanks for your time,

The End.

 

[bofa]

Illinois in general is not very receptive to citizens carrying any weapons. There's a reason I tried my best to skip that state entirely during our move last Summer.

 

[02SE]

Motorcyclists and M/C gang members in particular are profiled pretty much everywhere, in my experience.

No, I'm not in a M/C gang, but I am a life-long Motorcyclist. So what do you ride?

 

[TideRunner]

I'm with you on this one. I'm from Alabama, and i was raised a "city boy", so i've been called by others...didn't really get it until i went to the sticks a couple of times.

Down in the VILLAGE of wisner, LA, people just have a simpler way of life that i find i'm INCREDIBLY jealous of. The ladies and gents down there are busting their a$$ on river tugs, farming, construction, welding...and they don't complain at all...i'm impressed by the general attitude of smaller towns. with any luck i'll move to a place like that when i can get some land there

 

[good_ol_boy]

Motorcyclists and M/C gang members in particular are profiled pretty much everywhere, in my experience.

No, I'm not in a M/C gang, but I am a life-long Motorcyclist. So what do you ride?

first things first. i'm not being a dick, but the outlaws mc isn't a gang, thats the kind of stuff I'm talking about right there. thats just media pounding that stuff in people's heads and exactly what i tell anybody. it's a club, a club just like any other club. there's shady people and corruption in any kind of organization/club or whatever. no where has any outlaws member or affiliate labeled it as a "gang". i've been around these guys my whole life. yeah, most of them are rough, rowdy and two time felons, but whose counting? But, some are LEGIT guys who have families and work a regular 9-5 (you'd be surprised) Lol. Yeah, i've been profiled for sure in other places, but nothing as bad as in chicago. that's saying a lot cause I'm the from the "bible belt". BUT ANWAYS, enough of that BS!

i've owned a bunch of bikes, sir. this is my current ride.

04 Harley Sportster1200C. V&H Short Shots exhaust, Mikuni Performance carb., Screaming Eagle heads, Screaming Eagle bolt on cams, K&N heavy breather air cleaner. short height sissy bar with back rest, mini-ape handlebars, and Wide Glide front forks.

 

[02SE]

No offense was intended with the "Gang" comment.

I know a few M/C club members, and they use both terms seemingly interchangeably. Maybe it's a regional thing?

Nice bike. The last Harley I owned was an '02 FLHTCUI.

 

[good_ol_boy]

No offense was intended with the "Gang" comment.

I know a few M/C club members, and they use both terms seemingly interchangeably. Maybe it's a regional thing?

Nice bike. The last Harley I owned was an '02 FLHTCUI.

It's all good man! no hard feelings, it's a very loosely used term.. especially now-a-days. I know most guys who turn red as a bull if you say "gang". that being said, i've always strayed away from using it and tell others the same thing. just lookin' out for people!

Nice.. Can't go wrong with a harley. I'm a short/stocky guy, 5'4 170lbs so i've always liked 883's.. This was my first ever 1200! Big difference in power hahaha. Ever owned a Triumph or Indian?

 

[02SE]

Nice.. Can't go wrong with a harley. I'm a short/stocky guy, 5'4 170lbs so i've always liked 883's.. This was my first ever 1200! Big difference in power hahaha. Ever owned a Triumph or Indian?

I like pretty much all bikes. I've had several dirt bikes, starting from the age of 6.

For street bikes, I've mostly owned big-bore four cylinder bikes from the sporting end of the spectrum.

Starting with a CB750 in the early 80's, which belonged to a cool Uncle, that he let me ride, and essentially gave me.

Then in succession I had:

'85 V65 Sabre, also nearly a hand-me-down from that cool Uncle.
'93 FJ1200
'97 ZX-11D
'99 CBR1100XX
'02 ZX-12R
'02 Hayabusa
'03 GSXR1000
'02 FLHTCUI

The only streetbike I currently own is the '02 'Busa. It's a built all-motor bike, that's set-up to rail through the twisties, or the occasional track-day. It's like a slightly bigger and heavier GSXR, but with a lot more power.

The Harley belonged to my best friend. When he died almost ten years ago, I paid it off and enjoyed it until his brother could afford to own it. Which he now does.

I like the 3-cylinder Triumphs, the Speed Triple especially. But so far I haven't owned one.

The latest Indian's hitting the market now, look to be very nice bikes. The reviews I've read are positive too, but I haven't seen one in person, yet.

 

[snivilous]

Haha I can relate to this a bit. Back in Colorado my family lives on a few acres 5 miles outside of a town of 1200. Going to college in what I consider a VERY urban setting (a city of 50,000) was a shell shock and for the first month or so I was super depressed. There's a ton of fancy cars and guys with giant lifted trucks that they take to the car wash everyday and they are all American brands, which is a hell of a lot different than back home where everything is an import vehicle since it has to be reliable to handle the harsh conditions in the mountains and a lifted vehicle is pretty rare since everyone slides into a ditch at some point and you don't want to be sitting on an 8" drop bracket when that happens.

I wouldn't say I was secluded as a kid, but I grew up differently than a lot of people around here. I've always had "big dogs" (the smallest dog we've ever owned is my German Shepherd at 80lbs) because mountain lions or coyotes would get them otherwise, likewise we've always had at least one donkey and a corral and the chores would involve shoveling manure and using the tractor to plow our driveway which led to a road that usually wouldn't get plowed. We never had cable so when TV went to HD we lost the 3 channels we received and just watch movies now. I didn't hang out with other kids when I was young, there just wasn't anyone nearby so I grew up being very independent.

It's a really weird outlook being in the city, which this is my 2nd year in school (go home for summer). I especially hate how controlling and fast it is, back home everything was slow paced and you had to deal with stuff on your own. The cops were a long ways away, and the hospital was 45 minutes away on a good day, you had to be able to handle yourself. It also sucks you can't see the stars in the city, and it's SO loud. Cities have their place and are fun to hang out at and do stuff, but I could never live in a city unless I absolutely had to (as is the case for 9 months of the year now). It's not quite as bad as Chicago it sounds like, but I can relate with you man!

 

[02SE]

Trust me Sniv, the difference between Chicago and Logan, is comparable to the difference between where you grew up, and Logan.

 

[KidVermicious]

Waitwaitwaitwait... Logan? A city?

ound:

 

[ndcent]

I like pretty much all bikes. I've had several dirt bikes, starting from the age of 6.

For street bikes, I've mostly owned big-bore four cylinder bikes from the sporting end of the spectrum.

Starting with a CB750 in the early 80's, which belonged to a cool Uncle, that he let me ride, and essentially gave me.

Then in succession I had:

'85 V65 Sabre, also nearly a hand-me-down from that cool Uncle.
'93 FJ1200
'97 ZX-11D
'99 CBR1100XX
'02 ZX-12R
'02 Hayabusa
'03 GSXR1000
'02 FLHTCUI

The only streetbike I currently own is the '02 'Busa. It's a built all-motor bike, that's set-up to rail through the twisties, or the occasional track-day. It's like a slightly bigger and heavier GSXR, but with a lot more power.

The Harley belonged to my best friend. When he died almost ten years ago, I paid it off and enjoyed it until his brother could afford to own it. Which he now does.

I like the 3-cylinder Triumphs, the Speed Triple especially. But so far I haven't owned one.

The latest Indian's hitting the market now, look to be very nice bikes. The reviews I've read are positive too, but I haven't seen one in person, yet.

Out of all those monster fours what was your favorite? I'd always dreamed about a Honda Blackbird but my four cylinder days are over, at least for a while I'm going to stick with a parallel.

 

[Millerad1651]

Well from what I can tell ya, Chicago is a lot different than a lot of the mid-west. Even compared to Indianapolis, Chicago is crazy. My sister in law lives downtown Chicago, and I get anxiety whenever we have to go visit her. Everything's way too crowded, and people tend to be dicks (not everyone!). One time we visited, it literally took me 45 minutes to find a parking spot...I had to stop and get gas! I ended up 6 blocks away, and my SIL couldn't figure out why I was upset I couldn't see where my truck was parked.
I do enjoy walking through the city and seeing all the different buildings and museums...much like NYC. But I would never live there...way too noisy and busy for me.

 

[Quatre Coureur]

Try living in the worlds largest insane asylum. :ak472:

 

[MtnT4R]

Driving in to Denver is a lot like visiting prison for a day.

I think I've gone out to the bars on 16th(downtown) three times, and will most likely never go again. Most places wouldn't let me in because I wasn't wearing a collared shirt or dress shoes, and the places that didn't have a dress code confiscated my pocket knife at the door. Whats wrong with jeans, boots, and a shirt?

Not sure about you all, but I get claustrophobic in the city. All those big ass buildings walling you in(emergency egress??), dirty sidewalks, traffic from hell and dirty air. Who wants to live like that?

People in the city are a lot like too many rats confined to one cage; sooner or later they will start eating each other.

 

[Millerad1651]

Try living in the worlds largest insane asylum. :ak472:

Florida?

 

[Quatre Coureur]

L.A. Both are sunny places with shady ppl. :uzi:

 

[02SE]

Out of all those monster fours what was your favorite? I'd always dreamed about a Honda Blackbird but my four cylinder days are over, at least for a while I'm going to stick with a parallel.

While this might be a little off-topic, a chance to talk about bikes is a good thing.

My favorite is the one I've owned the longest, and currently still own, the Hayabusa. I have yet to ride a newer bike that I like more. With family and friends in the bike business, I've ridden lots of them.

Anyway, the 'Busa is a long ways from stock. To the casual observer it looks like it's stock with the exception of an exhaust system. But it's a bit of a sleeper in that you don't see all of the engine work, modded ECU, suspension revamp, and brake upgrades.

The '99 Blackbird was the first of the EFI models, and was the biggest disappointment as far as bikes I've owned.
It had:
Camchain Tensioner problems. Honda denied any problem existed, but the Blackbird websites frequently had people complaining about them, and substituting X-11 (naked blackbird sold in other markets) camchain tensioners as an out-of-pocket fix.

An out-of-round rear sprocket from the factory. An easy fix on my own dime, but the Dealer was no help under warranty. An inexcusable flaw on Honda's flagship sportbike.

Voltage regulator issues. Another fairly common problem on the Blackbird websites, but again no official response from Honda.

I HATED the linked brakes. Honda said they designed the system to help inexperienced riders. My question was should inexperienced riders be riding Honda's then fastest bike? What I disliked is if you were riding at a fast pace, and slowly down quickly for an upcoming turn, you might not even be touching the rear brake pedal, but all of a sudden with no warning you'd find yourself in a crossed-up skid because the linked brake system has locked up the rear tire. All those years on dirtbikes saved me from disaster more than once, due to that stupid system.

A few other niggling issues.

All of the other bikes were trouble free, and I have great memories of them.

 

[jwyshrek]

Also, no one can hardly understand my accent lol. I've literally been through drive-thru's and have had people at the window tell me to pull around and talk to them face to face, haha.

I can relate...when I got my first job in Orlando, there was this woman from Chicago...she could never understand me...I had to keep repeating myself. After a while she just ignored me and I ignored her. But she was nice to look at...had nice assets...:eyebrows:

Maybe they are just hard of hearing up there...

 

[good_ol_boy]

I can relate...when I got my first job in Orlando, there was this woman from Chicago...she could never understand me...I had to keep repeating myself. After a while she just ignored me and I ignored her. But she was nice to look at...had nice assets...:eyebrows:

Maybe they are just hard of hearing up there...

:rofl: