1 post tagged “motorcycle terms”
I find it kind of funny how just about any activity I do seems to come with its own language, terms and phrases that can be colorful at times. Motorcycles are no different so here are a few of my favorite words and phrases I have come across in my motor sport journey.
Ape Hangers: The handle bars that positions the riders hands high above his shoulders, like hanging from a tree.
Monkey butt: I have heard it associated with dirt riding and the color the rear end gets resembling a baboons butt. I use the term rather loosely to describe the way my butt-ox feels during a long ride making me walk like a chimpanzee.
Chicken Strips: These aren't the ones served in a basket but the untouched rubber on the tires of a motorbike.
Cage: a car.
Cager: a person driving a car.
Crotch Rocket: A term some people use to describe a high-performance sport-bike.
Riding naked or naked bike: a favorite of mine since I only ride naked, that is a motorcycle with little or no wind-deflection and an exposed chassis.
Sissy Bar: A tall backrest on the passenger seat of a motorcycle.
Crotch Rocket: A term some people use to describe a high-performance sport-bike.
Get-Off: Get-off is not as good as it sounds. It is when the bike and rider part company.
High-siding: Once again may sound up lifting and it maybe for the brief moment you are in the air. High-siding occurs when the rider of a motorcycle is flipped over the handlebars of the bike or is catapulted air born in a crash.
Hard Tail: Hard Tail refers to a motorcycle with no rear suspension. Hard tails always give me monkey butt
Soft Tail: A Soft Tail is a motorcycle that appears to have a Hard Tail rear suspension but in reality has shock absorbers that are hidden from view.
Road Rash: Road Rash is a term used to define injuries to the skin when a rider falls and slides on the pavement.
Squid: A motorcycle rider who does not wear protective clothing, darts into and out of traffic at high speed and seems to need some motorcycle training.
Stoppie: A stoppie is a motorcycle maneuver to stop a moving motorcycle so the rear wheel is raised in the air while the machine is balanced on the front tire.
Tank slapper: A rapid side-to-side oscillation of the front wheel of a motorcycle, where the handlebars literally 'slap' the gas tank due to insufficient road grip on the front tyre.
Thumper: A single cylinder motorcycle, not a fuzzy little rabbit.
Twisties: Twisties are any series of curves in the road, they are quite yummy at time.
Pillion: A pillion is a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a motorcycle. A passenger in this seat is said to "ride pillion" or may themselves be referred to as a "pillion."
Two-up: Two people riding on a motorcycle.
Here is an example sentence using a few of these colorful terms:
While riding a crotch rocket two-up in the twisties I stood on my pegs to shake out the monkey butt when a cage pulled out in front of us causing evasive maneuvers that led to a tank slapper that turned into a get-off with a high-side sending me and my pillion dressed like a squid in our shorts to the asphalt resulting in some nasty road rash.
I am sure if I thought about it for a little longer I could get in a few more terms but that would just be silly.
