Funny questions

GoldenMotor.com

Tim_B_172

New Member
Aug 26, 2009
251
0
0
40
Saint Joseph, MO
I'm sure we all have people ask us questions about our bikes when we stop somewhere. It's to be expected, after all most people have never seen a bicycle with an engine before. Most of the time the questions are "how fast" or "how much did it cost", but once in a while you get a question that blows your mind. One day I was sitting at a stop light with the engine idling and someone leaned out of their car window and yelled above the engine noise "Does that thang run on gas?!"... Did I mention that the engine was running? I just said "yep" and the light turned green (thank god) so I sped off.

So what kind of silly questions have you guys had asked of you?
 

jKellym

New Member
Jul 23, 2010
51
0
0
Houston
I've only been able to ride mine for a couple weeks due to mechanical issues, but have been asked several times what year it was. They all think it's an antique
 

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
How fast does it go? I usually don't like answering this question because I just know they will be illegal when this guy starts a 6 car pile up.

Is that a kit? I send them here:)

Last my favorite one is that a motor on that bike?
 

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
I had a silly question from a fella I work with, he saw my black mountain bike that has all kinds of junk on it as I was leaving work the first time I made the 16 mile one way trip on it and said " Hey is that a Cushman?" I ask him what he said and he repeated it again and I just kinda looked at him and said NO it's just a bicycle with a motor I put on it and I rode off, I didnt really know what to say to that one.....!
 

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Dan

Staff
May 25, 2008
12,765
115
48
59
Moosylvania
Get asked "where's the gas tank" a lot. Came to the conclusion if some thing is painted black on a bike, it disappears for some folks. But got a chrome tank on one bike and polished another so it is just "chiluminum" and still get asked.

I avoid how many cc's questions. State law here is has to be under 5 brake horse power not under 50cc. So end up having to take out the DMV book that I used to carry for cops who have yet to ever bother me. LOL, cops always seem to ask "how fast, 15, 20 MPH?" and think it's great that they can do 35. Really love CT.
 

Tim_B_172

New Member
Aug 26, 2009
251
0
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40
Saint Joseph, MO
I've only been able to ride mine for a couple weeks due to mechanical issues, but have been asked several times what year it was. They all think it's an antique
LOL, my old man has an XYZ chopper with 66cc engine and he gets that all the time. In fact he said some guy that he works with didn't believe him when he told him that it was a kit and he built it last year. He said the guy argued with him for 20 minutes until he just told the guy to "F" off. laff
 

timboellner

Member
Apr 1, 2009
435
0
16
Towson Maryland
Perhaps the silly question that people keep asking me (especially kids)

.... Hey can I ride "that thing" ?.... ...

Same answer each time.. and without any thinking what so ever
..shake head no and say ....You've gotta be kidding

laff
 

Criminal Lawyer

New Member
Jul 29, 2010
22
0
0
Bozeman
My favorite so far was not a question, but a statement. While motoring down the road I was passed my a police car. I came upon him stopped at a red light. I was making a left turn and he rolled down his window and said, "I clocked you going a little over thirty." (I have had the occasion to cross examine this cop, but we are still on good terms.) I allowed that my speedometer must be off a little because I thought I was going 27. He just laughed, told me he was jealous of my bike and drove off when the light turned green.
 

meowy84

Member
Jul 18, 2009
239
0
16
Canada
Your mention of kids reminded me - the kids I ride by, or that ride by me in the back of their parents' cars, are always stunned and amazed. These machines are the pinnacle of a playing card in your spokes.

Because of this, I am very careful never to give them any notice, and I avoid riding by schools. I don't need someone accusing me of being a creeper.
LOL, paranoia will destroy ya!

Anyways, since I've never been in public with my MB the weirdest question I get asked is actually by my 10 year old son. He keeps asking the same question over and over about once every week usually after coming back from a weekend at camp with his grandma that it's become sort of an inside joke: "Hey dad, did you put the motor on your bike yet?" He asks it because I got the kit just a little over a year ago and I keep tinkering with it and with the frame but I have yet to marry the two. :)
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
2,784
26
36
Indianapolis
I found a way to answer the stupid question "Wanna Race?"
A guy in a Mustang asked me that in the downtown parking lot quite some time ago. I thought about it and said "Sure I'll race you. Here's how we'll do it: The finish line will be 40 miles away. We'll both start with one liter of gas each, NO MORE. And you can go as fast as you like. The first one across the finish line keeps the Mustang."
 

Tim_B_172

New Member
Aug 26, 2009
251
0
0
40
Saint Joseph, MO
Your mention of kids reminded me - the kids I ride by, or that ride by me in the back of their parents' cars, are always stunned and amazed. These machines are the pinnacle of a playing card in your spokes.

Because of this, I am very careful never to give them any notice, and I avoid riding by schools. I don't need someone accusing me of being a creeper.
That is pretty paranoid. I'm really not worried about that myself after-all, I'm not a perv. If they wave at you, wave back, they will appreciate it and you haven't done anything that would make someone think that you are doing anything wrong.
 

Tim_B_172

New Member
Aug 26, 2009
251
0
0
40
Saint Joseph, MO
LOL, I just realized how that sounded. I wasn't calling you a perv. I was just saying that you shouldn't worry about people thinking that you are one because you aren't one. ;)
 

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
63
living the dream in southern california
i've had everyone of the already posted questions thrown at me more than once. but the one that kills me everytime is:

"where didja buy that?"

i don't have the time or energy to explain to someone the days and weeks it took me to build it, and i don't want my bike compared to the cheap, crappy bikes certain "companies" advertise on craigslist.
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
21
0
Maine
The question I get most often is "how many miles to the gallon?" It seems like the stupidest question to me...
Indeed - I get that'un a lot too lol, my reply is usually "Dunno really, if I cared 'bout that I'd pedal" or "Good 'nuff I forget to fill it doh" :D
 

meowy84

Member
Jul 18, 2009
239
0
16
Canada
Oh, I know I'm not a creeper, but I live in the world of panicky suburban housewives, where the default judgment about men is "dangerous to women and children."
Didn't mean to call you paranoid either, but I know what you mean. Our society has become so twisted that every bush hides a stalker, serial killer or pedophile. My job doesn't require me to wear a suit or to look presentable so out of pure lazyness I often go for long periods without shaving. LOL Anyways, a couple years back I drove a ratty and junky '66 Impala 4 door, all rusty, partly in grey primer with those loud 'redneck' cherry bombs that young boys are automatically attracted to and used to frequently pick up my son from kindergarten/grade school in the car. Although I shouldn't have, I did feel quite uncomfortable surrounded by all those kids looking at the car and asking questions. You can just imagine how a scruffy guy in an old 'perv-mobile' looked in the sea of hoity-toity soccer moms in their new minivans. Anyone seen the movie Uncle Buck? Well it was sorta like that. LOL All I needed was a "Don't laugh, your kid might be in my trunk" sticker to complete the stereotype. They probably thought I was handing out lollypops and luring their kids into the car. I got more than my share of suspicious glaring looks before the school staff and other parents finally got accustomed to the car.
 
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bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
63
living the dream in southern california
a bit off topic (the original topic, anyway) i was walking passed a schoolyard smoking a cigarette and a bunch of second or third graders, about ten of them, ran up to the fence and were all yelling at me, telling me i shouldn't smoke, smoking's bad, blah blah blah. the teachers were all smiling and thinking how smart their children are...

so i stop, face the kids, blow out some smoke, and yell, "DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TEACH YOU NOT TO TALK TO STRANGERS!!!"

that shut them all up, and wiped the smirks right off the teachers' faces.
 

Techbiker

New Member
Oct 27, 2009
164
2
0
DFW, Texas
I had just gotten a new flex pipe exhaust installed on my 4 stroke HS bike and was riding around my neighborhood when I rode past a couple of young kids. The bike used to attract attention but the flex pipe makes it sound like a Harley so these kids started jumping up and down, screaming, and waving lol. I just waved back and smiled. There is something cool about a bicycle that sounds like a Harley...
 

civlized

New Member
Apr 28, 2009
689
1
0
Alabama
I had just gotten a new flex pipe exhaust installed on my 4 stroke HS bike and was riding around my neighborhood when I rode past a couple of young kids. The bike used to attract attention but the flex pipe makes it sound like a Harley so these kids started jumping up and down, screaming, and waving lol. I just waved back and smiled. There is something cool about a bicycle that sounds like a Harley...
I have to question your sense of hearing.