what is a real motorcyclist?

am i?

i ride every day almost in the worst traffics and feign death every other mile.

I use my dish towels to clean my moto parts

it sometimes comes across like i care more about my bikes then my woman.

do i? answer: no comment 

the truth is it's a guy like Sonny

the 1959 yds-1r yamaha i posted below was his. 

in my opinion he is that real motorcyclist

he is the history: he is the legacy: 

that makes me proud to be from this tribe, we, and i am in... 

from a post my friend Mark, his step-son, made on the r1 forum

I've spoken about it before, but my father-in-law is Sonny Angel. He raced in Europe and the US all throughout the 50's and 60's. He served in the Navy from 1940 to 1947, worked in the Vincent factory from 1950 to 1952, hand-built the last Vincent Lightning to leave the factory, and opened his motorcycle shop in National City, CA in 1953. Cal Rayborn and Burt Monroe were shop riders for a time. He's sold nearly 40 different brands of bikes. Sonny purchased two Yamaha YDS-1R 250cc racers in March 1960, fitted Norton Manx front brakes to each, and exported them to the Isle of Man. He became the first man to ride a Yamaha in Europe, and the first to ride the IOM on a Yamaha. He made three practice laps, averaging 114mph before the bike seized. Didn't make the race. He also stuffed a Hilman IMP motor in a Norton International chassis the same year that Honda introduced the CB750. He hoped that Norton would see the future of the I-4 layout, and move to keep up with Japanese innovation. They turned a nose to the design, and subsequently went out of business a few years later. Made 49 runs at Bonneville on his 1947 Vincent Rapide between 1953 and 1981. Last and final run averaged 144.97mph, just 6mph off Rolle Free's record-breaking speed.