What do people think of motorcyclists? How are we perceived by the general public? Do we care, or should we care? What do we do to put a positive face on our passion?

I ask these questions because of a few incidents I experienced this past week driving my car. I usually ride my Harley every day, but sometimes the car just makes more sense. When you are in a "cage," you tend to view motorcyclists differently -- more objectively -- than when you are on two wheels. I think that we should all care about how we are perceived by the general public, as poor behavior causes animosity on the highway, and we will lose. Low public opinion also affects legislation, which can absolutely hurt us all

As I said, I'm a Harley rider, but my first four motorcycles were Hondas. I respect anyone who chooses two wheels as a hobby or lifestyle, but there are a small percentage of bikers who do boneheaded things, which unfortunately make us all look bad and give us a bad name.

In a period of a week, I've had to endure out-of-control sport bike riders on the Parkway three times. A few weeks ago, a sport bike rider pulled in front of me at a high speed at the bottom of Green Tree Hill, inbound. He abruptly slowed down to about 30 mph, and then took off like a bullet pulling a "wheelie" halfway up the hill.

A week later, I was inbound near the Robinson interchange, when a group of four passed me at high speed, pulled in front of me as a group, and alternatively slowed down, speeded up, and began weaving between traffic lanes. They carried on with these antics all the way into the city, and at some point, I lost sight of them.

On the way back home one recent evening, I came upon a sport bike doing 45 in the passing lane. When I was able, I passed him on the right, and accelerated to highway speed. He apparently didn't appreciate that someone had the nerve to pass him, so he overtook me at a high speed, gave me an obscene gesture as he passed, then pulled in front of me and slowed down to 50 mph.

Of course, not all sport bike riders are so irresponsible, but unfortunately, the actions of a few paint a different picture of all bikers to the non-motorcycling world. Forget about the touring bikers who want to see the country on two wheels, or the commuters who want to conserve resources, or those that raise money by participating in charity rides. These immature few with a death wish quickly become the face of our sport, because a wheelie on the Parkway is not easily forgotten.

I'm not picking on sport bike riders, but they seem to be the most obvious these days. Back in the day, Hollywood ensured that anyone on a Harley was perceived to be a gun-toting, rule-breaking rebel that had to be feared and avoided. This is obviously not true, but perceptions and stereotypes are hard to overcome. Probably the biggest PR problem for Harley riders is keeping their exhaust decibel level low. The Harley rumble is music to our ears, but it's just noise to non-riders. Modifying the exhaust for maximum noise effect, and announcing it to the neighborhood at all hours of the day and night is not a good way to endear ourselves to our four-wheeled friends. A little common sense and mutual respect goes a long way to acceptance by the rest of the world.

I don't want to be feared or reviled, and I don't want to see someone die from a failed wheelie attempt. It's dangerous enough out there without the few making things worse for the rest of us. Time to grow up.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.