The Personal Blog Of
Boston Motorcycle Attorney

Who Are You Calling a RUB?
February 23, 2010

The motorcycle world is very diverse and there are bikers of all types on the roads of American highways. Although bikers share a passion for motorcycles, they are far from a monolithic group.

Since bikers vary so much, there are many names that bikers have for different groups within the biker community. Some of these labels are cool and others are not so cool.

One of the not so cool names for a biker is rich urban biker or R.U.B.

RUBs are a class of biker that many people feel cast bikers in a bad light. RUBs are seen as people who buy expensive motorcycles not for the love of riding but to have a cool ‘toy’ to show off to their friends and colleagues.

For clarification, you might be a RUB if:

• You bought your bike because a buddy has a similar one: Buying a motorcycle because you want to keep up with you friends is bound to get you labeled as a RUB.
• Your first bike cost over $40,000: It’s great if you can afford an expensive Big Dog Motorcycle or Orange County Chopper for your first bike but you will probably get labeled as a RUB since your riding skills likely won’t match your bike.
• Gear: Bikers wear leather jackets and big boots while RUBs wear tennis shoes and polo shirts. Wearing non-riding gear on your expensive bike will get you labeled as a RUB, and is also pretty dangerous.
• You only ride your bike to local hang outs: Motorcycles are meant to be ridden and if you’re only going a few miles once per week to the local bike night, you are probably a RUB.
• Your bike is overly flashy: RUBs tend to make their bikes as eye catching as possible since their typical goal is to get attention.
• You don’t know any bikers: Since RUBs have no really interest in motorcycles, they also have no interest in knowing a bunch of bikers.

If you fall into this category or someone calls you a RUB, don’t sweat it. There is nothing wrong with being a casual biker who happens to have the money to have a nice bike. Just ride more, meet some bikers, and pretty soon you’ll be considered a regular.