Ian,
All I can tell is that I belong(oh my GAWD....Did I actually say I "belonged" to some friggin' group????) to the SoCal Norton Motorcycle Owners Club, and this loose-knit group comprised of mainly britbike owners never, ever excludes ANYONE depending on the make of their machines, or the country of origin of their machines(this includes Japan, Italy, Germany, yes and even "American-made" bikes) whenever they have one of their rides, BECAUSE...almost to the man(or woman) they KNOW and APPRECIATE the wide variety and the history of ALL motorcycles, and I can talk and have intelligent conversations with these people who REALLY have motorcycling "in the blood".

So, in THIS regard maybe Steve is absolutely right when he mentioned above that "It's all about the club first - the bikes are secondary". And they call themselves..."BIKERS"????

So do we have yet ANOTHER contradiction here in their basic philosophy of life?

I think we do.

Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)