By TRACI BRIDGES
Morning News

Tattoos, leather and wallet chains.

Long–haired, drug–loving hippies like Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in “Easy Rider.”

An angry group of Hell’s Angels stabbing an 18–year–old to death at a 1969 Rolling Stones concert.

These are just a few of the images that the word “biker” conjures up for most people.

But despite the age–old stereotype, most of today’s bikers just don’t fit that mold.

In fact, the guy on that Harley beside you at the stoplight these days is a lot more likely to be your child’s pediatrician than a Hell’s Angel.

Results from a study conducted by William R. Swinyard, a Harley owner and marketing professor at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management, indicate that the culture once dominated by hell–raising is now heavily driven by a new group he calls “Rolex Rangers,” also known as Rich Urban Bikers, or RUBs.

“Yeah, I would agree that most of us don’t fit the old stereotype,” said Jim Hoffmeyer, a Florence attorney and Harley owner.

“It’s actually a very diverse crowd these days,” Hoffmeyer said. “I think that’s part of the fun of it because you get to meet all types of people. You’ve got your upper income riders but you’ve also got your old–school guys. And I’m just glad most of them are gracious enough to let those of us who are not so hard–core hang out and learn from them.”

In addition to the Rolex Rangers, Swinyard identified several other groups of Harley–Davidson enthusiasists, the biggest of which is the “Dream Riders” segment. Swinyard describes this group, which along with the Rolex Rangers accounted for nearly 40 percent of the 761 Harley owners who participated in his study, as bike owners who like the idea of owning a motorcycle but really don’t enjoy riding that much.

“The Dream Riders aren’t hard–core motorcyclists,” Swinyard says in his study. “They’re the ones with the money. It’s more of a mid–life thing.”

About 20 percent of those surveyed in Swinyard’s study were what he deemed the “Zen Riders.” For Zen Riders, motorcycling is about gaining spiritual satisfaction and peace.

“There’s a lot of spiritual motivation toward riding for these people; it’s kind of a Zen experience,” Swinyard said.

“I’m not talking about it being a religious experience in the sense of going to church, but they feel a peacefulness and connection that they only feel when riding their motorcycles.”

Lynn Dewitt of Florence would likely fall into that Zen Rider category. She describes riding her motorcycle as freedom.

“When you get out on the road, you just feel a sense of total freedom,” she said. “For me it’s a stress reliever, a time to clear my head and just enjoy myself.”

Tallon Temple said he agrees with Dewitt and views his time on his motorcycle as his time away from stress and hassle.

“I definitely wouldn’t fit the stereotype of a biker, but I ride my bike every chance I get,” said Temple, who got hooked on motorcycles through a college buddy whose family members rode together. “I think coming home from work and riding my bike for a couple of hours is the best way in the world to unwind and relax.”

Swinyard also explored a segment of Harley riders he calls “Hard Core” bikers and describes them as the stereotypical bikers, rebels who embrace the code of “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

Marion Broach, who rides regularly and works at Doug’s Harley Davidson of Florence, said Swinyard is right: Hard–core riders are a little closer to the biker stereotype.

“Most of the bikers we would call hard–core guys belong to motorcycle clubs, and their clubs come first — over their jobs, over their families, over everything. And they ride any time, anywhere in any weather,” said Broach, who’s been riding motorcycles since he was a teenager and Harleys for nearly 20 years.

“You really see very few of the hard–core bikers out there these days,” he said. “Instead, you’re seeing more and more of the RUBs, the rich urban bikers, a lot of which just buy a Harley to be able to say they have one because people know a Harley–Davidson is an expensive recreational vehicle. So when somebody sees you with one, they think, ‘Hey, he’s got a Harley. He must have money.’ A lot of them — both the blue collar guys and the white collar guys — try to imitate the hard–core guys, but you can tell who’s the real deal and who’s not.”

Though the biker culture is changing, Broach said the mixing of the old and the new isn’t a problem.

“Overall, everybody gets along pretty good,” he said. “People tend to stick with their cliques, but you don’t really see a whole lot of problems between different groups.”