Actually I need a minimum of 30 of you (more would be better) to share with me the story of your patches. To explain, I'm enrolled in a "Media/Society/Self" course at college. We've been instructed to write a Unit of Analysis for class. The other students are choosing TV shows and for the purposes of the assignment what they are doing is ok, but it doesn't really grab my attention.

Our instructions for choosing the topic are as follows:
The first step in performing a content analysis is to choose a general type of media that interests you. You may choose any type of media that interests you. Feel free to be more specific than the following ideas. The following are possible choices:

Television Shows, Television Ads, Primetime TV, Daytime TV, Television News, Television Cartoons, Magazine Articles, Magazine Ads, Magazine Covers, Clothing catalogues, Newspaper Articles, Newspaper Ads, Newspaper Photographs, Internet News, Internet Ads, Internet Pop-ups, Internet Websites, Movies, Movie Scenes, Movie Genres, Movie Previews, Movie Trailers, Radio Broadcasts, Photography, Restaurant Menus, Spam e-mail, Billboard Advertisements, License Plates, Product Labels, Junk Mail (snail-mail), Bumper Stickers, Shirts, Pants,  Paper Money

As you can see I have a lot of choices but I like to be different. I thought about license plates because of another forum topic here and then bumper stickers made me think of helmet stickers but I finally settled on patches because more so than the helmet stickers they tend to mean something to those that own them. That interests me.

Anyhow, would you be willing to share with me the patches you own? If so, could you tell me: what they mean, how long you've had them (if you remember), does wearing them affiliate you or differentiate you from others, in other words do they identify you as being part of a group (MC or other), What kind of bike/s do you own/ride, What kind of rider are you (just learning, seasoned veteran, weekend jaunts, only transportation, rallies, etc), your gender, the state you live in (or country - for you folks across the pond).

I think that covers it, unless from reading this you think I'm missing vital information that should also be included in my analysis.

Here is the only patch I own, until Dragon & Lucky have their patches ready for us...  I have it because I made a donation to B.A.D.D - Bikers Against Drunk Drivers. Currently it's displayed on my dorm room wall mixed with other mementos and such.

by "Patches" do  you mean the ones of your club or organization affiliation, or the smaller, what I call "Tourist Patch" of your trips and the other ones with 'crude and tasteless' (grin) sayings.

I mean all of them. No holds barred. None of them are insignificant. If you own them then there is a reason and/or a meaning behind it and that is what I'm interested in.

For the humor ones, even if you think they might be too much I can say that in this class it will not offend. During our first 3 classes our professor had us watch South Park. Today he showed us a youtube video that was nothing but swearing (funny as hell... but so riddled with curses I can't even post it here).

That reminds me, if you have patches that are so vulgar they have to be censored on CycleFish then I should ask to have you send them to me in a message so I don't violate the policy.

Hi - First - Good luck in your class. I loved learning about marketing (have my MBA in it). As to Patches - we wear a lot. Some are tourist - (indicates where we have traveled on the bike) - we have some rules that we stick by for those - with few exceptions, each patch must be from a place we actually rode. In Hawaii we had to rent a bike as we did in Alaska. But the rest of them - we rode to. Even from FL to the Grand Canyon. And we have event pins and patches for events we have attended too that are a subclass of 'tourist'.

Other patches are membership - American Motorcycle Association, Motorcycle Riders Foundation, ABATE of different states - all are groups that support the sport of and political rights for motorcycle riding.

Other patches are mottos or funny sayings. All of them speak to our biker persona and lifestyle. Then there are other patches that we don't wear yet - the "In memory of" - and we are so fortunate but I know someday one of our brothers or sisters will fall and we will keep their memory alive on our vest.

Finally - there are patches that represent our ride. We wear our brands on our vests. Harley Davidson is a very iconic brand but all brands are represented. good luck with the paper - I'd love to see your results! Diane

Right now I'm collecting data but I need to then come up with a statement. Here are a couple of statements from previous students:

Example 1
This content analysis will examine the appetizer section of 30 restaurant menus - 15 from chain restaurants and 15 from privately owned restaurants - and analyze a.) the average price of appetizers between chain and private restaurants b.) which one has more options, c.) the salience of the appetizer section as a function of what page it is on, d.) whether the prices are whole dollar amounts or decimal amounts and e.) whether the appetizers are the lowest average prices food section compared to other section of their respective menu.

Example 2
This content analysis will evaluate 20 examples of paper money and 10 examples of coin currency and evaluate a.) whether or not there is a recognizable symbol on each piece of money that pertains to the respective country, b.) whether the currency amount is depicted in numerical quantity (i.e., 25) versus literate quantity (i.e., twenty-five), c.) the amount of distinct colors on each piece of money, d.) whether or not the piece of money contains a national headline or motto and e.) whether or not there will apepear a direct English translation on the money piece.

thank you so much Diane! I will happily share both my progress and my results here as I move forward with this. I know my instructor will shape some of my direction but I hope that my final product is more a result of the contributions here. I want to honor the spirit of the riders first.

Ok I guess I will start.  ( Jacket ) My Airborne Wings (Left Side Chest).  I Earned in early the Army in 1996 From Fort Benning, GA.
My Birning Skull Arm Sleves (Right and Left).  In my own way is to Represent for my Grandfathers Time in Korea and Nam (One for Each war served in) and the "Chopers 'till you Die" is on the Jacket  (Left Sholder and back) because I have always loved the choppers look / style.  I still have other Patches I want to get Like the POW/MIA (Black and White),   Vietnam Vetrans ( I Was not There, But I Still Care),  And How Do You Spell Relief, DIVORCE.   And Soon My Cyclefish Patch and Night Dragon's Patch.

Updated Pictures for you AG!

Thanks Seakers! I like that you incorporated a special representation of your grandfather. It is something I would do for my grandmother, her spirit is in nearly everything I do. I just told Rex that the other day. :-)

Your welcome Hun, I hope this helps but that is just my start on patches, I will eventually get more for remberance of my Grandfather later. But Cash is a Short thing I seam to never have. lol

I have several vests with an assortment of patches. However, the one I am most proud of (and I wear the most) has a flag draped Eagle with the words Support Our Troops over it (center of back) at the bottom of this vest is my ABATE of California patch. On the left chest is a yellow ribbon above my Patriot Guard Riders patch with mission pins under that. At the bottom right is an Eagle head with an American flag across his face, the words "War Paint" at the bottom. On the right chest is an American flag patch above a Bikers Against Childporn & Abuse patch. I have reserved the lower right for my patch from nightdragon......Bikers For A Safer Society. Each and every patch I have on this vest has a VERY special meaning to me. Will detail some of my other vests tomorrow. Good luck with your project............................

Hi Adventuregirl, Hope this project goes well for you.
I don't know if I would fit in to your project, but if so, or I can help, I'd be happy to.
You could say I have some patches, but I dont have them on a vest or even know exactly where they are right now, they would be from my associate HOG membership my dad got me when I was little and wanted to be a cool biker like my daddy, they were just "HOG" and "associate menber" patches. Fast forward some many years later, I don't have any current patches or even a planned vest. I did just send in for HOG, national, and I'll probably get a patch or two for that. I plan on Joining TRI State HOG chapter when I get my national info and number and such, yo try it out, might get a patch or two for that. Also, I may get the cyclefish patch when it comes together, their reason being, I really engoy this "site/forum", but it seems to become more of a large extended family to me, and if I do put together a vest, I'd like to honor that. The people here are great and you are one of them, a diverse group comprised of almost all ages and backgrounds, current activities, places of origin and living, yet somehow like minded in many ways.I also signed up for the 'Bikers for a safer society" patch, because like the creator and others who share in the idea, I don't believe we should just simply go by and continue about our business when someone is being harmed in view of someone else. Whether we intervene physically or simply call 911 and report it, we should do something. However in the now, I don't actually wear any patches, unless you count the Harley - Davidson name and logo (Willie G Skull) on the back of my current jacket, I bought it cause it fit well, but it might be possible to say it chose me also. I've loved Harley's ever since I was a little boy and would gaze in awe at my dads Harley's. It seems to be in my blood, and in my soul, I always knew I'd eventually ride a Harley. Life gets in the way sometimes, takes it's twists and turns. But in 2008, I finally got my motorcycle licence, then shortly after rode my first Harley, the very '86 heritage softail that I drooled over and admired as a child. You could say, life or at least part of it came full circle that day. Fast forward to the next summer, and after some financial finagling (smartly) and pining over bikes on dealer websites and classifieds and at dealears, and a whole lotta research, I found and got my bike (Blue). The feeling and freedom I get from riding my motorcycle is just awesome, weather its riding to work, the dealer, or just a ride to get out on her, there is at least one moment, if not more, where I feel completely free, all life's issues go away, it's just me and blue in the wind, rubber side down, shiny side up and relishing the moment.

Hope that helps Adventuregirl, if not and/or you need more stories, my dad's been riding longer that I've been alive (technically), maybie I could get him to tell me about his and forward it to ya.

Thank you BlvdCruiser it truly conveys significant meaning, I can see why it is your favorite. I look forward to hearing of the others.

Good luck with this project Adventure Girl. I am sorry I cant help you out. I dont have any patches by choice. I dont even like T-shirts with stuff on them.
Moose

i don't know how well you can see them, my camera phone bites, there is of course the u.s. flag, been there since the day i bought the vest, it is what i believe in, am grateful to the people who went before to defend it, "all gave some, some gave all", these men and women have my respect and gratitude. below that are the patches of fallen brothers, one, david aka: goofy. i rode with goof a few times, knew him and his wife, good people, david moved to florida on a new job to start a new life for him and his family, his wife stayed here in corpus christi, texas, was supposed to only be for a few weeks and she would move there as well, about 10 days in, david was run over by a little old lady in a cadillac, she busted a left turn from the right lane, never saw him. he died, never heard of any more than a ticket to the lady, in all fairness, i know she had to feel bad for this situation, but damn, look in your mirrors, this all happened at 30 mph. the other was frenchy, i rode with him once, didn't really know him but he had a way about him, out of respect for the patch we wore, i have kept his name on my vest, in a small way, he is still out here riding. other side of the vest, road capt for the club in 2004, these people trusted me with their lives, that meant something to me then as now, so i still watch out for other riders when i am out, if i come up on a group from behind, i fall in as tailgunner and hold the lanes for them. we gotta watch out for each other because no one else is. the only other patch i have had a long time is on my chaps, it says " it is the journey, not the destination", to me, that seems self explanatory, after 41/2 years of rehab,(2002 - 2006.5) where i am going still isn't as important as the experiences had and people met along the way, day by day baby, day by day. hope this helps you out. good luck on the assignment.

So much of what you have said here I agree with whole-heartedly. And yes, you absolutely do fit in with my project. the patches needn't be many nor presently sewn onto a vest to count. I would be honored to hear about your dad's patches and not just because I need  more stories in order to have a complete analysis.

I have several vests/jackets with different patches. My primary vest, the one pictured at the left, has club patches on the back. The top rocker says "Street Legal", the middle patch is an eagle on a bike in front of an American flag and the bottom rocker says "USA". There is a small MC patch to the right of the center patch and a small Minnesota chapter patch to the left of the center patch. You can see it on my page. We do not use a state or region bottom rocker because we are a non-territorial, national, neutral club. The front of the vest has several "I Rode Mine" patches for Sturgis and they are located on several spots on the front. On each breast, there are more club related patches, including "Life Member", "National", "Sgt. At Arms", "Road Lawyer" and "DFWUOWSYA", which means don't f... with us or we'll sue your ass off. My denim vest has the same patches as the leather vest. I wear them both, depending on the weather.

The club is made up primerily of lawyers, judges and others who work in the legal profession. I'm the National Sgt. At Arms. We are not a 1% club, but we occasionally get hassled by the police simply for wearing an MC patch. I have been questioned by cops during traffic stops about any affiliation with gangs. My only affiliation is that I"ve had some gang members as clients (I do criminal defense work), but that has nothing to do with my club membership.

I have other jackets that have charity ride patches, Harley patches, scull patches, Sturgis patches and various pins. I feel naked when I'm out in public without at least one of the jackets or vests on. I also feel naked if I'm on my bike and I don't have one of the vests with the club patches on.

I can see them just fine. Thank you for sending the pic. The patches for your fallen brothers and the story of how goofy died reminds me of the fragility of life. Carrying them with you in name (on the patches) & spirit is a fitting tribute. Knowing there are people like you, current and former road captains, watching out for other riders is encouraging. You have both my trust and my respect. That saying on your chaps. I have a hiking buddy who repeatedly says that very thing to me on hikes. And the people along the way... I'm glad you are one of them. (I'm glad for every single connection I've made here on CF)

Hi Adventure Girl, I hope this project works out well for you. It's certainly unique.
The patches on my vest tell more about me than anything. Being a Navy retiree, I am a member of the American Legion Riders and have their patch on the left side along with the American flag (close to my heart), On the right is the patch from my local motorcycle society, On the back I have a Fallen Heroes patch flanked by a US Navy Retired patch on one side and a U,S, Navy Proud Parent patch on the other to honor my son who is stationed in Kuwait and a University of Houston patch below it to honor my youngest son who is a teacher. At the bottom I have a patch that says "Never Ride Faster Than Your Angel Can Fly" as a reminder to me, The chains on my vest alternate between an eagle with the American Flag and the U.S. Navy emblem. In short it says I am a veteran who loves and is proud of my sons, a patriot who supports our troops and loves my country.

I love it! Thank you. I'm going to check out the pictures on your page now.

I have several patches but the that means the most to me is "Stupid Hurts!"
Yes I sometimes have a problem with stupid people, but this patch was for me. I was riding late at night out in the country, going way too fast, just enjoying the moment when I came into a fog bank. Before I realized what was happening the road stopped at a "T" intersection and I went straight off the end and through a barbed wire fence doing at least 50. Yah, it hurt bad. Wasn't so good on my old sportster either. Now I try and remember to pay more attention and stay alive.

this is a much as i have on ma bike ,dont have patches ,but i have sticker's on my hugger round the rear tyre .hope this is a help to u ?.

and....

my new one ....???

My vest (patches) for the most part tell a story and respresent's the pride I have by serving in the Military on this great Country. Let's look at some of the patches.....on the front of my vest the RED VET patch is for the blood that has been shed by our men and women in all the wars. The 9-11-01 patch is a constant reminder that this country must remain in a constant state of allert for futher aggression. The POW patch reminds me daily that there many of my Brothers that never returned from Viet Nam, and many families that will never experience closeure. The VIET NAM patch top of my vest is proudly worn and let's others know I was there doing what I had to do without question. On the back of my vest of course the AMERICAN FLAG is a reminder that I live in the best Country in the world, and I will do anything to protect that flag and what it repersents. On the bottom of the vest is the DEATH CARD which reminds me constantly this card will come to visit all of us at some time, so we must live our lives to the fullest. Be the best person we can be...love our brothers and sisters and protect to the end our values. The SKULL patches is just another reminder that life is way to short not enjoy what God has given us.

Hope this has helped you in some way

The Night Dragon