I never caught too much flak about it, myself....those few detractors who spoke such things at me got an offer...borrow my 'ped and go get me a pack of smokes from the gas station on Church St & Ritchie Hwy.
Not one of em who ever made that trip (it's a rough, nasty-traffic trip on a 'ped, too) ever spoke a word of disrespect about my wheels again.
And as for the four wheelers who like to crowd you, bump you, or run you into curbs ? I carry a four-foot length of 'battlechain' in my left side pocket, and sealed beam headlights are damned expensive...word gets around, and quickly.
Ree