The Emotional Thread that Ties us to Motorcycling

[alii1959]

I am not a sheep. I am not like others....I don't need their approval, but I do need to feel "free". The part about being "in" the world not simply passing by, fits me to a tee. I like the smells, sounds, heat, wet, cold, etc. I like the challenge of making it from here to there when it seems that so many are trying to take me out. I like the rumble of the engine beneath me. I like the knowledge that it is my skill, paranoia, and resolve that allow survival on streets not made for me. I like the fact that this activity doesn't allow other thoughts to creep in, especially for those simple minded like me. I have always had a need to prove myself.....to me. And, this challenge awakens my soul.....with two wheels beneath me (bicycles count)......I am alive (the bugs and SUVs never let me forget).

[3Moons]

Originally Posted by Hedge

I ride because my mind clears of all other thoughts! The noise of life gets turned off for a few hours and I can just enjoy being in the moment!

Very nice, Hedge! Crisp, clear and concise!

Mark Twain wrote, "If I had more time, I would have written less."

[Brooksie]

I enjoy being in the environment, not just passing through it. I like the athletic nature of aggressive riding. I like SPEED. I like the risk. I like long walks on the beach...............

[richb]

Riding a bike demands 100% concentration from the moment you throw your leg over, until the moment you step off (ask me how I know...). That's it for me.
It started as a practical way of getting to work without getting blown up by various Islamic fundamentalists but then I picked up on how focussed you have to be and how it drives everything else out of your mind. Eventually the ride to and from work (and this was in the far-less-than-optimal London rush hour conditions) was the best part of the day. People pay a lot to learn meditation techniques; they could learn to ride instead.

[HumpedZebra]

It’s simply the feeling of VELOCITY!

[SpaceCoastRat]

I got my love of riding from Sunday afternoon rides on the back of dad's bike when we were too small to reach around his waist and he would put a big leather belt on for us to hold onto. I also grew up with Evel Knievel and the Fonz intensifying my love of motorcycles. I live in Florida now after a lifetime of winters spent waiting to ride so I don't even have a cage cuz it's never too cold to ride. Riding really is a zen thing experience that gets you in touch with the essence of being but the long and the short of it is BIKES ARE WICKED COOL. Oh, and let's not forget - chicks dig bikes.

[13]

riding, next best thing to flight...

[UraniumC]

For me it's mostly about the image, hanging around cafes so others can bask in the glow of my manly manlyness.

[HiDesert]

Quite apart from the speed, there's also the acceleration!!! Those g forces do wonderful things to the adrenal glands.

[jonathanrsr]

Before last Sept, my MC riding ended in 1971 (a Yam 305). Luckily for me, our son had been talking MC's for 2 years, thus our visit to every showroom in a 60 mile radius. While I had kept my PA MC license, unbeknown to him I took the MSF course, which re-awakened how much fun I had been missing those 30 + years. The day after I finished the course, I bought a Kawa 750 Vulcan, and from Sept on, logged 1800 miles. Since April and my acquiring an '02 TB, have logged another 800. Since I am now "chronologically challenged" , most of my friends & a few family members think I'm nuts. *G* In trying to answer the "why do you ride" Q, like some of the others in here, for me it is another visceral experience which I consider to have added to the quality of my life, along with: playing 2nd row in a rugby scrum in the fall, when the steam is coming off the players' heads, and as the 2 packs thud together, locking into position, your face 18" from the pitch so you smell the turf that's been chewed up by the boots, and the sound of the grunts as the packs push against each other; the exhilarating experience of hiking out on a Laser sailboat, your body fully extended horizontally with the water, the waves breaking on your leading shoulder as the boat goes up on a plane; a downhill run when you are "in the zone", slaloming smoothly, your skis an extension of you - all of which make me feel alive. There are areas that I ride through in the summer where you feel the temperature changes within a few yards. The smell as you ride past a freshly mowed (or fertilized)field, or being stuck in traffic behind a diesel vehicle. And the smell and sensation of rain when it first starts, the sound as it hits your jacket, watching the drops slide across my visor, getting whacked by a bug...compare these sensations to riding in a hermetically sealed, air conditioned, smooth riding, super sound system vehicle. When I am on a bike, I KNOW that I am alive, and as others here have already stated, I am focusing on staying alive. My apologies for the lengthy diatribe - as you can probably guess, after a 36 year hiatus, I am excited to be back. *G*