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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> Why we ride /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1496935314 Message started by DavidOfMA on 06/08/17 at 08:21:54 |
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Title: Why we ride Post by DavidOfMA on 06/08/17 at 08:21:54 A mentor from a graduate English program years ago recently asked me why I ride, and his question prompted me not only to give him an answer but also to ask the three motorcyclists I most often ride with (my brother Paul, his friend Ken, and my brother Mark). I'm curious about why people here ride and look forward to your answers to this question. Meanwhile, here is my mentor's question and our answers. Why We Ride Gene's question I'm not sure I get this motorcycle thing. Wheels like mandalas, Zen, dharma? Not Marlon Brando's movie or Thom Gunn's poem. I know you better than that, terrific poem though. My answer I've felt the "motorcycle thing" since I was about six, when my father's friend Al Simon took me for a ride around the block on his first motorcycle, which was probably a tiny 125cc scooter. I can still recall the blur of everything I saw around me and the feeling of fear and excitement, danger and safety. I was never an athlete , but I've always been attracted to activities that required some physical skill in order to avoid injury or death. When I did construction work, my favorite job was roofing. In my brief period of spelunking, I liked descending into tunnels, where if I slipped and broke a leg it might take a day to get me out of there, but if I was careful with handholds and toeholds I would not slip. Scuba diving had a similar appeal -- follow the rules and you get to see things most people don't see in a way most people don't experience. Shortcut or ignore them and you drown. With motorcycling, there's a controlled thrill to knowing that if I pay careful and constant attention while skating across the pavement on a machine that, if it malfunctions, could leave me stranded, I'll probably get to where I'm going unscathed, and if I don't -- if I lose concentration on the road, if I ignore a weird noise or vibration, if I fail to check the tire pressure regularly -- things may not go so well. An important effect of paying all this attention, especially on a long trip on an old, small bike like the ride between Beverly and Hamilton, is that for the eight or so hours I'm in the saddle, I'm in the moment in ways I seldom am in my everyday life. Although I'm riding the same roads I've been on in a car, I'm seeing things and feeling things I don't experience any other way and that anyone who has never ridden a motorcycle has not experienced, either. It's like a mindful, solitary hike in the mountains -- with speed and a whiff of danger added in. I don't know if that clarifies the "motorcycle thing," but it was fun to reflect on it. My brother Paul's answer I have always liked things that are honestly mechanical, not covered over to look non- mechanical. That is one of the reasons I like steam trains, and old factories with line shafts and belt driven machinery, and hand tools and Dads old hardware store - all are tools meant for use and not disguised as anything but what they are. This is what first drew me to motorcycles early on - you can see and touch and hear and smell all the parts that make it go, and nothing is covered over with sheet metal to hide it from view (at least in the 60s and 70s). To this day I would rather have a Sportster than a Goldwing - the Goldwing is a sheet of plastic over the mechanical bits, and says "hands off" to any tampering or investigating. Some Mercedes nowadays come with NO dipstick - there is a computer plug in to tell you what your oil level is and when your oil needs changing. So to me, it was the OBJECT itself not the actual use of the object that attracted me. I can do almost no wrenching myself, although I can do surgery - and I regret that. I never learned when I was young (except on bicycles) and do not have time to learn now, so in reality if I take the bike to a mechanic for almost everything, what practical difference does it make if it has pushrods or OHC valves or a carburetor vs EFI, or if you have to take off 6 body panels to change the sparkplugs - it doesn't make a practical difference because i am paying someone who knows how to do it to do it, but I like the IDEA that if i had to and if Mark was helping me, I COULD change the cams on my Sportster in my garage. I once stopped on the side of the road to see if a guy with an old Harley needed help. It was a shovel head, and he was, on the side of the road, changing a pushrod lifter because he knows that his sometimes seize up, so he carries a spare with him to pull and plug and he is on his way. I admired that immensely. Now, add to that the fact that you can actually GO places and hear the exhaust and feel the vibration and lean into the turns and feel the camaraderie with friends, and to me, who WOULDN'T love a motorcycles??? My brother Mark's answer It all started for me with Al Simon and some very small childhood memory of his motorcycle parked on our side lot on Kettering. Maybe he let me sit on it perhaps. That grew into a 2 wheeled desire for something with power and our very small dabble into minibikes and motorized machines. I can remember converting our snowplow into a 4 wheeler. Of course, there was that exposure to motocross and Warren racing at Zoar Valley and the powerboat races on the Niagara River. Mechanical power was the driver and 2 wheels was a way to get affordable access to it. Perhaps if we had more dollars to enable access to go carts and muscle cars at an early age rather than mini bikes, Yamaha YG-K, and other bikes beyond that I would be a car guy???? Ken's answer I think there are three primary reasons that I enjoy motorcycling. The first is that no other activity that I partake in places me in the moment to the extent that motorcycling does. While on the bike the environment is so dynamic it requires complete attention. Changes in road conditions, traffic, the handling of the bike etc. demand complete focus. This crowds out all the extraneous mental noise that picks away at you. I find this controlled stress to be both stimulating and relaxing. A few hours on the bike is like a weeks vacation. The second reason would be the other motorcycle riders. I can't think of any other riders who I've met who were pricks. I'm sure they exist but I think they are few and far between. From my experience it seems that this pastime attracts mostly good folks. The third reason would be how riding a bike seems to open up conversations with strangers on the road. I don't know how many times I've stopped along the way only to have strangers approach and strike up a conversation. Usually it begins about the bike and then it goes in any direction. If I was in a car I'm sure none of these interactions would have occurred. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Serowbot on 06/08/17 at 09:03:49 Closest thing to riding a flying horse... :) |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Gary_in_NJ on 06/08/17 at 09:32:32 The summer of ’73 I was 10 years old and my dad did something that would change my life. He took me and my brothers to the local Suzuki dealership to see how we’d fit on a few bikes. He just wanted to get one bike that would fit me and my brothers that were 12, 14 & 15 – not an easy task. Later that day a van dropped off a brand new TS-50 Gaucho. Before the summer was over there were three motorcycles in our family (the oldest didn’t care for them). That TS-50 gave me something then that I still enjoy about motorcycles over 40 years later – freedom. When I’m riding that’s all I’m doing. I’m in the moment. I’m in touch will all of my senses. I’m calculating. I’m experiencing. I'm challenging myself. I'm learning. I have something tangible that is burned into my memory. I’m still 10, or 18 when I got my first street bike, or 40 when I got my first 4-stoke dirtbike – I’m all of those things at the same time. I’m happy. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Ruttly on 06/08/17 at 12:50:57 I guess the simplest answer would be fun. Started at 11 / 12 years old and still riding 40 + years later. When I ride everything else is turned off , it's me and the bike. All problems,stress,emotions blocked it's time to ride, it's my only true freedom from the world. To hear & feel the bike,engine,chain, brakes and the road the curves,bumps and when you put it all together the bike is as alive as I am , flesh & blood , engine & oil all as one being ! Feeling everything the bike feels every bump,every slip of the tires, the sweet sound of power. There is nothing I love to do more than ride and when I'm back home, I have been renewed ! Grinning the rest of the day. So that why I ride,it's FUN,it renews the soul , mind & body ! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by jcstokes on 06/08/17 at 13:42:41 While, I quite like motorcycles, I never rode until I was twenty six, mainly because my interest in vintage cars precluded spending money on a bike. I commuted by foot, thumb and bus. I brought a new Jawa 350 and very much enjoyed it, although no long trips were undertaken. I had two significant accidents in 1970-80 and gave up in frustration, but the spark never quite died. In her later years, my mother asked me if I would like another bike, I said maybe. I never brought one, a GN 250 until after she died, then I brought the S40. I enjoy the sensations that riding gives and that's all I can say. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by stewmills on 06/08/17 at 13:47:15 I ride because I was once terrified of it (riding on the road with cars zooming all around me) but still wanted to challenge myself and see if I could handle it. Got my S40 as my first bike at 38 years old (5 years ago). Was terrified to go through the neighborhood at 40mph and scared of every noise I heard as if it were cannons shooting at me. I have enjoyed riding, and learning to work on the bike and challenge my mechanical skills equally as much. I was once scared of being underwater, so I took scuba lessons and got certified as a rescue diver. I had a fear of heights, so I went sky diving and hang gliding. I was scared of flying, so I took flying lessons and got my SEL private pilot's license. I thought I would ever go to college (no one in my near immediate family did) so I put myself through school and graduated. I was once scared of women, so I got married :-? Just kidding...I REALLY LIKE WOMEN 8-) Seems so much of my life has been focused around facing my fears and facing challenges that may sometimes be trivial and sometimes be monumental. The words I love to hear more than anything are "you can't do that." Wanna bet?!?! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Hamman on 06/08/17 at 14:28:54 Because there is no other feeling like it. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by engineer on 06/08/17 at 18:20:26 I like the wind, the view, the closeness to the surroundings and best of all, leaning in the curves. It reminds me of flying. When I get too old to ride a two wheeler I don't think I'll move to a three wheeler, just wouldn't be the same without leaning. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by zipidachimp on 06/09/17 at 13:10:00 not a reason, more a confirmation: read a story once that British actor Sir Ralph Richardson rode his bike almost everyday, even in his later years, thought, so can I! Also, the smell of the countryside is unmatched on a bike, as is a feeling of being somewhat roguish and unconventional, especially at my advanced age! A middle finger to convention! 8-) http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/actor-sir-ralph-richardson-riding-his-new-motorcycle-near-news-photo/585342089#actor-sir-ralph-richardson-riding-his-new-motorcycle-near-his-home-in-picture-id585342089 |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by verslagen1 on 06/09/17 at 13:28:50 I agree with every point already made. But also there's a certain feeling of cheating the system; splitting lanes, lower cost, working on the bike myself, throwing off the chains of conformity, and giving the finger to convention! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/10/17 at 02:00:42 4F5C4B4A55585E5C5708390 wrote:
I'm down with all of that. And I just don't Like sitting in a sterile,isolated from the world, vehicle. My pickup truck is a sixcylinder,four speed, 1987, I wish I had much more Finger to offer Convention, but a turbo on a Detroit got it.. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by jcstokes on 06/10/17 at 02:24:07 "Lane splitting" I do it and hate, despise and curse every time I do it. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Dave on 06/10/17 at 05:08:54 434455475D595C5C43300 wrote:
I am still afraid of women! ;) I am not sure how to quantify why I like riding - but I started riding in junior high, raced motocross and hare scrambles in high school, gave up motorcycles when I went to college and got into a career - then after 35 years without a motorcycle I bought a trials bike to ride on the farm.....and now I am riding on the street and enjoying the twisties. I enjoy wrenching and building almost as much as riding. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Ruttly on 06/10/17 at 12:47:24 The vision the shapes the lines the teardown the fabrication the endless changes the mock ups the assembly the testing the tuning and more endless changes Then the first ride , so rewarding And you reward yourself with every ride after that ! I enjoy all of it , it's what I do , it's who I am ! Kinda like that Dave ? |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/10/17 at 21:29:38 424554465C585D5D42310 wrote:
I hope you're not afraid of dying. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by NHLS650 on 06/11/17 at 03:48:11 I bought my first motorcycle in 1988: A 1981 Kawasaki CSR 650. Never had ridden a day on my life before. Once I did, I was hooked. I rode it everywhere, everyday, rain or shine. Even rode in a snowstorm once, used my feet as outriggers. ;D I owned that bike until 1990, and sadly had to sell it because I lost a place to store it. Never had another until May of this year~ enter the 2002 Savage 650! After a sit down with the mrs to discuss my commute to work, and the cost of fuel, [20 miles, one way] we discussed a motorcycle as an alternative, but we could not afford new, nor anything over about 3 grand. I took to Craigslist, and scoured the net. After not riding for 27 years, I knew that I didn't want a big bike to get back in, but would go no less than 650cc. I found the "silver bullet" in Windham Maine, only 5150 miles and garage kept. One owner, never in the rain. The owner was fanatical about the cleanliness of the bike, and at 65, decided that he was going to/ a big scooter, rather than a bike to get around on nice days. I bought it without even riding it, just based on it's immaculate condition. Changed all the fluids, and checked the brakes, and I was off! I've got a new set of Shinko 230's on the way. We all know that the Savage is not the fastest bike, nor the same class as the bigger cruisers, but there's a balance, a synchronicity if you will, that can be developed with the Savage due to it's light weight and nimble-ness. At 53, I ride every day that weather permits, and relish in the 55mpg she delivers! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by DavidOfMA on 06/11/17 at 11:01:30 2B343235282F1E2E1E26343873410 wrote:
I hope you're not afraid of dying. [/quote] Perfect! :) |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/11/17 at 12:15:50 Yeah, somehow I just manage to see that Way to make a point.. And it seems like I do that more than anyone here, and yet,I'm surrounded by the Intellectually Superior who won't hear anything I say,, Odd innit? |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Ruttly on 06/11/17 at 19:39:24 Whaat? |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by DavidOfMA on 06/13/17 at 09:00:22 36292F2835320333033B29256E5C0 wrote:
Well... I have two master's degrees and most of a PhD, and I always listen to what you say! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/13/17 at 10:59:57 Sorry, I misspoke. I meant the Self Proclaimed intellectually superior, not the actual smart people. Like self proclaimed Christians, always dangerous. And thank you for your kind words. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/13/17 at 11:01:57 002726263E2B520 wrote:
Whaat Whaat? |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by stewmills on 06/13/17 at 13:29:21 495650574A4D7C4C7C44565A11230 wrote:
Whaat Whaat?[/quote] Ruttly, Are you saying JOG is a Simple Minded Aggressive Responder That's Always Saying Something. ;D ;D ;D |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by old.indian on 06/13/17 at 13:43:39 Buddy from my second tour got me into my first (and brand new) bike (a '69 Honda CB 450) as a way to keep the buggy men away and stay sober. Six months later I traded up to a new '69 CB 750.... Worked. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Ruttly on 06/13/17 at 15:21:38 Ruttly, Are you saying JOG is a Simple Minded Aggressive Responder That's Always Saying Something. ;D ;D ;D[/quote] Stewy , It's a trap ! You want me to say what I think about Rev. JOG, not a chance ! Then I will be waiting for his revenge and revenge is a meal best served COLD ! I like my meals hot! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by old.indian on 06/14/17 at 09:29:32 FYI .. JOG is a Texan.... It's almost impossible* NOT to be intellectually superior to a Texan... ::) (* EXCEPT in Washington D.C.) :-/ |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/14/17 at 10:45:59 Bailiff! Whack his PeePee. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by bobert_FSO on 06/14/17 at 11:43:21 My love of two wheels started as a kid with a bicycle. What freedom for a kid living in a rural area where everything was too far to walk. I love that gravity and inertial forces allows one to ride a mechanical contraption that cannot even stand on its own when it is not moving. I love the feel of hanging out in the wind, banking around curves as it I were flying. I love the overt and exposed mechanical-ness exposed for all to see. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by batman on 06/14/17 at 17:54:49 Could never afford a plane ,you still have to worry about crashin' but not from 10,000 ft up! Didn't get a bike until I was 31 ,couldn't find the money ,I invested it in four kids. but I've road ever since 38 years to date ,no plan to give up soon! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Danmiller369 on 06/15/17 at 11:58:59 freedom |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/15/17 at 14:06:28 Cuz muh pikkup is broke down... And I just flat don't wanna ride in the ding dang Car.. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by stewmills on 06/15/17 at 14:17:22 3D2224233E3908380830222E65570 wrote:
Yeah, we saw you in town a few weeks ago (see footage below) in the car and we understand now why you avoid it. ;D ;D ;D |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/15/17 at 14:30:18 Hey, it was outside the grocery store. I put my quarter in. Is it MY fault it rolled out in the street? Gosh, you people are Brutal! That's not FOOTage. Dude, that Might not even be INCHage. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Ruttly on 06/15/17 at 19:10:04 JOG , when you park your little red car downtown , does the parking meter give change for the quarter ? Nice hat ! |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by LANCER on 06/15/17 at 20:46:59 Nice little red Savage you got there dude ! [ch128526][ch127949] |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/15/17 at 21:05:49 725554544C59200 wrote:
Park it? I Can't park it. A couple of big kids would carry it off. Yeah, I'm digging the red. And you can just shaddup about the hat. I happen to think it looks quite dashing. |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by Ruttly on 06/15/17 at 21:53:01 That car is a good look for you , it makes you look taller. ;D |
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Title: Re: Why we ride Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/15/17 at 21:56:18 Yeah, till I get out.. Then I look like a doof riding around in a model car. |
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