For the Love of Motorcycles

Have you ever thrilled at the roar of the jet engines as the plane you are in speeds down the runway?  And how about that sense of elation as the plane rapidly noses up and soars off into the sky?  Who cares where; the rush is in the going.

We motorcycle enthusiasts know that rush, only better.  In that plane you are not in control of the throttle that propels you down the runway.  You are not in control of the ailerons that give you the necessary lift to get you off the ground. You are a passive traveler, strapped into your seat.  But the motorcycle, ah yes, the motorcycle adds so much more to the experience of travel.

The motorcycle rider is connected to the machine, one with it.  The motorcycle doesn’t treat you as a passive traveler, but it becomes an extension of yourself.  You sit on it, you hang on, you operate the controls.  When you twist the throttle, you’re off, in control.  You don’t give a thought about how you manage to stay up on two wheels.  With the wind in your face, the road beneath your feet, you just go, just for the thrill of going.

Little did Gottlieb Daimler envision what would become of first gas-powered motorcycle he produced.  Little did William Harley and Arthur Davidson envision into what their motorcycle would morph.  Who would have guessed what would emerge from the humble beginnings of a three horsepower motorcycle with a top speed of ten miles per hour, which was also equipped with pedals to assist when ascending hills.

Following the Harley-Davidson came other American motorcycles from the 1930s to the early 1960s, namely the Indian, Excelsior and Henderson.  Following in suit came other manufacturers, among them Honda, Suzuki, Moto Guzzi and BMW.  Motorcycles come in all shapes and sizes, for many different purposes.  There are touring cycles, cruising cycles, sport bikes, standard bikes, scooters, motocross bikes, Enduro motorcycles and trial motorcycles, all of them manufactured for some special purpose.

But whatever their purpose, when you’re on that cycle, you are in touch with the world.    You are much more in touch and aware of your surroundings.  Your senses operate at a higher level than they do when you are in a closed-in, four-wheeled vehicle. You don’t just know the weather, you feel it.  You can smell when the driver in the car next to you has forgotten to release his emergency brake before putting his vehicle in drive.  Because you can shift your position in a lane, you can see things that a driver in a four-wheeled vehicle cannot.

And do you know what motorcycle riders hate the most?  It is when driving rain or pelting snow forces us to stay indoors.  Maybe even worse than that, is when it forces us to get into that box with pedals to push and a wheel to turn.  Boring!  But the rain will stop and the snow will melt—we will ride again!