On two wheels
The wind rushes over your body creating a whistling you are familiar with. The jet-black open face helmet matches the Street and Steel riding jacket you are wearing.
The fact that you are balancing on two wheels provides for fluid maneuverability. You enjoy this greatly. You cannot get enough of the beast. How can we not talk about the beast. The imposing matte black Honda CB1300 with a liquid cooled engine to die for. But I did not intend that pun. Why would I?
You ride cautiously, observantly. You do not have the excitement many young riders bring to the road. You have risen through the ranks of riding starting with the smaller bikes making your way upwards. Riding the beast is as exciting to you as it was the first time you got onto it.
The experience of riding to you is freedom in its most organic form.
Growing up, my old man had a Yamaha bike alongside the old Mitsubishi he drove for years.
One of my most memorable experiences was riding with him on short journeys much to the anxiety of mother. In the mid 1990s he stopped riding. The bike was kept in the garage for the rest of its natural life. He never told us why he stopped riding. Maybe what was at stake deterred him.
But I still remember how happy he was on that Yamaha when he rode. I have an old picture of him on the bike grinning with the excitement of a young man.
I have never forgotten about motorcycles. Every time I see a rider on a good bike I look on appreciatively. In my twenties I rode a friend’s bike a few times. It is one of the most exhilarating experiences you can have on motorised transportation.
I have been thinking of buying a motorcycle lately. But when you are married you do not just show up at home with a bike. Because it is not just about you anymore. Bikes after all can be quite dangerous if not riden cautiously. The risk of an errant driver running over you cannot be fully underscored. Also, when children grow up with a father or family member that rides a bike they are more likely to adopt the habit.
So you unknowingly might be inspiring generations of riders thus exposing them to the same risks. So I keep thinking, whether when I am an old man, I will not sit at home one day wondering what my life would have been like if only I had bought that bike.
