Topic: Why do you ride?

[Klark Kent]

I ride so I can feel alive, the satisfaction of keeping a 37 year old machine flying round the TT course up to 120 mph, of keeping pace with new bikes (no way are these fast riders though, they would leave me for dust!). The pride of taking my 15 year old daughter on the back (she loves bikes and god help me the speed). The sense of freedom as you board the ferry then head off early in the morning, the 4 exausts howeling.
Even maintainance is no chore, when needed the bike gets this or that part new or from ebay and looks/goes better than ever.  It even goes up in value and costs nothing to tax and bugger all to ensure.
The satisfaction of getting a good series of bends just right with boots cliping the ground at the apex. Pulling a power wheely, no one expects that from such a tug!
And I am afraid smug satisfaction that heres at least one manufactuer who pretty much got it right first time so even when I turn up soaked with the bike covered in grime these a certain perverse pleasure in knowing the thing is be used for what it was designed, being ridden

Graham

B Utiful
-KK

[kghost]

Because they won't let me fly everything anywhere anytime or the way I want to.

There is something about hitting the ton on a machine that WASN"T untill you broke out the spanners and got your hands greasy.

If there is every a time you hope you got it right........




PS nice poem Serenity.

[Rushoid]

Kghost flies airplanes because it's as close as he can get to riding a motorbike while in the air. 

[Rsnip988]

see he likes riding on a loud cloud tooo




literally

[Frankenkit]

I ride because it's as close as I'm ever going to get to flying.

[coldright]

It's a similar feeling to sailing - to feel at one with the elements.  I love putting my face to the wind, it's the perfect antidote for putting my shoulder to the wheel.   
Freedom.  Solitude.  Bliss. 

[myhondas]

Biking is like flying on the ground. We bank the same and accelerate the same and if you have an open cockpit, the wind in your face is about the same. Only difference is in the stopping. Risks are slightly higher on the ground due to the increase of exposure to other vehicles. Vast majority of people in the sky are highly trained. Can't say that on the ground. Not everyone that is on the highway is legal, insured, or attentive to the task. One has to access the risks and determine whether they are acceptable.

[luckydevil]

I was told once that I ride for all the "Right" reasons.  Save gas, actual transportation instead of just a thrill, etc...

But the real reason I ride is the feeling I get of being one with the machine.  It responds to my THOUGHTS not just my actions.  Plus, I look cool doing it 

[seaweb11]

I rode 3 of my 4 bikes today,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Because I can

[mrbreeze]

I rode 3 of my 4 bikes today,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Because I can

I rode my only bike today cause I could.........and I totally enjoyed it up till around noon when it cracked 100 degrees!!! 6 pm now and its like 110 out there...............better stay indoors or burst into flames!!!

[Damfino]

Because it beats walking.......

[Hush]

Cos it reminds me that I'm human and can still scare the bejezzaz outa myself most days when I ride.
My old Karate Master used to say "you will always appreciate life more when you are closer to death".
Which pretty much means that the more we scare ourselves the more we appreciate the fact we are alive.
Many times facing opponents across the fighting mats I have felt this way, the flight or fight urge surges up in you and you know the moment your foot hits that square you will conquer your butterflies, it is also very good muscle practice for your sphincter.

[flybox1]

~because its the only place where i can eliminate the 'noise' of life for a short while.
~because, like yesterday, other riders want to know WTF i'm riding and why it looks so good.


.....and because its hella fun. 

[Duke McDukiedook]

'cause I can...

[Damfino]

Cos it reminds me that I'm human and can still scare the bejezzaz outa myself most days when I ride.
My old Karate Master used to say "you will always appreciate life more when you are closer to death".
Which pretty much means that the more we scare ourselves the more we appreciate the fact we are alive.
Many times facing opponents across the fighting mats I have felt this way, the flight or fight urge surges up in you and you know the moment your foot hits that square you will conquer your butterflies, it is also very good muscle practice for your sphincter.

Did he call you 'GrassHopper'?   

[Caaveman82]

I ride for the adventure ands the common ground.

There is nothing better than going out on some back road you've never been on before and just going. Then coming back into town and pulling into a bar or cafe and meeting a fellow rider and talking bikes for the rest of the night.

That's a great day.

That and it's more addicting than crack.

[Frankenkit]

I dunno about anyone else, but I always have a lot on my mind between work and school, everyday life, etc... when I'm riding is one of the few times that I find I have relative silence- just focus on what I'm doing, what drivers I'm doing, being one with the bike and the moment. 

[ryder60]

it is also very good muscle practice for your sphincter
------------------------------------------------------------
Amen.

Does it make any sense to anybody if I said I ride because it's who I am?

[Shenanigans]

I ride because I listened to Billy Joels "only the good die young" too many times... 

[noahspop]

i ride, because i can no longer skate everyday like i use to. due to declining body parts and family obligations. i would skate to work, but its a bit too far. on a bike i can get a similar rush as i would on a board. i love threading the needle through cars as they are stopped waiting for the light. i enjoy the people i meet because of a common love. same with skateboarding, and i miss that.