Why we ride..

[Guth_imp]

When the ferret and I finally got a chance to meet and spend some time together we talked about a variety of things. Motorcycling of course was one of those things. When asked if my wife rode, I responded no — she doesn't really like motorcycles all that much due to the added risk that they present (a point which I would not argue). However, she has come to understand that riding has proven to be good for my mental state. I'm almost always in a better mood after going for a ride. It's gotten to the point where sometimes she will actually encourage me to go for a ride (none of which has changed her opinion of bikes). It does me good. I suppose that is one reason that I like to ride.

The main reason that I ride is because I simply like the sensation of being on a motorcycle while it carries me around wherever I might choose to go. I loved that feeling as a kid and I still do to this day. Even though I'm a fairly conservative rider, I don't deny the risk involved. But danger (or the feeling of cheating death) isn't the reason that I ride. For me, the sheer pleasure that the experience of riding presents just happens to outweigh the risks involved.

[Pterodactyl_imp]

You know Guth, I think a lot would agree with your view.

Cheers

[Paul_imp]

Maybe this conversation would go otherwise on a sportive bike forum

[redbirds_imp]

Well said Guth.

[the Ferret]

"The main reason that I ride is because I simply like the sensation of being on a motorcycle while it carries me around wherever I might choose to go. ". Guth


Does it get any simpler than that? I don't think so.




.

[Dharma_Jones93_imp]

I enjoy Tolle's work, and it is very relevant to our practice. I might disagree with the notion that riding is an inherently dangerous activity. 2011 mortality reports indicate that Americans are are almost 5 times more likely to die from eating cheese burgers (chronic illness, diabetes, heart disease, etc) than being killed in a motor vehicle accident or murdered combined.
That said, I have always rode for the mindfulness activity. My motorcycle takes me to other mindful activities. It gives me 20 minutes of present contemplation before I get to work, and twenty more before I come home. It takes me to far off hiking/camping destinations where by extension I am more present with the world, rather than jumping out of an air conditioned tin can with the speakers blaring, cell phone in hand. Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" would be the logic next read for someone interested in this subject. That book is one of the most influential reasons I bought the CB. Just me, a machine, and the inexhaustible present.
"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you are no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow." Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, explaining to the reader, why we should choose to climb to the tops of mountains (or in his case, ride to the top of mountains).

[ride4now_imp]

Perhaps this thread died prematurely. A recent short conversation with Darling made me think it might be worth resuscitating. I was pulling on my riding boots when Darling appeared, as if by magic, and asked the question, "Why do you want to ride that ..... that ..... motorbike?". Most people asking that question would be met with the full force of my towering intellect. Closely reasoned argument and flawless dialectic, delivered in Churchillian tones, would have quickly put the issue to bed, leaving that person in no doubt about the importance of motorcycle riding in improving the human condition. Even my condition. However, with Darling, this may not be the best approach to the issue. So the "conversation" went something like this:

Darling: "Well?"
Me: "Dunno, jus wanna gofera ride"
Darling: "Skatá!* Is that best you can do?"
Me: "Yeh, yarite, bugger the ride. Maybe I'll sit in the sun on the back veranda and shotgun a six pack".
Darling: "Vlaká!* Go for your ride. Don't come back before dinner"
Me: "Orrite"

Varooooom!

Cheers.

* (Refer to Google translate - Darling is Greek)

Without checking the translation... I assume that Darling is your lovely wife.
That being said, I think she and Evelyn must have been friends in a prior life.
That sounded like a conversation I had with 'my' darling just recently.

[LARIDER_imp]

There's been a theory going around about motorcyclists' behavior for a few years now.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2010/...orcycling/

https://www.nextnature.net/2011/02/the-c...torcycles/

Not sure how much truth is to those articles, but I ride because I got hooked on it the second I learned how to change gears on a friend's YZ80 in 1983. The freedom, the smell of the gas, the wind, the engine sound, etc...... but my family also had two cats when I was a kid! lol.

[Southpaw50_imp]

I owned Harleys in the 1980's and 1990's. Did the two and three day rides with my wife. In early 2000 she no longer wanted to ride and I was tired of the longer rides. In 2003 I purchased a new CB750 Nighthawk. I used to have a 1976 CB550 back in the day and really liked the inline fours. So I started doing 40 to 80 mile daily rides into the foothills and canyons. I thought that Nighthawk was going to be my last bike. . . until the CB1100 came along.

I'm a fair weather rider which is pretty much year round here in Southern Utah. This morning I left early (it's been a little warm around here lately) and took a ride through Snow Canyon State Park and up to Enterprise through the Dixie National Forest and back. About 80 miles in less than two hours. I may do it again tomorrow and the next day. I'm retired. I try to ride every morning or afternoon depending on the weather.

I love the feeling when you increase in elevation and you can feel the temperature drop 10 or 15 degrees. Way cool!

[pwh421_imp]

When the ferret and I finally got a chance to meet and spend some time together we talked about a variety of things. Motorcycling of course was one of those things. When asked if my wife rode, I responded no — she doesn't really like motorcycles all that much due to the added risk that they present (a point which I would not argue). However, she has come to understand that riding has proven to be good for my mental state. I'm almost always in a better mood after going for a ride. It's gotten to the point where sometimes she will actually encourage me to go for a ride (none of which has changed her opinion of bikes). It does me good. I suppose that is one reason that I like to ride.

The main reason that I ride is because I simply like the sensation of being on a motorcycle while it carries me around wherever I might choose to go. I loved that feeling as a kid and I still do to this day. Even though I'm a fairly conservative rider, I don't deny the risk involved. But danger (or the feeling of cheating death) isn't the reason that I ride. For me, the sheer pleasure that the experience of riding presents just happens to outweigh the risks involved.

This.. This is also my experience, right down to similar conversations with my wife.

My situation is a little different in that wife did ride, when she lived in the south, but the volume of traffic here in CA took the fun out of it for her. We compromised and ride dirt bikes together.

For me I believe that to deny the inherent risk of riding is foolish, to state it's the primary reason is equally so. There is no one reason. We all ride our own rides..