Where Does This Passion Come From?

[rotor]

This may be nothing more than the musings of an insomniac but I am curious about where this passion for riding motorcycles comes from? It isn’t universal as we are after all a minority. If it was about motion and going fast, surely we could get that from our trucks and cars. I don’t know about you but frankly I’m bored silly going longer distances in my truck without good company or at the very least some good music. Is it about the thrill of risk-taking? I think not, particularly when I consider the considerable effort and expense we put into safe and responsible riding. Could it be attention seeking? Not when you consider that riding a motorcycle is a very solo and private experience even among others. Besides, there are lots of cheaper and safer ways to get attention - just die your hair green or stand on a street corner and shout.

I did a little field research this past summer asking various moto riders I met if they rode bicycles when they were kids. All looked at me funny as though it were a given and said “yea, so” or something like that. I did not find one motorcyclist who had not ridden a bicycle as a kid first. Is it even conceivable that someone could or would even want to ride a motorcycle without having learned to ride a bicycle as a kid? Are there exceptions? Now I know that probably the vast majority of people have had an experience of riding a bicycle but I’m not convinced that it is the same for everyone.

There was nothing I loved more than riding my bicycle when I was a kid. It gave me independence, autonomy and freedom from whatever was going on around me. If Mom and Dad were at it again I got on my bicycle and rode. I would spend entire days throughout the summer on that bicycle. I remember always feeling good on my bicycle. My bicycle was my escape from the hardship of being a kid.

I am sure it is much more complex but could it be that that our experience on bicycles as kids was foundational to our passion for riding motorcycles as adults? Because the motorcycle connects us to the kid - the core to our ability to play - the core to our ability to experience joy. Another less romantic way of putting it is that the bicycle just may be the gateway drug to full-blown motorcycle addiction.

Ride safe and joyful kids..

Yes, especially - I believe - for those that found both types of vehicles not only fun, but also something that has a great utilitarian value.

I rode bicycles a lot. As far as I remember, over 90% of my adult bicycle riding was for some specific transportation need. On a motorcycle, this is still well over 50%, at least when measured by riding time instead of miles covered. It appears however (judging by, among other things, from posts in this forum) that this is an exception.

Not very romantic perhaps, but for me an essential component of this "addiction".

p.s.: so, you seem to be a fellow member of that most exclusive (still virtual) m/c club: 2016 CB1100SE Owner Guild (Restricted! At some point we should pry the exact, official outer limit number of the Guild membership from Honda Canada. I've heard it's as low as 16, but it would be nice to know for sure.