Words cannot justify the experience of riding a motorcycle, one has to Feel It; it’s like Love, you know how it feels but you just can’t phrase the experience.
In my quest to understand the Love for Motorcycles, I came across people who just ‘Love them’ and the others who just ‘Ignore them’. For the ignorant kind, motorcycles are a means of transport; motorcyclists are Outlaws, a bunch of idiots who take off to ‘Destination Unknown’, who look for excuses to ride or sometimes just venture off for a ride leaving a note to their beloved ones. True motorcyclists are hitched to a Motorcycle, no reasons, no explanations just sheer love for motorcycles and riding.
So what are the symptoms of being “Motorcycled”?
First, you start looking out for the motorcycle, you avoid parking it in public, you don’t let it out of your sight, you yell at your girl for touching the tank with the ring in her finger, half of your weekend is religiously spent cleaning & sparkling it, you start investing in motorcycle cleaning products, microfiber cloths, portable water jet, Turtle wax and what not (can get you a new girlfriend if you invest so much on ‘Body Shop’ products for her).
Then the biker awakens; you start investing in riding gear, boots, gloves etc and eye that high-end helmet than on a branded tone washed, torn jeans, you start idolizing racers, tourers, test riders , you envy motorcycle journalists; your weekends are fixed, meet a couple of random guys from a motorcycle forum and ride or sometimes just alone. You look at holiday calendars to steal that extra day in between holidays for a ride (before an office pal takes it & makes you work).
The contacts in your phone book have more names attached to a motorcycle forum or the motorcycle make tagged to a pal’s name. You have dinner get-together with your riding friends, you invite them for family gatherings, introduce them to your girl. You give away your saddlebags, bungee cords etc to help a friend tour better.
Motorcycles – 24/7:
I mean you think about motorcycles when you are eating, during office meeting, while talking to friends, spending time with your family and pretty much all the gaps in between, it is always there running in your head. You look at fitting Motorcycling into every aspect of life. You prefer to ride to meet a business client than sit through airline journey; you stop at a traffic light & look at the motorcycle ahead; how well is it maintained? Is the chain lubed etc and deduce the character of the rider.
You start looking at your Savings & Fixed Deposits as the ticket to your next motorcycle, you switch jobs to get close to your ‘Dream Machine’. You look at saving up for an overseas or country-bound motorcycle ride, you remember the day you bought your bike and celebrate it with gusto, you get yourself a new closet to accommodate the riding gear, you look at mounting a motorcycle in your study, you spend more time on motorcycle forums than on Facebook, You devote hours studying the motorcycle maintenance manuals & books to understand her better.
You look at riding better, cornering faster, braking a bit late. You look for the spirit of a motorcyclist in everyone. You connect with the motorcycle.
It makes you smile every time you sit or think about it.
I am “Motorcycled”, are you?
Disclaimer Note: The above content is likely to make the reader fall in love with motorcycles or reignite the spark. Reader Discretion is not at all advised. Go ahead, buy one for yourself or take your dad’s motorcycle, restore the one lying in your garage and ride.
Love them, Respect them & Ride them.
Live the Motorcycle!!!
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