Why I Ride

To start with, I'm not the owner of one of those fancy custom choppers - I don't even own a Harley. I have a Yamaha V-Star 1100 Custom. Which is a cruiser and has been heavily modified over the years as happens to anybody's ride when it's actually ridden. I have pipes that ruble low and loud and I have driving lights and a high-intensity headlight that can blind people when switch to brights (both modifications made at the insistence of my wife after the uninsured jerk who smacked me tried to tell the police he never saw or heard me). I have enough performance engine work that I can almost hold my own with the sportbiker crowd in the low end - but like all cruisers, I wind out far sooner than they do. At the end of the day I don't need a lecture about how dangerous they are, my motorcycle is not dangerous, it's only vulnerable to the reckless and inattentive drivers who proliferate our country's vast highway system.

The truth is that I feel a certain way when I am riding, and no other legal venue is available to provide that feeling. It's like flying in the presence of the Almighty himself. Of course, I don't think there is any way to make others understand - and I'm not on a mission to do so.

Overall, my bike provides me with a firm motivation to get better and stay better. I was so determined to get back on when I got home from the hospital after tumor removal I simply tired to stand it up while sitting on it - and promptly was crushed beneath it. When I was in the hospital, it was obvious to visitors and staff that I was dreaming of riding while I was comatose. Little did they know, that was exactly what I was dreaming about.

Every person has things they love, which are important in their life - many things almost all humanity share in common, its the remainder that differentiate us. I am not asking anyone else to understand - my own mother said it best when she called motorcycles "Gasoline Powered Crack" - all three of her sons have been injured or maimed in some way while riding and broken countless bones as well. Still some of us get back into the saddle. When things are bad and I just cannot ride - I like to spend my time working on modifications or improvements for the bike - dreaming about the time when I can. It gives me something to look forward to. When things are even half-way good, I'll usually make a go if it and try to ride.

I'm not an outlaw, I'm just addicted to the feeling I get when I pull back on the throttle and the ground shimmers as it moves beneath me then feeling the way all my senses experience every inch of my travels - whether around the corner or around the country.