Why Do We Ride?
I was sitting here this morning, a morning like most others at my computer, when a question entered my mind. As you all know by viewing my website, I'm a Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider. Last night after returning from a nice early Father's Day dinner with my wife, I parked my Harley in the garage .. and I stood back and just had to admire it.
I marveled at the Black shiny paint, the gleeming chrome, and for a moment my mind heard the roar of the exhaust that thundered in the night, .. but most of all I wondered .. WHY?? Why do I love this hunk of American Iron so much. Why do we ride? I saw a t-shirt recently with the following words printed on it .. "Harley-Davidson, if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand"
Why do we ride? To answer that question I'm borrowing a short piece of writing from a man named Ken Stoner. Now, I've never met Ken but we do have something in common, our love for riding Harleys. I'm re-creating his text here for all of my friends and fellow Harley riders to share ( without permission but with great admiration ). Thank you Ken :o)
They ride for the freedom. They ride to get away . . . to see the countryside, to explore the back roads and mostly . . . just for the joy of it.
They ride as couples, and in small groups, taking 20-and 30-mile jaunts to their favorite restaurants and hangouts. They love the excitement of taking on an open road, devoid of four-wheelers (cars). They relish the freedom and thrill of letting go, and feeling the powerful Harley's engine as its strength grows and takes charge. It's experiencing the centrifugal force on long turns and gliding at speeds just within the law.
There's a mystique about it all and a love affair between rider and bike that only riders can describe. It's the smell of leathers, coffee and breakfast on an early morning tour that continues into the afternoon - taking a trip to nowhere in particular - just to cruise in some spontaneous, uninhibited way where you and your bike can become one.
Perhaps it's the feeling you get from the wind hitting your face, the sudden acceleration, or the constant vibration and loud hum. Maybe it's the fun of boulevarding down Main Street and showing off your metal to everyone who will look and to the wannabes along the way. It's a sharing thing, a bold, caring thing, that lets the little kid in you come out and play. It's a cross between a sport and a life style. It's shedding the confinements of day-to-day business and evolving into a completely different self. It's time to ride and time to be free.
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This page was completed at: 8:40 AM on 6/20/99