[bluevolt]

I wrote the below small piece of text, with this I would like to know from the fellow bikers about that one special thing that motorcycling gives you. Why motorcycling moves you.

‘The motorcyclist in me is awake again.’

It was 7.30 pm this evening when I was reading some text regarding the naxalism in India, how Indian Army should not be used to tackle the naxal problem in affected states and how the local police are so crucial to do the needful.
While reading, suddenly, out of nowhere I closed my laptop and went outside to dust off my bike. I don’t know from where the ‘sudden’ thought of cleaning the bike came to my mind. I uncovered my bike, washed it and it was shining back in all of its glory. I pressed the starter button and the engine came to life as if it was longing to be started. I haven’t even given it any throttle. The sound of the engine cranking was itself soul satisfying.

A bike is not just merely a two wheeler, but a machine which can move the soul. Someone has rightly said “four wheelers move the body; two wheelers move the soul”. What so special do these motorcycles have in them that simply touches the core of the heart of its owners. Even when I am not riding it, I feel the pleasure of having it parked at my place. When I return back from work, i feel like it waits for me. It wants me to fire the engine and let the biker in me do the talking.

A rider like me who do the 9-6 corporate IT regime, often stay away from bike due to time crunch, but the 9-6 regime is required so that a biker can put some fuel in his bike. The thrill these motorcycles carry can be felt only by those who treat their bikes not just like owning a regular two wheeler, but those who keep them like an unseparated part of the rider’s identity.
Lots of emotions are involved as the rider upshift the gear while the throttle is closed and clutch depressed. The adrenaline rush that flows throughout the rider’s body upon opening the throttle makes one feel divine. The rider downshifts, bring the bike to a halt, sits near the bike and feel the contentment in life.

As it is beautifully expressed in these lines about motorcycling, “you live more in five minutes riding a motorcycle than most people live in a lifetime”, i, the biker is awake again and back with my ride. The roads are empty and the night has just begun.

[BlackPearl]

For me it is everything about a riding a motorcycle - thrill, agility, acceleration, fear, concentration, freedom. All these feelings and maybe many more define motorcycling for me.

[IshaanIan]

As someone who has always been a car guy and has only recently got into biking (learnt how to ride about 6 months ago), here is my take:

What I love about bikes is the more primary connection you feel with the machine. Cars require a lot of calculated effort and sensitive communication to stay in control of weight shift be driven quick. Bikes require big balls and your body itself to be part of the way it moves . Making it integral to the shift in center of gravity and weight. It just feels like a more primary sensory experience that never fails to thrill you regardless of how close to the limit you are. Whether it be holding on to the bike with your knees and hands feeling like a kite as you twist the throttle open, or whether it is rev matching down the gears as you prepare for a corner and leaning your entire torso into it as you lift and hang your butt off the seat tilting along with the bike itself, or even filtering through traffic on the highway, biking has never failed to give me a rush.

PS: I have never loved driving tall SUVs and I've never really enjoyed Royal Enfields either I've taken a preference toward sportbikes so my views may not encapsulate the entire essence of biking.

[barcalad]

Here's something I had written in an old thread around 1.5 years back. Have made some additions to it. Hope you folks like it.

There are two types of bikers that I know.

The first are the ones who use their bikes ONLY for buying groceries, attending college and commuting to work. Anything more than 50 kms, their heart spills out, the 'biking is dangerous' and 'bikers are rowdies' phenomenon comes into play. They were probably the men whose parents instilled in their mind that 'Beta, better to buy an Alto than a Duke 390. At least you wont get wet in the rain and will have 'status' in the society'. Pull up on a Ninja 650 next to them at traffic signals, and they stare, ask and maybe click a photo. Go on bike rides and while you have a cup of tea inside a restaurant, they sit on your bike without your permission and click a photo as a prospective whatsapp DP. Deep inside, they love the idea of revving the bike but never buying it, because again, Alto gives you 'status'.

The second type are the ones who, before buying a new bike, research everywhere except for classified CIA files. They want to make the best decision because they're not getting themselves a bike, but a soulmate. For them, covering the bike every night is more important that receiving the phone calls of their ladies. For them, going on a bike ride is more important even if it invites scowls from the parents or the partners. For them, theyll cut down on mobile recharges, cigarettes, eating out and socialising to preserve money so that their bikes are always tanked up. If they forget to lube the chain, it's a huge blunder. A single speck of dust, off it goes. Cleaning the bike for them is not meant for only service center days, but every weekend. Mind you again, they are the ones who religiously wear helmets, jackets and gloves as well. For them, a bike is their way of showing 'status'.

From what I read and comprehend, me, you and a few of my motorcycling mates are the latter.

I was never into bikes until I passed out of high school. Let me clarify that MTV Stuntmania or Roadies didnt have any role to play in my affection for bikes as well.
It was something else. It was just the mere idea of motorcycling. It was the thought of being transported to a world of my own, where I could do something I knew best.

I learnt biking on my own. Biking has always attracted me and put me into a mode where I have found unparalleled security, freedom and joy. During my time in Bangalore and even here in Delhi, I looked forward to Saturdays more than any other day of the week. Sleep takes a backseat and waking up at 4 in the morning for rides suddenly felt exciting and energetic. I fondly remember spilling my morning tea many a times in the rush of gearing up and hitting the throttle!

My bike has taken me to a lot of places with various people riding around it. Covered 10 states on it! Beaches, Mountains, Mud, Gravel, Sand - You name it, it has seen it. I fondly remember sometimes the rides I have done on it, and the countless times I have dodged retarded buses and dogs so as to avoid any damage to it first, and then me. I remember how I rode it to office as well as to long destinations, and I also remember how quickly I transformed from a formal suit wearing fellow to a biking jacket wearing biker withing half an hour of returning home every Friday.

Hell, even my mates here joke as to how my first question after my first and only crash on it (18th October, 2015) was "Bhai, where's my bike? How is it? What's the damage?"

And then it hit me.

It has never disappointed me or embarassed me. Some wise petrolhead said 'Respect your wheels and they respect you'. It was the perfect soulmate I could think of, as it gave me company and joy when no one else did.

That, my friend, is the crux of being passionate about your motorcycle. And not everyone will understand this.

Am and Always will be, a proud and responsible motorcyclist. Motorcycling gives me my high, and that will never ever change.

[gthang]

Don't remember when the love affair began, just seems like it has always been that way.

The best quote I have read that translates my fondness:

"The burble of my exhaust unwound like a long cord behind me.
Soon my speed snapped it, and I heard only the cry of the wind which my battering head split and fended aside.
The cry rose with my speed to a shriek: while the air’s coldness streamed like two jets of iced water into my dissolving eyes.
I screwed them to slits, and focused my sight two hundred yards ahead of me on the empty mosaic of the tar’s gravelled undulations."

By T. E. Lawrence.
Source: https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/rbotoole...ad_motorcycle/

Cheers

Ride Safe.

[extreme_torque]

I don't think I have ever read a more moving article that came in of one of the issues of bsmotoring by Sachin in the Indian context. I have saved the article since the day and till date gives me goosebumps. Sharing it again today

The Pleasure Principle......

It was hardly 60 km from Delhi on the NH8 when I pulled into a highway eatery for a break. I'd been holding consistent three-digit speeds for a blissfully long stretch on the Pulsar and a nice cold bottle of water was in order. I dismounted, dumped all my gear on the bike and drank deep. A man of about fifty-five or sixty paying his bill who was watching, looked at my numberplate and stepped towards me.

"Where are you coming from?"

"Been on a Rajasthan tour."

"Oh? How many kilometres?"

"1,650 so far."

"By motorcycle? Alone??"

No, I wanted to say, this bike, luggage and all that gear, it's just a prop, my gang of loud friends with a boombox and party hats are just behind with the trailer van. What does it look like?

"Yeah," I said instead.

"Then what is the pleasure?" he asked quizzically.

I only smiled as he walked to his Esteem VX, got in and slowly drove off.

I'll tell you exactly what the pleasure is, Mr Esteem-Driving Gentleman.

The pleasure is when you finish your day's ride, and reach in one piece. You're the smallest vehicle on the road, and you've survived.

The pleasure is when you take off your wristwatch, and see a band of untanned skin.

The pleasure is when your motorcycle and you move as one single united form. Whatever shape the road takes, whichever end of the compass it leads to.

The pleasure is when you use your hands, arms, thighs, knees and feet to steer.

The pleasure is when you take off your riding jacket for a break, and feel the breeze dry your sweat.

The pleasure is when you sing to yourself on an empty road. You're the world's best rock star.

The pleasure is when your rear wheel slides, and you bring it back, when the front wheel lifts, and you take your time bringing it back.

The pleasure is when you cut through air, at 50 kph or 100.

The pleasure is when you reach a place you've never been before, and someone you've never seen before asks you for a ride. And comes back grinning.

The pleasure is when you wave to village kids, and they wave back.

The pleasure is when you almost, almost fall. But don't.

The pleasure is when you fight the wind, and win.

The pleasure is when you get up that narrow path for the view you'll never forget.

The pleasure is when you view the world at an angle.

The pleasure is when you eat bugs at 90 kph.

The pleasure is when you look at a dust-streaked face in the mirror after a 500 km ride, and don't want to wash up.

The pleasure is when your pillion moves with you.

The pleasure is when you can see the petrol after a top-up.

The pleasure is when your throttle hand has calluses.

The pleasure is when you jump a speedbreaker.

The pleasure is when you stop to help push a stranded car to the side of the road.

The pleasure is when you stop at the smallest of towns, and somebody asks you technical specifications.

The pleasure is when your book of roadmaps gets dog-eared, rain-splashed, tea-stained.

The pleasure is when you give a stranger a lift.

The pleasure is when you have battle-scars.

The pleasure is when you can feel the cool morning and the hot afternoon, the light rain and the damp fog.

The pleasure is when you leave four-wheeler traffic standing in a jam.

The pleasure is when you aren't lulled by an air-conditioner.

The pleasure is when you are free. Open. Independent. Liberated.

The pleasure is when you are a biker. But you'll never know how that feels, will you, Mr Esteem-Driving Gentleman?

[umeshd]

Nice topic to start a thread "bluevolt". I still prefer 2 wheeler (I'll not use the word Bike yet) over 4 wheeler in City and though I love long drives in my car, I enjoy them most on my bike (Avenger Street 220). I suppose what feels good while riding a bike is the feeling of being "Involved" completely with mind & body both as well as being brave enough to face the elements be it roads or weather or the crazy traffic conditions. Driving a car with windows rolled up is like sitting in a cozy chair (unless you screw up your sitting position completely) which you can do on your living room sofa too.

[VW2010]

To me bikes are easier to understand and get the hands dirty. When we talk about connection bikes provide much easier way to fix your own stuff and that makes it an interesting owning experience. Riding in india is always comparable to riding on safe tracks in a sports bike at high speeds. Reason i say is both take you as close as possible to meeting the maker at many instance and yet your survive and reach the destination.

While the biggest part for me to own a bike is to do the repairs, upgrades or even bolting a 12v charger on my own making me feel that i have done something on my own.

At the same time, its never a feeling of sitting in a cozy chair as Umeshd said while driving windows rolled up. It still gives me the same excitement as a bike simply because I enjoy machines. Machines are fascinating and it only gets better everytime you see something evolve.

Bikes provide easier and cheaper option to test our own innovation and that moves me more than just the ride as i enjoy both riding and driving.

[jeeva]

The timing of this thread is perfect!!
I was into bikes (the good old CI Royal Enfields and Yezdis) big time, until I met with a nasty accident, for no mistake of mine.
The bikes are safely parked away at home. I wash, polish and murmur sweet nothings to them whenever I am at home.
I wanted the RE Himlayalan badly, but with the steelies inside the arm, its too heavy for me. Last week, ended up making a sweet deal on a very less run Fiero. Stripped it all apart and am re-building it..Put in an Apache swing arm, nice rubbers, raise the front, better electricals again from the Apache and well, my plan is to turn it to a poor man's Himalayan!!
Wish me luck.

[nishsingh]

I drove my car to work yesterday. The automatic climate control was set at 24 degrees, I didn't hear the engine noise, I didn't hear the traffic, I didn't feel the heat. In fact, I felt nothing.

I rode my bike to work today. I can feel the heat on the road and the chaos of the traffic. I can feel the stench of the drains, but also the smell of the impending rains. I feel connected to the world around me. As long as I am on planet earth, I will keep biking, cause I feel alive when I ride.

[Amit_breakfree]

Just one sentence - Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul!!!

There's no better feeling than...

When you experience the small drops of rain falling on your face.

When you experience the cold wind beating against your face and chest.

When you can feel the harsh sun on your skin.

When you can feel the sand and dirt in your hair.

When you can feel the sweat in your palms and your back.

When your thighs are sore due to holding on to the fuel tank for the whole day.

When you get down from your bike in a random roadside place and have a cup of tea with a cigarette.

And you feel satisfied when a kid wants to ride your bike instead of a car, and you know that the next generation is not far behind.

[parik_ind]

It could be a daily run to the office or a long journey on the highway - it really does not matter. It can be a lazy ride in peak traffic with the sun burning a hole into me or twisting the throttle on empty roads with the wind cooling me down - it really does not matter. I can think about world domination or about nothing at all and can just as easily switch between them, almost like changing gears. Because when I ride, I ride with me. It is as simple as that.

A motorcycle makes you more aware of where you are and what you are doing. The more time I spend on the saddle, the more I feel that the motorcycle is becoming an extension of me.

I love driving cars and there have been several occasions where I have opted to drive rather than ride. But at the end of the day, there is an indescribable "sexiness" associated with biking that I don't necessarily feel with a car.

The only important thing is to find that bike/s that you thoroughly enjoy riding.

Parikshith

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by barcalad

Am and Always will be, a proud and responsible motorcyclist. Motorcycling gives me my high, and that will never ever change.

Amen to that barcalad !!!

I dare say that the thoughts expressed in these few posts, so far, collectively sums up the essence of "motorcycling".

After riding motorcycles for 45 years (legitimately for 39 years), I can relate to each every sentence expressed here. The feel/ecstasy I got when I sat on the Enfield Sherpa of my uncle and coasted down the long sloping drive way of my grand parents house, even with out starting it - 45 years ago - has not diminished even by an iota even now (even the thrashing I got then for that adventure, is still feels fresh in my mind, though it did not alter my mind in any way).

Long Live the Tribe !!!

And barcalad, I am proud to say I am the "Second Type"

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

[NiInJa]

When I am on my bike, all the work pressure, life's achievements in general, the who-said-what things literally take the backseat. Its only me, my bike and the road. It is some sort of meditation for me, some way of connecting to the real world. Rest all is precisely explained by all members above

There are some things in life which cannot be explained or reasoned, motorcycling is one of them !

Although I am more of a motorcycling guy, I have become cautious about using it after two incidents literally shaked me :

1. In 2013, my 'jigree' friend was on his bike when a rash driver in his i20 rear-ended them from behind, killing the pillion instantly. My friend escaped with a fractured hand but now he never rides on a bike.
2. Three months back my school friend got married, we all wished him well on facebook and whatsapp and after a month he died in a crash.

There is a lot of baggage we have to carry after marriage and reach 30s, so risking life for the fun of it is not acceptable to me anymore. That does not mean I am criticizing biking. I love it but now its more like having a glass of whisky when your wife is not around

[praful]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

I don't think I have ever read a more moving article that came in of one of the issues of bsmotoring by Sachin in the Indian context. I have saved the article since the day and till date gives me goosebumps. Sharing it again today

I was about to share the same article, have this save on my google drive for years now !!

Couldn't have been more right !!

I need to get back on the saddle, been more than year since my last 'proper' ride