Riding emotions

[faffi]

I think the majority of riders have experienced just about every emotion under the sun while riding motorcycles. From the embarrassment of the first, usually failed attempt of taking off to the extreme joy when mastering a difficult task to perfection and everything in between.

 

I remember the frustration of not being able to get my peaky 100cc two-stroke going when trying to take off up an incline for my first ride. I just kept stalling it. Then, against the sound advice from my dad, I decided to take off inside the garage instead, where the ground was level. But that also meant navigating a 90-degree turn 5 yards out. I succeeded in taking off. I failed making the turn. And ended up buried inside our neighbour's hedge. Yes, that was embarrassing.

 

When I finally did make it to the road, I recall the scare of doing 25 mph almost instantly. Not sure why it felt so fast - I had gone much faster on my bicycle - but I was petrified. For about 2 minutes. Then the speed became normal.

 

Then there was the horror when I spent too much time watching my own silly reflection in a shop window and the traffic ahead had stopped. Luckily, the little drum brake nesting inside the front wheel was a good one and actually stopped the bike so fast, I went flying over the handlebars, helmet almost touching the fender, but somehow I managed to cling onto the handlebars. My horror had by now escalated to panic, but somehow I managed to stop inches away from the bumper ahead and also stayed upright. Surprisingly, I didn't learn a lesson and would repeat a few more times before it finally sunk in that looking ahead wasn't that silly after all.

 

A bit later, I began deliberately delaying brake application until the very last moment. I would maintain the bike's top speed of 50 mph (or less, if conditions dictated) until fear told me that I had to stop. As I got better, nothing less than maximum braking with a margin of no more than a yard between the stopped car in front and my front wheel was tolerated. Within a reasonably short time, I became very good at braking and judging distances. That gave a massive satisfaction of control.

 

When I upstaged to a bigger bike, my speed also went up. Considerably. I began hitting 115 mph, the bike's top speed, regularly. In populated areas. Somebody should have stopped me and locked me up. It ended with a heavy crash that saw me go from bewilderment to panic to hope to frustration to denial to taking farewell with this life within a second or two. Massive carnage resulted, with a smashed up body and a destroyed bike. I didn't learn from that, either.

 

The first time I went 125 mph I relived the scare from a decade earlier when I first hit 25 mph. And like that time, after a few attempts it felt rather slow. I somehow escaped ending up in an accident for 2000 miles before I - reluctantly - decided the bike had to go before someone got badly hurt.

 

I have never been an adrenaline junkie, though - my craving was for the (imagined) control. Simply put, being on the verge of disaster in full (imagined) control was such a good sensation that it for three decades was worth all the risk and all the accidents and all the (often severe) injuries. I managed to stay alive, I believe, by riding fairly slow bikes with not so stellar handling. Like an alcoholic keeping it somewhat together by drinking mostly light beer.

 

Lately, though, I have felt a new - for me - sensation; that of serenity. Tranquility. Satisfaction. Gratitude. I cannot quite put a word to it, but I think most of you will get my drift. And the really fun part is that my son feels the same way. We do not need to hurry anymore - why the rush? So what if the traffic is moving a bit slower than the speed limit? We'll just sit here and enjoy the moment. No stress. No frustration. Well, mostly. Sometimes things move just a bit too slow and we need to move ahead. But not often.

 

I like it.

 

 

[robbo10]

"Lately, though, I have felt a new - for me - sensation; that of serenity. Tranquility. Satisfaction. Gratitude. I cannot quite put a word to it, but I think most of you will get my drift. And the really fun part is that my son feels the same way. We do not need to hurry anymore - why the rush? So what if the traffic is moving a bit slower than the speed limit? We'll just sit here and enjoy the moment. No stress. No frustration. Well, mostly. Sometimes things move just a bit too slow and we need to move ahead. But not often".

 

I missed out on lots of exciting motorcycling because of a fifty year(!) break. Thus I am 'of a certain age' and  this exactly describes it for me. I am keen to stretch this well into the future.....just as it is. Well put, faffi.

[bornagainbiker]

7 hours ago, faffi said:

Lately, though, I have felt a new - for me - sensation; that of serenity. Tranquility. Satisfaction. Gratitude. I cannot quite put a word to it, but I think most of you will get my drift. And the really fun part is that my son feels the same way. We do not need to hurry anymore - why the rush? So what if the traffic is moving a bit slower than the speed limit? We'll just sit here and enjoy the moment. No stress. No frustration. Well, mostly. Sometimes things move just a bit too slow and we need to move ahead. But not often.

 

I like it.

Like you faffi, I went through the crazy teens and early twenties riding like a lunatic, but now enjoy a very relaxed pace more than I would have imagined possible in my early years.  Well said faffi. 

[Wintersdark]

When I was young, I was all about Skills and Speed.  Now I just ride.  I'm not interested in developing skills anymore - experienced enough, good enough for the riding I do.  

 

I still zoom, but my zooming is more limited: hard pulls out from merge lanes onto highways, the occassionally stink of speeding.

 

But ultimately riding for me is incredibly joy filled whether I'm just cruising to work or seeing just how fast my bike can accelerate.  I'm uninterested in how I look to others, how good a rider I am, or what I'm accomplishing/learning/demonstrating/whatever. 

 

 

I just want to ride.

[Beemer]

I'm always thinking about how my exhaust sounds, whether I'm idling at a light, accelerating or humming along at cruising speed. It's like music to my ears and I find it soothing and it's also the #1 reason I hate music in bike videos. I want to hear your exhaust note, not your bad choice of music. I get my biggest thrills when I turn my head to see some wide eyed kid with his face plastered against the window of a car, gleaming at my bike as I'm going through the gears. Sure, I'll goose it, rev it a bit or even pull a small wheelie if they motion for it just to watch their eyes light up even more. Nothing like putting a smile on some kids face.

[r1limited]

Interesting topic, for me my first time on a motorcycle ever was the feeling of freedom, the sense of control, abandoment of my life and simply just for the sake of words ZEN, Ying/Yang perfect balance.  I feel that everytime I get on a bike.  I have never feared being on a motorcycle, scared yes, but the scare is going over the side of a mountain in a oh shet fill the fruit of the looms moment.  Never feared but highly respectfull.  I do not think at least for me emotions had any part of it, yes it makes me happy yes it makes me sad, embarrased etc is parts of it like pulling in on the white flag of the Sn Jose Mile thinking I won with all my buddies laughing, ya that was embarrasing

Do I ride like a lunatic? no, I ride in my comfort zone always have, risks now I do not take the risks I did when I was 20 but, get me on a track bets off, put me on a short track, ya best not be in my way, its like loosing your mind.  But in traffic I still to this day treat it with a special kindness and thought proccess, emotions are set aside because it is all business in my mind. 

[faffi]

2 hours ago, Beemer said:

I'm always thinking about how my exhaust sounds, whether I'm idling at a light, accelerating or humming along at cruising speed. It's like music to my ears and I find it soothing and it's also the #1 reason I hate music in bike videos. I want to hear your exhaust note, not your bad choice of music. I get my biggest thrills when I turn my head to see some wide eyed kid with his face plastered against the window of a car, gleaming at my bike as I'm going through the gears. Sure, I'll goose it, rev it a bit or even pull a small wheelie if they motion for it just to watch their eyes light up even more. Nothing like putting a smile on some kids face.

That's the very reason I dislike inline fours and sixes; they always sound busy. Really nice when hauling, but that rarely happen. Just droning along, the hum they emit is really, really annoying and detract immensely from the pleasure I get from riding. It wasn't always like this for me, but for the past couple of decades I've grown less and less fond of screaming engines and more and more fond of twin and singles. Not too silent, of course 😈 

[Wintersdark]

On 5/17/2018 at 10:17 AM, faffi said:

That's the very reason I dislike inline fours and sixes; they always sound busy. Really nice when hauling, but that rarely happen. Just droning along, the hum they emit is really, really annoying and detract immensely from the pleasure I get from riding. It wasn't always like this for me, but for the past couple of decades I've grown less and less fond of screaming engines and more and more fond of twin and singles. Not too silent, of course  

It's funny.  Coming from an old XJ750 I4, the sound difference here is both wonderful and strange.  My XJ sounded ok at lower RPM's (mostly because my exhaust system was utterly shot and may as well have been straight pipes), and yeah, it sounded fantastic when you were really hauling on it... 

 

But I really, really love the throaty growl the MT07 has.  Even with the (startlingly quiet) stock pipes, it's got such a wildly different sound and the low-rpm sound is fantastic. 

 

Except I keep getting this anxiety that I'm lugging the engine when it's at like 3000rpm =/  It's been a long time since I rode a twin.