You find yourself stooping in a red light, by your side is another bike, but nothing like you see every day.
He don`t have even the minimalist-every day accessories: No guards or crash-bars, no fog lights, no side cases – not even that cool looking leather ones. further more, this bike is totally naked: his inner organs pops out from the frame like some half-biked, pre-born animal.
You’re looking back at your own bike: the one you chosen to buy after you read about the style and the shape of the saddle that is comfortable enough for long-rides, the one with all the electronics that keep you safe, the one with the engine that is suited for city riding and long distance ones. You love your bike dearly, you chosen it over dozens of others at the dealership and you are proud and please with your decision.
And then, out of the blue, this biker on his UN-shaped bike appear, stops just near you, all happy and please with himself and his weird looking motorcycle. “What on earth does he have to be so happy about?” You think to yourself. and then usually the teasing comes:
“Just look at his riding position, all bending down, probably his back kills him by now…What did he done to the handle-bar? It probably didn’t came that way out of the factory. his bars are so high that he need to lift his arms in the air just to reach them, looking like a weird praying mantis- on a yoga class…Look at his gas tank, How many miles dose it last anyway before he runs out of gas?…And what with the obtrusive bright color? Is this a motorcycle or a candy? Probably cost a fortune to paint, one little fall and all that fancy paint job goes to hell.”
OK. Here is a thing..all-in-all YOUR BIKE IS BETTER THEN HIS. No place for Comparison what so ever.
You chosen your bike wisely, you’re comfortable on it, your side cases have everything you need and more, your headlight and fog light bright up even the darkest corners of the road. You can hop on your bike any time and ride everywhere you like, and this biker with the weird bike will probably get tired and hurt after a couple of miles.
Here is another thing: HE HAVE SOMETHING YOU DON’T.
It’s not a coincidence that bikes of this kind are not the only one out there, in matter of fact they usually ride in groups. and it’s not by chance that this kind of weird moto-mutations are refusing to get extinct for centuries.
“..You know why we planted all those palm trees here in Vegas? Not because we needed to.. but because we wanted to show the world we can come to the middle of the fucking desert and fill it with trees, just because we can.“
Those too-shiny, weird, not practical, over the top, Un-comfortable, and obtrusive machines. The riders that rids them do it because riding them have a statement in it that says: You ride this not practical motorcycle BECAUSE YOU CAN.
Those riders on theirs weird machines look at you on your elaborate bike and basically say: “Dude, I been there, done that…rode to work and to friends on a brand new extra comfy bike and it was great, but I am on a different place now.” A more upgraded place? Maybe and maybe not. But one thing sure – every joke or insult you throw on them only makes their statement stronger:
The statement that goes by riding this kind of bikes can be interpreted as something stupid, and that where it power lies, because it’s says: “When you ride your new bike that taking you where you need to go – I already am where I need to be, already done the things I needed to do. I now ride only for the ride itself. And to do something only for doing it, without no practical reason at all – it have a freedom in it that cannot be found anywhere else.
Ones a man rides a too-beautiful moving piece of art, he do it because he can, because now he is free to do it, not riding anywhere he need, or to do anything certain. Yes he is not comfortable like you do, and his gas tank won’t last for many miles like yours..But he didn’t want to ride far in the first place, it’s not the goal. Those bikes not meant for long rides in the first place, but for a much more refined experience.
No one drinks Whiskey because he is thirsty, that how this motorcycle didn’t meant to take you somewhere on the map, But for a place that in your soul, a kind of revolt over this world with all its rules and regulations. an act of breaking the rules.
“I ride a weird looking bike that it all absolute mechanical disadvantages and nothing in it making sense, And that exactly why I do it.”
עד מתי גוגל טרנסלייט? המווווון טעויות דקדוק…