Why do we ride

[Jackrat]

Ok,seeing as how I asked this dumb question I will go first.
I enjoy the feeling of being in charge of my own destiny,When I,m on me bike the rest of the world ceases to exist.Biking to me has always been a type of escape an power trip wound up in one.
Iv,e never been into the poetry of the road thing,but I can see where people who are, are coming from.I often hear people putting the ideal down,but I do strongly identify with the bikes I ride.I like the old British cafe,Rocker style of bike because thats what my father and uncles all rode when I was a kid,It,s kind,a odd that most of my bikes have ended up with flat bars an open pipes yet I don,t like modern sports bikes.Street fighters,Oh yeah,,race rep,s,,, Puke!!.
This don,t mean I have any problems with the riders of any style of bike,But I sure have my own prefrence in stlyes.
Bikes to me have always represented an alternative way of doing things that has nothing to do with being some kind of rebel,I mean it don,t matter what we ride, we have style.Some thing a bit lacking in every day life.
OK dribble of the day over.
Your turn.

[What?]

I just like bikes. Always have done. Maybe it's because my mum was 6 months preg with me before my dad decided to sell his bike & buy a car (not enough room on a 650 Triumph seat for three...)

Whatever, it's no rebel thing; I just enjoy travelling by bike. And I like all sorts of bikes, though not particularly cruisers.

[SpankMe]

Freedom!

and driving cars looks really boring.

[bluninja]

Can't afford a brand new Aston Martin....Yet

TTFN

[James Deuce]

Originally posted by What?
I just like bikes. Always have done. Maybe it's because my mum was 6 months preg with me before my dad decided to sell his bike & buy a car (not enough room on a 650 Triumph seat for three...)

Whatever, it's no rebel thing; I just enjoy travelling by bike. And I like all sorts of bikes, though not particularly cruisers.

You could get a family of 12, plus the load of 38 chickens destined for the markets, in any country from the right hand side of South East Asia to the left hand side of Asia Minor, on a 650 Triumph.

I reckon Mum made him buy a car.

My reasons: Mateship 1st (mates can be male or female), freedom 2nd, and 3rd it's the closest thing to flying in two dimensions I can think of.

[What?]

Originally posted by Jim2
I reckon Mum made him buy a car. 

Mum was a scooter gal, too.

Glad I don't live in SE Asia - i would have to carry a few dozen sheep on the BM...

[Motoracer]

Bikes are a challenge to ride, they offer high performance for not a lot of money, you stand out from the heard (from boy racers), freedom and of course they offer fun/joy/happiness (with the odd sad/bad moments in between)

Edit: Plus the last two lines of what Jim2 said applies for me as well.

[riffer]

My dad always had bikes growing up so I started on the back, then riding them.

I always liked the speed and handling, but with my ex she hated them and put the foot down. So it was a procession of fast cars ('72 Valiant 318 V8, '84 VH Commodore SS - 4.2 V8, '89 Mitsi VR4 turbo, '92 Nissan Skyline GTS-T, '94 Subaru Legacy GT-B spec) but they never quite hit the spot the way my bikes did.

So when my (now) wife and I moved to Upper Hutt in November it was obvious something had to be done. The Legacy was going to kill me on petrol consumption - plus the gearbox had just shat itself.

So - back on bikes. Jim had it in one - the closest you can get to flying on two wheels. It's just like the feeling when gliding - when you fly you treat the air like a liquid and that's just the feling I get on the bike.

Plus, a car is sooooooooo boring ...

[Coldkiwi]

my motivation for getting into biking was just the convenience of halving my commuting time to Uni. Soon got hooked by the feeling of freedom and actual enjoyment of open road riding compared to the boredom of open road car driving.

After the first bike I started getting interested in going a bit quicker and like you guys have said... its like flying in 2D! Its also a nice feeling to be on top of a cheap-as machine (brand new yes, but still cheap for what it is) that will kick the arse and ego of almost anything sitting next to it on 4 wheels at the lights!

And developing mates with in such different walks of life but with a common love of biking is also awesome. Plus you know you'll hardly ever get snobbed if you say gidday to a biker in a cafe (possibly excluding many BMW riders...FWIW, I find the harley boys and girls quite friendly once off their steeds)

[PZR]

I must be the Sado Masochistic type.

Get bored
Get bike
Get riding gear
Get frowned at by spouse
Get wet
Get cold
Get hot
Get sweaty
Get nervous
Get scared
Get run over
Get sore
Get better
Get another bike
Get "LOOKED AT !!!" by spouse
Get broke
Get ticket
Get demerit points
Get frowned at by nice policeman
Get more broke
Get tyres
Get even more broke
Get bigger bike
Get faster bike
Get better bike
Get a bigger mortgage
Get accessories
Get unpopular with spouse
Get a life? (See point two .....Get Bike........)

Sado Maschocistic??
Damn right and loving every ride
Just do'nt mention the leather underwear out loud OK?

[Lou Girardin]

There's nothing better. Even at legal speeds it's more fun than sitting in the most fuck off fast car stuck in gridlock.
Lou

[wari]

It's genetic ... My brothers ride ... my Dad rode .... my Grandfather rode ... and so did his father ...

[jrandom]

Jim2 put it down pat with the flying thing, can't say it better myself.

Apart from that... buggered if I know. Only thing I can say for sure now is that they can take the keys to my bike from my cold, dead hands.

(To clarify that point, I fully intend that the hands will be cold, dead, liver-spotted and palsied with about 70 years of yanking on handlebars. Also that the bike in question will have an engine displacement of somewhat more than 150cc, and will in no way be the direct cause of said coldness and deadness )

This thread always seems to come up on motorcycling forums, and I've never really hit on a fully satisfactory response. Like Louis Armstrong said, "If ya gotta ask... "

[STfella]

I'm a BOB (born again biker). Returned out of necessity while on OE. Could not bear the 2hr drive, in Dublin traffic, to get to work. Knew there must be a better way. Got me a BMW K100RS and fell in love with the riding experience. Cut the journey time from 2hrs down to 45min, saving myself 2hrs 30mins travel a day. But, I started to eat into that saved time by taking the long way home, through winding country roads. It's the freedom, the hightened awareness of road conditions, the ability to read the road further ahead and to lay it into those corners. And, when you are in traffic, the freedom to not have to queue (I just wish that the laws in NZ were as tollerant and as encouraging to the motorcyclist as yet are in Europe).

[Hitcher]

Bikes transcend traditional concepts of time and distance. They speak to your soul, whereas a car is just a means of transport.

"The motorcycle stands as a piper at the gates of the dawn, calling those of us who can hear to ride with the wind..."