Why do you ride?

[klingon]

I ride:

because girls dig them...
because wives don't

I ride cause I want to

Hmmm... must be some mysterious transformation between being a girl and being a wife

I started riding to avoid traffic, parking hassles, petrol costs...
I keep riding because it's an addiction!

[Wiki Drifter]

free parking, less petrol money, faster commuting... oh yeah, the whole adrenalin rush and my compulsory weekend escape from the suffocating concrete jungle thingy as well...

[Fryin Finn]

I was thinking about this on the way home yesterday. I get free parking. Petrol only costs me $26 per 18 days on my commute but the biggest reason for riding my bike daily, is not having to sit in stinking traffic.
I ride my dirt bikes because I enjoy the challenge, and the buzz, and it's the best exercise I can get for me at my age.
I ride my road bike because sometimes I feel like being naughty

[RC1]

Petrol only costs me $26 per 18 days

fark me i use that in 3 hrs riding

[dwnundabkr]

here here to all the above cause i can cause i like it and because

[HenryDorsetCase]

cos me likey.

[MSTRS:Me]

... must be some mysterious transformation between being a girl and being a wife...

Yep. Wedding cake. Terrible stuff.

[JMemonic]

So many good replys, for me I used to ride all sorts of junk off road, (never very well I might add), my mates at the time all had bikes so I guess I got bitten by a bug, I have been in a couple of relationships where a bike was out of the question and looking back I believe I should have said stuff it accept the bike or walk but I didn't (hindsight is 20/20).

There is no other feeling like when the bike disappears and is not a machine you are just sitting on but part of you, your interface between you and the road, when you know where all the controls are and any adjustments are just a thought, even in a group you are an individual.

I know I am not the best rider, I have seen folks who are by far superior but when I get into that grove I don't care, its my world to enjoy how I feel comfortable, I can smell the honeydew as I ride through a forest, or the smoke of the farmers burn off not some artificial air freshener cut out of cardboard, perhaps it is selfish but on a bike I am my own master, I go where I want with in the limits of my fuel tank and gas stations.

Also there is in most a camaraderie between bikers you will not find in cages, when was the last time you saw a group of different makes of cages getting together for just a drive as the cruisey nights are, or pulling up at a pub or gas station and saying hi to other cagers (I dont worry about those selfish brand specific types that are out there, you know the ones, if your bike is not the same make as mine you are not a biker losers).

In the the end the simple answer is I ride because I love to ride, its my drug, my utopia.

[crshbndct]

i started because of my dad. i remember him coming home on his black gsxr750 (back when this was a new model of bike) and i thought he was a super hero.

then once i had started, it was because, nothing else makes me feel alive like riding does.

[Bonez]

Because I can bugger off by myself and not worry about anything but the ride.
Clears the lungs after a hard day at work. Meet some interesting people and see some interesting sights.

Oh and look for my marbles.

You know you're getting older when the wife suggest you buy a Harley.

[NZsarge]

This might seem a little over the top but here goes.
I was and had been missing something in my life for years and by chance there was a change in ownership of the company I work for which lead to a pay out, rather than do the sensible thing and put it away for retirement or a rainy day I immeadiately started thinking now I can get back onto motorcycling.
My mate had been at me for years to get a bike and join him on some rides and it was always my excuse that I would'nt buy a bike until I could get something I really liked, pay out = excuse gone.
I can say now without doubt that it was motorcycling that was the thing missing from my life, i'm by no means a hard core biker, I really don't like riding in the cold and rain but hey sometimes shit happens. This time round motorcycling has been a revalation in my life, i've never been a particularly social guy, shy you might say. Since getting my "Ace" and in particular this website i've meet more new people than I have in years and because we have a common interest or common ground i've found it so much easier to converse and socialize when we get together to ride. I've meet some really nice folk too.
The only reason I would give it up (motorcycling) would be financial or injury and believe me it would leave the biggest hole in my life. When i'm having shit days at work it's the ride in the weekend that i'm looking foward to. Makes a shit job worthwhile.
Answer to the question: Thrill of riding and the social aspect to riding with people of a common interest.

[bikerboy011]

cos am the fuckin man!!!