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How passionate are you about riding?

Eatmore Mudd said:
In my humble opinion and observations folks on my side of the pond who ride early on their motoring life tend to be better drivers than those who start out cars only.

The UK being more moto centric and more moto aware than the USA I can't help but think that bringing the barriers to riding back down to earth will yield big returns for you all in the years to come after.
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Is it that different over the pond?
I know that all my generation of boys and a fair few girls started on mopeds at 16 then onto a 125 or 250 at 17 simply because cars were out of reach. Most of us went on to take a bike test and then we could ride any size bike. Cars tended to come about the time we thought about serious relationships.
My mum and dad were both bikers, mum was one of 11 kids, only 3 didn't ride bikes. Grandad was a biker from the age of 14 when he started as an undertakers assistant carrying coffins on a flat sidecar attached to a flat tanker.
Certainly early years as a biker makes you more aware when driving a car and I believe a safer driver as a result.
Sadly now there are far fewer youngsters getting on bikes which is really sad, for us it was a way to explore, socialise, besides transport for work.
For new bikers it's difficult and expensive to get on 2 wheels.
 
I have become a lot more interested in riding, since my wife has been coming along on 2up rides, am enjoying it a lot more, and am feeling a lot more comfortable because I have been doing more riding. The first 12mths of owning a brand new bike, after 30years break, I hardly rode it, but in the last 4months I have ridden it alot.
 
For me, riding is great therapy and can change your outlook the moment you set off. At least that's my experience, added to which, I use my Himalayan for courier work, so even if I don't feel like riding on a particular day (tired, hungover, whatever), it all changes when I mount up. Not many cars have ever done that, except maybe my Jaguar XJS 4.0L straight six, but that's another story.
Prior to long trips, like the one coming up on Monday, I do get a bit jittery - what have I forgotten? etc etc - but when I see the open road in front of me, those jitters melt away.
The other aspect of riding a motorcycle is the camaraderie between bikers which is unwritten and very often, words are not required. I ride alone much of the time, yet tagging along with complete strangers in inclement weather, for example, is not something that happens when driving a car.
 
Let me play devils advocate here…
If I go out during the week, I see a number of riders looking/acting normal.
If I go out at the weekend, all you hear is screaming exhausts before you are aware there is a bike.
No wonder non riders hate motorcyclists! I almost hate them when I see these, normally more than one, riders giving us a bad reputation.
If you were a policy maker and you took a few people out for the day to see what they thought of motorcyclist, I think there’d be more restrictions unfortunately.
Bottom line, personally, I think a lot of motorcyclists and city scooterists have buggered it for the rest of us.
 
windmill john said:
Let me play devils advocate here…
If I go out during the week, I see a number of riders looking/acting normal.
If I go out at the weekend, all you hear is screaming exhausts before you are aware there is a bike.
No wonder non riders hate motorcyclists! I almost hate them when I see these, normally more than one, riders giving us a bad reputation.
If you were a policy maker and you took a few people out for the day to see what they thought of motorcyclist, I think there’d be more restrictions unfortunately.
Bottom line, personally, I think a lot of motorcyclists and city scooterists have buggered it for the rest of us.
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Yes you have a valid point!
I meet up with other motorcyclist for a chat and a coffee in a dedicated motorcycle parking area from time to time.
It's not uncommon to see motorcyclists drop a gear and speed up as they goes past us. (Presumably with the aim to impress us)
One chap said to me "That's what gives us a bad name"
 
windmill john said:
Let me play devils advocate here…
If I go out during the week, I see a number of riders looking/acting normal.
If I go out at the weekend, all you hear is screaming exhausts before you are aware there is a bike.
No wonder non riders hate motorcyclists! I almost hate them when I see these, normally more than one, riders giving us a bad reputation.
If you were a policy maker and you took a few people out for the day to see what they thought of motorcyclist, I think there’d be more restrictions unfortunately.
Bottom line, personally, I think a lot of motorcyclists and city scooterists have buggered it for the rest of us.
Click to expand...
Where I live, both pedestrians and motorists have an understandable disrespect for certain motorcyclists, including those who use them as devices to rob/mug/shoot etc and will wind their windows up if you pull alongside their cars. Possibly the worst offenders of 'I couldn't give a f**k' are the delivery riders who think nothing of riding the wrong way down a one way street, ignoring all traffic lights and generally buzzing around like swarms of wasps.
As for the rest of us, Latin Americans are very passionate and expressive, not to mention extremely macho, so the weekends are for showing off your latest toy. There's a cafeteria/burger joint down the road where motorcyclists show off the chrome with huge crowds gathering. Wheelies galore, lots of noise and smoke, cameras out and it's showtime!
There's a lot of craziness going on, much of it risky, if not illegal, but the police simply look on and enjoy the spectacle. Up to a point, it's very laissez faire down here, which is most of the attraction.
 
Not so much about his passion for riding, but certainly demonstrates his passion for his bike!

A sketch, drawn from memory, of his AJS, 4 years into incarceration as a Far Eastern POW.
Remarkable at any time. but imagine the stress that he must have been under during that time.
AJS POW Bike From Memory.jpg

Click to enlarge to compare memory to reality.
AJS From Memory.jpg
 
Bluestrom13 said:
Not so much about his passion for riding, but certainly demonstrates his passion for his bike!

A sketch, drawn from memory, of his AJS, 4 years into incarceration as a Far Eastern POW.
Remarkable at any time. but imagine the stress that he must have been under during that time.
View attachment 22361

Click to enlarge to compare memory to reality.
View attachment 22363
Click to expand...

That's quite a talent, the fact it's from memory makes it extra special and shows what a relationship he must have had with that machine. Either that or a photographic memory!
And under such unpleasant conditions (which must be an understatement). Very cool!

.
 
I have been round the world. Before Ewen & Charlie ! Starting in England to Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia. Flew the bike to Vancouver. Then Up into Alaska, turned round again and went across Canada back across America and down the west coast and into Mexico. Then shipped the bike back to England. On a 1989 XT600z Tenere. P.S. I was not Naked all the time !
 
Bluestrom13 said:
Not so much about his passion for riding, but certainly demonstrates his passion for his bike!

A sketch, drawn from memory, of his AJS, 4 years into incarceration as a Far Eastern POW.
Remarkable at any time. but imagine the stress that he must have been under during that time.
View attachment 22361

Click to enlarge to compare memory to reality.
View attachment 22363
Click to expand...
Missed this first time round. Thanks for posting. Glad the sketch survived. Very talented guy.
 
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