Motorcycles mean much more to us than cold, manufactured arrangements of metal and plastic should. We're powerfully, irrationally, emotionally bound to our motorcycles, partly because thay're an expression of who we are - they identify us - and partly because we put our lives in their hands, literally. We trust them to get us home in one piece, late at night, after a hard day's ride. Or when when we are far, far away alone, in a foreign land. Are there any among us who don't pat the tank in silent prayer of thanks when we stop?Yup.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
And So Say All Of Us
I have been having some email chit-chat with commenter Bazza, and he has a sig line which I though worth posting here (with his permission). It's Simon Hargreaves, the Bike journalist:
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Well said. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteIn 'the old days' were there many among us who didn't pat the tank in silent prayer of hope when we start?
ReplyDeleteRichard:
ReplyDeleteI often think of my bike, like my "horse", so I do pet it as if it were alive and breathing. It's amazing that we can control it, and it takes us where we want
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
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DeleteGlad I am not the only one!
ReplyDeleteI think the analogy of the bike to a horse is made even more apt if a driving a car is looked at as relative to driving cattle. The subtle movement as opposed to the pronounced movements needed for the car
With my cars it is a matter of "Do I really need to spend that money?"
For the the bike it is more "What would you like my lovely?"
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Joe: yes, those were the days. Riding was a gamble - not would I crash, but would I get there?
ReplyDeleteBobskoot/Conniesdad: not the only ones at all! If I'm working nights, and my route takes me past the car park where I leave the XT, I have been known to walk over and pat it on the tank. Not to say 'thank you' but just to check it's - you know, all right.
Yup, +lots. I begrudge every penny I spend on the car. I begrudge every penny I don't spend on my bikes.