why dose riding feel so good?...

[btlegend]

Lets talk about the inner soul of riding.
Why dose it feel so good to ride a motorcycle over long or short distences?. What is it that makes you feel like you've lifted a load off when your all stress out?...
I mean i have been riding for a short time, and i belive ive never felt this good... I seem to cant get enough of it, its an addiction. my wife tellls me she's tired of hearing about motorcycles, and my trips...i hate she feels that way , i dont talk motorcycles alot. may be im so over whelmed about how it feels to me. the high i get when im out seeing things from a different view, on a motorcycle,....its the freedom. the freedom of flying through the air, but on a two-wheeled freedom machine.
...Like i siad before, im a newbie. A mewbie that sounds like a hippy, on his high.
so, what did it feels like to some of you,...SPEEK OUT MAN,..and girls..

[pinger05]

For me it is the solitude. Just me and my bike. Inside that helmet with the wind whipping by and the un-obstructed view of the landscape. Time to think and reflect.

I wish I had my bike here in Germany.

[JC Viper]

For me it is the solitude. Just me and my bike. Inside that helmet with the wind whipping by and the un-obstructed view of the landscape. Time to think and reflect.

I wish I had my bike here in Germany.

Just rent a BMW 650GS

[Sev]

To quote myself from over 2 years ago:

I've been asked by a couple of people why I bike. I've been in an accident before (hit a patch of ice while braking) and obviously hurt myself. In fact, I'm still healing... so why would I subject myself to this? Well the only thing I can say is this:

Imagine, all the stress you've ever felt, every mistake you've ever made, every thought good or bad that you've ever had. All of it sitting on your shoulders, pressing down with relentless force. Weighting your thoughts and your actions, everything you've ever done is hovering above you, and you remember it all. I feel like this constantly, I remember everything I've done, especially the bad stuff.

So you suit up, full leathers, nice helmet and push your bike out onto the driveway. You throw your leg over the tank and settle into the seat. Every fear and doubt you've ever had comes back and is multiplied over and over. What are you doing? You're sitting on 450+lbs of cold steel precaiously balanced on 2 tires, with contact patches not much bigger then a stamp. It doesn't care about you, it doesn't care if you live or die, laugh or cry, it's just metal.

Momentarily shouldering aside all of your hidden doubts, you turn the key and pull in the clutch. A gentle caress of the starter spins the engine to life. With a gently purr the engine idles at the ready (I never thought something man made could purr). It emanates up from beneath the gastank, the merest hint of the power hidden within the steel frame. "Don't worry," it whispers, "I'll take care of you."

Placing yourself in its hands you pull in the clutch and toe down on the shift lever. One of the most satisflying sounds in the world, a motorcycle transmission thunking into first while still cold greets your actions. A small smile plays across your lips as you recall previous adventures that started with this simple sound. Revving high you slowly release the clutch and the reality warps around you. A collection of inanimate steel objects transforms itself into a sentient wave of motion. Like riding an air current the bike pulls forward effortlessly, warping reality and denying the relentless pull of gravity.

Your worries and cares are swept away, forgotten for the moment on the side of the road. The self breaks down, and you lose yourself in the howl of the wind, and the rush of the speed.

[Furadi]

I agree with the OP. Riding is pretty much the closest I've ever come to a natural high. I think the only thing that would come close to it sensation wise is flying a jet.

[atom]

On this forum some one said, somewhere "The only thing I think about when riding is riding."

It often gets you in the zone, where there is so much going on at the same time you can't take it all in (managing clutch, traffic, lines through curves, brakes) and get in a really focused zen/survival kinda state.

And when things are more relaxed its just fun as hell to whack the throttle open when you've got some open road and feel the bike shudder and shake, the intake and exhaust singing in harmony, lean into the wind, and just run through the gears.

And its really satisfying when after going through a familiar turn, you are not sure you've ever gone through that turn as quickly, smoothly, and leaned that far over and you weren't even trying to push it.

[Ian522]

To me its almost like meditation. You get into that zone where all your senses are heightened. You become one with the machine.

Plus the feeling of ultimate freedom. I feel like I can go anywhere on my bike.

[tropicalhotdog]

I'm also a newbie and feel the same way as btlegend, and have been trying to understand why I'm also so obsessed with my new C50 and riding in general. Some ideas, in no particular ranking:

1) A bike is esthetically beautiful and an engineering marvel
2) A bike has personality and also seems to take on the personality of its rider
3) The above-mentioned freedom, wind, sound and vibration
4) No denying it - the pure physical feeling of acceleration on a human body is second only to sex
5) I feel like I'm part of a larger subculture of people who, face it, seem cooler than the average joe
6) It's relaxing and challenging at the same time
7) It's dangerous

[Grendel_Sprite]

I sense a common theme here:

Your worries and cares are swept away, forgotten for the moment on the side of the road. The self breaks down, and you lose yourself in the howl of the wind, and the rush of the speed.

On this forum some one said, somewhere "The only thing I think about when riding is riding."

To me its almost like meditation. You get into that zone where all your senses are heightened. You become one with the machine.

+1 to all these.

I remember the same kind of feeling with welding (believe it or not). I'm so much in the moment that everything outside of what is happening at that moment is completely gone. Concentration is so focused that nothing else matters except what I'm doing right now. What that brings for me is perspective and calm. It helps kick away the small dogs of worry that are nipping at your heels but not really that important in the grand scheme.

Plus, the adrenaline helps a lot.

[Kaiser Soze]

Sev, 2 years and you still haven't learned to spell "precariously"?

BTW I typed this with a gently purr.



(I do love the write-up, bro)