Chazz of Blades
02-14-2013, 04:18 PM
Earlier today I just sat down and started typing about what was on my mind, and this is what came out of it. No editing or changing of words, this is the rough draft straight out of the mind of yours truly. Hopefully it's decent.
A Streetbiker's Life
By Chazz Marshall
This Valentine's Day I'd like to share something with you all. When you think of a vehicle you may think of your daily driver car, a tool to you that's nothing more than a means from point A, to point B. While it is very possible that any four wheeled enclosed vehicle can mean more to you than that, it's deceptively easy for them not to, and for you to feel like it's simply a machine.
Motorcycles on the other hand are quite different. There's no such thing as a motorcycle that doesn't show you it's personality and eventually seem almost sentient to you. They can be the best of friends or the worst of enemies, they can take you to amazing places and make you feel emotions that you never would have in any other sort of vehicle, and they can make you curse and spit and feel abandoned, almost like an actual person can. They're normally needier than your mom's Honda Civic, and their responses to your treatment normally much more immediate and emphasized. If you don't keep an eye on it's carburetor it will protest, spit, sputter, and shake. If you don't keep it's tank and it's filters clean it will do the same. If you don't keep it's oil fresh and slippery it's shifting will become clunky and erratic. If applicable, it's chain has to be kept lubed and clean, and replaced when it's wore. Their tires don't last nearly as long as the previously mentioned Civic either.
So after all of this, why in the world would someone want something that leaves you more exposed to the environment and requires more attentive maintenance? It's simple. A bike is the utmost symbol of freedom that a person can have. The experiences you'll have while riding will dwarf anything you could have sitting down in a car fiddling with the AC or the radio, missing all the beauties of the world passing by around you like leaves in the wind. You are at one with something that seems alive, something that has become more than just a machine, something that you think of as a friend who'll take care of you if you take care of it. You see all the dazzling colors of the world and all the stunning little details you'd have otherwise missed. You don't care if you don't have a heater, AC, or even a radio. You feel every movement of the bike, from the pull of the clutch and the movements of the transmission, to the simple joys of feeling the bike shake into life under you at the beginning of the ride.
Yes it's much more difficult to ride a bike than it is to drive a car, and no you can't just hop on and do whatever you like without practice, yes they require more maintenance, and yes they can be more dangerous in the event of an accident of some sort, but in the end it's all a matter of love. Love not only for whatever it is you're riding, something you've made yours, but love for the experiences and feelings you get while you're in the saddle of something you feel is a friend to you. The passion of the ride is a breathtaking experience when one has learned to enjoy it, and it's something I'll promote to my dying breath.
So for all my friends out there with bikes of their own, this Valentine's Day, go out and buy something for it too. Maybe a set of fresh plugs, or some fresh oil. Maybe some tires or a top end kit if you really want to show your love, but never forget to treat them like the friends they are, otherwise they might change their minds. And when on the road never forget that you do share it with things that are much bigger and heavier than you, so don't ride stupidly and get yourself or someone else hurt, especially with a passenger. Because every accident caused by a stupid rider makes all of us look bad, and harms the image of motorcycling in general.
And for all my friends without bikes, the next time you see someone on the roads who're riding a little slower than you'd like, or seem to be looking around a lot, remember what I've wrote and know that you can understand a bit of what they're feeling. And be cautious and a little more respectful of bikes in the road. They don't have as much surrounding them as you do, so when you're cruising down the road texting or not paying any attention you risk ruining a perfectly good ride for someone out of your own foolishness.
In closing I'd like to thank everyone who's read all of this, and I wish you all safe journeys and good fortune.
From one biker to the next: "May your lanes ever be clear, your adventures always rewarding, and the sun forever at your back."
A Streetbiker's Life
By Chazz Marshall
This Valentine's Day I'd like to share something with you all. When you think of a vehicle you may think of your daily driver car, a tool to you that's nothing more than a means from point A, to point B. While it is very possible that any four wheeled enclosed vehicle can mean more to you than that, it's deceptively easy for them not to, and for you to feel like it's simply a machine.
Motorcycles on the other hand are quite different. There's no such thing as a motorcycle that doesn't show you it's personality and eventually seem almost sentient to you. They can be the best of friends or the worst of enemies, they can take you to amazing places and make you feel emotions that you never would have in any other sort of vehicle, and they can make you curse and spit and feel abandoned, almost like an actual person can. They're normally needier than your mom's Honda Civic, and their responses to your treatment normally much more immediate and emphasized. If you don't keep an eye on it's carburetor it will protest, spit, sputter, and shake. If you don't keep it's tank and it's filters clean it will do the same. If you don't keep it's oil fresh and slippery it's shifting will become clunky and erratic. If applicable, it's chain has to be kept lubed and clean, and replaced when it's wore. Their tires don't last nearly as long as the previously mentioned Civic either.
So after all of this, why in the world would someone want something that leaves you more exposed to the environment and requires more attentive maintenance? It's simple. A bike is the utmost symbol of freedom that a person can have. The experiences you'll have while riding will dwarf anything you could have sitting down in a car fiddling with the AC or the radio, missing all the beauties of the world passing by around you like leaves in the wind. You are at one with something that seems alive, something that has become more than just a machine, something that you think of as a friend who'll take care of you if you take care of it. You see all the dazzling colors of the world and all the stunning little details you'd have otherwise missed. You don't care if you don't have a heater, AC, or even a radio. You feel every movement of the bike, from the pull of the clutch and the movements of the transmission, to the simple joys of feeling the bike shake into life under you at the beginning of the ride.
Yes it's much more difficult to ride a bike than it is to drive a car, and no you can't just hop on and do whatever you like without practice, yes they require more maintenance, and yes they can be more dangerous in the event of an accident of some sort, but in the end it's all a matter of love. Love not only for whatever it is you're riding, something you've made yours, but love for the experiences and feelings you get while you're in the saddle of something you feel is a friend to you. The passion of the ride is a breathtaking experience when one has learned to enjoy it, and it's something I'll promote to my dying breath.
So for all my friends out there with bikes of their own, this Valentine's Day, go out and buy something for it too. Maybe a set of fresh plugs, or some fresh oil. Maybe some tires or a top end kit if you really want to show your love, but never forget to treat them like the friends they are, otherwise they might change their minds. And when on the road never forget that you do share it with things that are much bigger and heavier than you, so don't ride stupidly and get yourself or someone else hurt, especially with a passenger. Because every accident caused by a stupid rider makes all of us look bad, and harms the image of motorcycling in general.
And for all my friends without bikes, the next time you see someone on the roads who're riding a little slower than you'd like, or seem to be looking around a lot, remember what I've wrote and know that you can understand a bit of what they're feeling. And be cautious and a little more respectful of bikes in the road. They don't have as much surrounding them as you do, so when you're cruising down the road texting or not paying any attention you risk ruining a perfectly good ride for someone out of your own foolishness.
In closing I'd like to thank everyone who's read all of this, and I wish you all safe journeys and good fortune.
From one biker to the next: "May your lanes ever be clear, your adventures always rewarding, and the sun forever at your back."