What's your reason for riding?

[Jared]

This may be a dumb question, but answer it the best you can. Motorcycling is obviously dangerous, but we take the risk because there is something about riding that makes it worth the risk. For some it's therapeutic, for others it's their form of identity. What is it for you? What's your reason for riding?

[coacha]

I ride for the joy of it. I like being out on a two lane road or traveling to a destination for the fun of it.

[waterman]

Similar to Coach. I enjoy the freedom. Also when riding you can forget about all the crap at work. Also, I enjoy all of the people you meet. You meet the nicest people on 2 wheels.

[dantama]

I ride because I love to manipulate mechanical things, trying to find out what they are capable of. It works on everything for me; lawnmowers, bulldozers etc.

I also like adventure. I think I can see what drew Lewis and Clark to head out into the unknown. I love going places and discovering what's up ahead.

I like the physical sensation of speeding up, slowing down, turning and leaning etc. And feeling it out towards the limits is the best. Doesn't matter if it's in a plane, car, or whatever. It's easier to get the sensation, and much more affordable on a bike.

When I'm in my car driving up a canyon aggressively, I miss the smells, temperature changes, and sounds that accompany the sensations when on a bike.

That was a long way of saying that a bike gives me the thrills I'm after in an easy use package. If I tried hang gliding I might find a competitor for my devotion to a bike.

[blowndodge]

I ride because Dan rides....

[Cajunrider]

I ride for the enjoyment and the freedom of getting away from everything. Besides, when I'm on the bike I have a good excuse for ignoring phone calls from work. My dedication to the job fell off several points when I purchased my Nomad.

[damark115]

I Figured it was cheaper than a little blond for my midlife crisis.

Seriously, I love the mechanical aspect and being part of the equation. I love a stick shift vehicle.
I always wanted a bike, but the house, wife, kids always came first. Now kids are older, wife found a boyfriend and I figured now was a great time. Always drove an ATV and loved exploring in the woods. Now I get to do it on pavement.
I gotta say I also love the image/ feeling of being free with no boundaries on a bike.
Never met a girl yet that didn't like riding on the back of one either.

[VulcanE]

My reason for riding is "I love to ride", It's my Valium. I love the different smells, the thrill of twisties, the people you meet, doing the maintenance, trying different mods, etc, etc, etc. I love everything about riding, except maybe the bugs.

[bear]

When I was 5 years old my Dad put me on the back of an old Indian Chief and took me for a ride. I've been hooked ever since. Only the dogs know why!

[phenrichs]

It is soothing to my soul, and eases my mind.

[vidornomad]

I like to ride because its fun, nothing like being out in the open, I like the challenge (sometimes) and not everybody does it.

[caddman11]

Every so often I just like to "BLOW THE STINK OFF".

[schoeney]

I ride because it beats walking!


Seriously...I ride for several reasons:

1) The sense of adventure...taking the path less traveled. In the 16 months I have had my Nomad I have ridden on roads and in areas I would never go in my car. In my car I just pass the signs on the freeway...on the bike I follow those signs to the most scenic route...not the fastest route. I have lived in the NW for 35+ years but never really saw much beyond the interstate and my destination...now I have seen how much more there is to enjoy right under my nose. I have found many of great little towns, eateries, people and sites.

2) Comraderie. What a great way to get to know your friends, neighbors, family, and people you don't know yet. I now ride with 2 neighbors pretty regularly. In the past we would just wave and have casual conversation ...now we spend anywhere from full days to several days and nights. Nothing quite like drinking a few beers and taking trips to get to know someone.

I also started riding with my wife & my brother...gives us something else to share.

I also started riding with a buddy that I knew casually through our athletic club..now we are good buds.

I have met and ridden with several of the KawaNow NW members in person (Kris, Rick, Charlie, Lonnie, Rich and some of their wives, family, and friends). Great way to make new friends.

3) I ride because this Nomad is a lot easier on my body than the dirt bike (XR400) before it.

4) Last but not least is I love the feeling of the wind in my face, and the sensation of taking a sweeper on an empty road to nowhere in particular.

[cactusjack]

I used to ride from when I was a teenager until after I got married. The early years of marriage were also fairly lean and I couldn't justify the expense of owning an expensive toy when we had little mouths to feed. 25 years later, we were nearly empty nesters, money was no longer an issue, and I happened to live in a place where one can ride year round.


I enjoy the feeling of freedom I get from riding. Your senses are alive when you ride - they'd better be or you ain't going to be riding for long. Not just your senses of vision and hearing, but the sense of smell when you ride by a fresh cut alfalfa field or some eucalyptus trees or orange blossoms in spring, also the feedlots, sewage treatment facilities, and landfills. You can feel subtle changes in temperature as you ride along. There is nothing else like it.

[isaiahsdad]

I was given 2 years to live 25 years ago. Doctors said I could not do many things let alone survive this disease. When I was a child, first learning to ride, I felt like I was flying, only never leaving the ground. I fell in love with the freedom that riding has to offer. Having this disease has limmited many things I can do, and I swore that the most enjoyable thing to me, besides the love of my family, and children, was to continue to ride. I joined the Air Force, but the disease kept me from doing what I had dreamed as a child, to actually fly, that, I could never do. For me, riding is a small way of knowing, I can still fly, and a reminder that every time I do ride, I am still alive. Gliding over the ground, the road, is still like flying to me. Like I have said before on this forum, it is like piloting an ocean liner, only above the water. Even just a short trip to the store reminds me I am still alive, and the only one who can change that, is the good Lord himself.