Would you still do it if you could tell nobody about it?
I did it once to prove a point. I was on the Suzuki Burgman forum where there were two models. The 650cc twin and the 400cc single. According to some 650 owners, they wouldn't even take a 400 on the freeway from one exit to the next. It was just totally unsafe according to them. I finally decided to do a SS1000 just to prove a point. The 400 was capable of not only going from one freeway onramp to the next offramp, but it was capable of doing a 1000 miles in a day.
Now I put the license plate frame on each motorcycle I've owned since then. I like telling people who notice that I did it on a 34 hp scooter...not on that motorcycle that looks like it could do it. I have no interest in doing another.
The thing that I realized very quickly is that the motorcycle isn't important. By that I mean that 400cc scooter acted like nothing had happened the next day. You don't need a top of the line sport-touring bike to complete one. Even a scooter will get you there.
Part Two - It isn't any of the IBA rides, but the idea of a challenge. This might get long, so you're free to skip it.
I ride first off for the sheer enjoyment of it. I told a woman last night in Montpelier, ID that when you're in a car seeing all the scenery, it is like you're watching it on a big screen TV. It's a big screen and cool...but you're just enough removed to miss part of the experience. You're just not in the moment. I've hit my moments of finding myself sitting behind cars doing about 15 mph under the speed limit...and then when a passing lane opens up, they speed up so no one can pass them.
Well, on one occasion, I went out to pass a truck and trailer on what I thought was a short passing lane, and when I got by him, I realized the passing lane hadn't quit and there was another RV up about a half mile(?) ahead. I couldn't believe my luck. I decided to see if I could pass that second RV while the passing lane was still available. The road ahead would be free and clear if I could get past him.
I'm normally a rather sedate rider, but this wasn't one of those times. I gave the bike some gas and it felt good, so I gave it some more. And then some more.
The first couple corners went by easily and so I gave it some more gas. I never felt like I was even at 9/10ths but the bike just felt part of me. When I did manage to pass him, I looked down at my dash and it said 96 mph. Oops! But it felt so good and effortless.
That woman would never get that feeling sitting in a car...or she'd be grabbing the seat and screaming to slow down!
People are always astonished that I ride all year long. I've ridden in temps as low as 16F...and as high as 116F. I ride in rain, and the other day got caught in several thunderstorms that at one point, I was only following the tail lights of the car ahead of me. I rode about 430 miles today. Why? (Yes, I used to climb mountains.
) I think part of it is we men (and women) don't have challenges in our lives. Gone are the days of going out to kill the wooly mammoth and fight off the saber-toothed tiger. When I put on my gear, I'm reminded of how Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 on putting on our armor. The analogy was like a Roman soldier. We need to think ahead on how to deal with temps like I hit today at 100F...and how cool it was when I started off in the morning. And if we don't prepare ourselves physically and mentally, we can't just turn up the heat or turn on the A/C in the car. We have to live with our mistakes.
It would've been so much easier to sit at home in front of my computer screen and skip the rally in New Mexico. But that's only existing and waiting to die. This is living.
Chris
), maybe an IBA ride (just one to show yourself you did it), maybe an overnight camping trip with only what you can fit on the bike, going to Daytona Bike Week at least once, Sturgis same, maybe a track day, maybe a police rodeo, etc. I’ve never shared what all I’ve done on any of my bikes beyond family, or unless someone asks, and don’t care to. Unless you’re in my shop and happen to notice the stickers I put on my toolboxes from places I’ve been or companies I’ve enjoyed shopping with, or the out-of-the-way photo of me riding my Magna on the “Tail”, you’d never hear about any of it from me. It’s like when I was studying martial arts and I had to get something from out of the back storeroom of the dojo and I came upon hundreds, yes, hundreds of trophies, many 6’ tall that my Shihan had collected over the years. All collecting dust. To him they weren’t important to show off, the knowledge and skill he earned over the years was enough for him. That really stuck with me. All this to say it’s personal, it’s things I want to accomplish for Me. That’s all that really matters.
