Author Topic: Motorcycle Quote of the Day  (Read 419092 times)

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2725 on: January 11, 2019, 10:12:29 AM »
It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon. My bike is running great. The scenery is sublime. And I've just reached my destination: The Middle of Nowhere, aka Parts Unknown, etc. I'm utterly lost in virginal territory uncharted in my own mind, totally unfamiliar and devoid of any recognizable landmarks except for the sun's trusty arc across the azure dome above. Ahhhh... I can relax now. Like most arrivals, this one brings with it a sense of accomplishment and relief. I think I'll take a few minutes to congratulate myself at that pull-off by the stream up ahead.
Getting here wasn't easy. I have to go farther and farther afield each time to cross the line into that neighbouring State of Confusion. In order to complete the journey, I have to leave my GPS at home (or at least in the bottom of my tank bag), along with any maps or notes I might be tempted to glance at along the way. I must deliberately shut off my brain the moment I catch myself automatically analyzing my heading: Hmmm... didn't that last turn just change my horizon from north to- DON'T FINISH THAT THOUGHT! And when I'm tempted to wander over and check out some vista or half-noticed signpost I think I might recognize, I have to force my eyes back to the pavement in front of me and spare no glance in that alluring direction. Achieving ignorance requires considerable self-discipline.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p17
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Cerebral Knievel

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2726 on: January 12, 2019, 08:55:07 AM »
I came across this while cleaning up this week. It's a great story.Have you read it Biggles ?

 
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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2727 on: January 12, 2019, 01:17:47 PM »
"How'd ya hurt your shoulder? Oh, you wrecked on a motorcycle? Friend of mine had one of them things. Ran underneath a train at 350 mph with his wife and kids on the back. All of 'em burst into flames and died instantly. Killed some people who weren't even there when it happened. They're still finding pieces of that motor scooter all the way across the state line. You'd never catch me on one of them things. Death traps, I tell you! Where'd you crash? On a racetrack? Are you crazy? Foolish thing to do a man your age out racing around on a suicide machine like an irresponsible teenager! Did I tell you a friend of mine had one of them things? Got run over by a Greyhound bus in his own driveway. Broke every bone in his body. Terrible thing! Nurse friend of mine says the same thing happens to somebody in town every eleven minutes. What? You wanna go back again? What are you, some kind of daredevil or just plain stupid? Didn't you learn your lesson? Did I mention a friend of mine had one of them things... ?"
We've all heard the stories. It seems that everyone who hears you ride a motorcycle always knows someone somewhere who had some hair-raising, awful crash that either prevented the person from ever riding again or convinced the rider and all of his or her friends, neighbours, and relatives that motorcycling is the most surefire way to incur every extensive physical injury known to man.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p29
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2728 on: January 13, 2019, 12:22:25 PM »
But the typical anti-motorcyclist's anxieties aren't about risk, damage, and injury; they're about missing out on life. You see, they need to reassure themselves that taking chances always ends in disaster; this is the justification for all of the "safe" conventions they've adopted. Never mind all the lost opportunities for enriching experiences, important discoveries about one's own abilities and limits, or the bonds that form between people who face challenges together- what they want is certainty, safety, and security. As if these really exist.
The only guarantee in life is death. Risk is everywhere, all the time; it is simply a part of life. To spend one's life eradicating risk is to hurry death, not avoid it. People can be dead long before they die. If something can be said about motorcyclists as a group, it's that we understand that security is an illusion. This doesn't mean all things are equally dangerous or that we should arbitrarily disregard potential consequences. And it doesn't mean that we face risks without fear (as an analysis of the aforementioned dinner conversation easily reveals). But it does mean that a respect for danger can allow the pursuit of wondrous and exotic pleasures with a minimum of cost.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p30
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2729 on: January 14, 2019, 09:08:27 AM »
There's no doubt something about the intrepid spirit that compels people to ride motorcycles in the first place that also prompts them to pick up spanners and start pulling things apart. I recall quite vividly a revelation that came to me as a child: whatever had been assembled could also be disassembled. A whole new world opened up to me at that point- a kind of "inner space" where hidden mechanisms hid and produced the results observable from the outside. Sometimes devices even survived my explorations of their innards and lived to work again!
So it was that my first motorcycle received the same treatment that so many things before it had received- I took apart everything that I could with the tools in my possession. The bike was only a few months old when my parents gasped in horror at finding its barely recognisable components scattered across the entire back porch. Eventually I restored it to running condition, though not without replacing the carburettor and tolerating some of my parents' consternation about the assortment of left-over parts. Flash-forward fifteen years to a time when I lived in a second floor apartment and couldn't bear leaving my beloved full-sized sports bike outside for the winter. I took it apart in the parking lot and carried everything up to my spare bedroom, where I carefully cleaned and reassembled everything.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p60
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2730 on: January 15, 2019, 10:26:25 AM »
As others nearby notice and call attention to the ailing rider's accumulating absentminded mistakes, a second symptom is likely to emerge: irritability. This can, of course, develop without the criticism of friends, family, and coworkers, but it is much more likely to escalate when those surrounding the rider fail to take an appropriately sympathetic stance. Comments such as "What's the big deal? You'll be back on your little motorcycle in just a few more months," and "Get over it! I'm sick of you moping around here with your helmet on!" can lead to episodic fluctuations between murderous rage and despairing withdrawal. In contrast, carefully executed therapeutic interventions such as "There, there, dear- make yourself comfortable while I call your riding buddies over for another viewing of 'On Any Sunday'" or "Hey, what were we thinking, putting all that money away for retirement? Let's pick out a new bike instead!" can go a long way toward soothing the ill-tempered rider and helping him or her remain calm until circumstances become more favourable for recovering from Garage Fever.
Sometimes, a rider can employ palliative treatments in the form of alternative, motorcycle-like diversions, such as snowmobiling in the winter or Jet-Skiing in the summer. While certainly inferior to the experience of riding motorcycles, these activities allow the tortured rider symptomatic relief.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p73
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2731 on: January 16, 2019, 09:34:09 AM »
If I'm going to go brave the dangers of riding a motorcycle, I want things done properly because my life may depend upon it. And here we catch a glimpse of the irrational, superstitious underpinnings of ritualism. At its deepest level, it is a denial of death.
Stating it in its raw form as I just did might provoke instant rebuttal, but stay with me for another minute. Ritual imposes order where there was chaos. Chaos is dangerous stuff. You never know what's going to happen. Human beings and uncertainty don't mix very well. The combination is volatile and produces anxiety. In small-to-moderate measures, within certain parameters, we call this excitement and deem it good. But genuine and pervasive uncertainty is a horrible thing and must be avoided at all cost.
Life is fundamentally rife with uncertainty and chaos. Your new house might be hit by a tornado. Your spouse could have cancer. A friend may betray you. Did I mention the fact that 'job security' is now an oxymoron for most people? It's true that surprises can be pleasant, too. But, given the choice, most folks opt for certainty even when that certainty is negative. Hope is a risky thing, too, you know.
By eliminating chaos, even on a very limited basis, ritual serves as something of an antidote for life's dangerously chaotic nature. It promotes a sense of power when people feel helpless. It offers the solace of a familiar rhythm when life feels alien and out of sync. And it transports us to a position of immortality by 'bettering our odds', realistically or unrealistically (your own faith- religious or otherwise- will determine where you draw that line).
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  pp105-6
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2732 on: January 17, 2019, 09:12:21 AM »
Inboard of our temporal lobes (about even with the tops of our ears), we have a small, almond-shaped structure called the amygdala (one on each side). When you encounter danger, or even the potential for a very small loss or injury, the amygdala starts sounding alarms. These neurophysiological signals set off a chain of reactions in other parts of the brain and endocrine stem to produce a state of readiness. The resulting fear and/or anger, along with elevated heart fate and other bodily changes, can facilitate actions that might be necessary for our safety. This is the classic 'fight-or-flight' response. Our attention becomes focused very tightly on what seems threatening, and we may become highly reactive. This can have problematic effects, obviously, but in most cases, there's survival value in being 'safe' instead of 'sorry'.
There's also survival value in remembering dangers we manage to live through. So the amygdala simultaneously alerts and strengthens the parts of the brain involved in memory, such as its neighbour, the hippocampus. Ideally, this helps us avoid having to deal with the same problem over and over because we learn from our experience and steer clear of the bear's lair on our next hike. (I won't be taking any more 'shortcuts' through the woods at dusk). But this process can also go too far, such as when a traumatic event yields intrusive memories and uncontrollable reactions to anything with even a hint of resemblance to the original situation. Hence, people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can relive their most horrifying moments when some subtle reminder triggers a flood of memories so vivid so as to eclipse their awareness of the immediate present.
So it's really no wonder that we have the clearest memories of those rides that involved genuine and intense fear. Our brains are set up to make it that way.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p121
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2733 on: January 18, 2019, 11:54:39 AM »
As a psychologist working primarily with kids and their families and consulting in school systems in 2000, I have access to a lot more information about today's youth than do most people. I've seen hundreds of them at their best and worst on an intimate, firsthand basis. In my fifteen years of doing this work, I've witnessed a clear trend. Wanna know which direction things are really going?
Occasional local news stories about some child's heroism notwithstanding, things are definitely getting worse. This isn't the ranting of an old fart who can't abide loud music or weird hair. It has nothing to do with teenage fads and fashions, routinely denounced by the previous generation. I'm talking about the increasing number of kids who cannot relate to others in constructive, cooperative ways. This swelling percentage of the population has little or no conscience. The few competencies they possess primarily serve criminal pursuits. They are simultaneously angry and fearful, grandiose and insecure, precocious and infantile- thoroughly unprepared to take responsibility at work or in their communities- and they remain resentfully dependent upon others without gratitude or reciprocity. What autonomy and independence they muster is defiant bravado, unrelated to self-discipline or focused effort toward realistic goals. Chemicals substitute for the soothing and enrichment ideally obtained from meaningful engagement with others. If they're not already, these kids ought to be your worst nightmare; they will, sooner or later, impact your life, either with their malevolence or ineptitude.
Of course, they've always been around. The difference between now and the past is their rapidly increasing numbers. As American family life has grown more fragmented and chaotic (high divorce rates, frequent relocations, and so on) and popular culture has become increasingly escapist, the vital connections between parents and kids have taken a severe beating.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p154
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2734 on: January 19, 2019, 10:32:07 AM »
What I'm trying to point to is the experience of making a quantum leap when something changes our perspective irreversibly. Avatar makes everything that came before it look to me like a sock-puppet show on a cardboard-box stage. And I can't undo that, even if I wanted to. As I pondered this conversion experience on the drive home from the movie theatre, my next association was a memory of climbing onto the pillion of a certain silver KZ650 when I was in high school. A friend of mine had snuck out with his older brother's new motorcycle and swung by my house to share the joy ride. Mischief loves company even more so than misery does, you know. I remember thinking we were going to go fast- a term I thought I knew the meaning of- but what happened next revealed my total ignorance.
My buddy yanked those four carburettor slides out of the way of fresh, wonderfully combustible oxygen, we accelerated right through my understanding of fast in no time flat. During that foray into previously uncharted territory, I felt genuine shock and awe. It was nothing short of surreal. My perceptual field narrowed down to a single element: the sensation of being stretched by a force I couldn't have imagined before that very second and couldn't get my mind around, even then. I had also been reduced to a single element: the will to survive, manifested in my death grip around my friend's waist.
After we'd returned to my house and I'd climbed off this otherworldly machine that had proven itself capable of warping time and space, it took me a while to reorient. The universe was a new place. I transferred everything that had previously thrilled me with a sense of speed to the 'woefully inadequate' column. That meant I was different, too. Now I couldn't be content without the ability to do that again.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  pp172-3
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2735 on: January 20, 2019, 12:58:31 PM »
Whereas normal parallel functioning involves a dialogue between multiple selves, flow is characterised by the absence of divisions and dialogue. There is no observer. There is no body. There are no competing, or even cooperating, selves. All that exists is the activity. There isn't even a distinction between a unified self and the motorcycle, or the motorcycle and the landscape. Everything exists as a whole, with perceptions and actions occurring in a peculiarly effortless harmony. This is what riders often describe as 'being one with the bike', although that's a post hoc assessment. In the moment of this experience, the rider isn't observing and articulating and memorising it; there is no verbal description to log for future reference. The words of conscious thought are bypassed in favour of a more direct and efficient process. It's as though the eyes and hands are linked without the usual detour through the mind, allowing much faster processing. But again, that's not the rider's experience; rather, that's just how he or she describes it afterwards. The actual experience is impossible to capture in words. For a motorcyclist, it's something like ingesting the road through sight and willing movement through space- or, better yet, being movement through space.
The event completely fills the person's awareness. Concentration is complete. Absorption is total. The experience is extremely gratifying, and the person usually looks back on it as one of his or her life's peak moments. The absence of parallel functioning equals the suspension of doubts, questions.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p199
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2736 on: January 21, 2019, 01:26:35 PM »
The interpersonally oriented readers' stories about their peak riding experiences were among the most poignant. We had accounts of fathers taking their sons out for their very first rides, revelling in their boys' ecstatic reactions to the unprecedented visceral thrills of forward thrust and cornering swoop. And people told of close friendships forged in the crucible of motorcycling's trials and travails, whether on cross-country expeditions or in racetrack competitions. There were even readers who chose to get married, reaffirm their vows, or take their honeymoons on two wheels, speaking eloquently of how their love of their spouses and of riding overlapped magically during those momentous trips. Like the peak experiences in other categories, these descriptions tended to be intensely personal and most elaborate.
Overall, the Engagement category tells us something about the way riding can facilitate and enhance human relatedness, and it reflects the high priority placed on the relationship factor by one segment of motorcyclists.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  p218
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2737 on: January 22, 2019, 10:46:06 AM »
When I surveyed MCN readers, I never expected that so many would prove to be certifiable mystics! Not that I didn't realise some folks pursued their favourite form of riding with religious zeal, or that riders could reach spectacular levels of ecstasy on their motorcycles, but I just had no idea that such experiences were so prevalent among us or that so many riders could articulate them so eloquently. It's a very hard thing to do, after all, to capture an otherworldly moment in words so that others can begin to understand. It may be a little easier than capturing the raw physical sensations from the previous category, but not much.
The common thread running through most, if not all, of the accounts in this fifth category is the deliberate pursuit of an altered state of consciousness that differs markedly from what's available in 'normal' existence. Sometimes this involves an experience of seamless merger with the motorcycle and scenic surroundings; other times, it has a more active quality, wherein the rider's intentions seem to translate instantaneously into movement.
Why We Ride  Mark Barnes  pp226-7
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2738 on: January 23, 2019, 10:27:16 AM »
With a bike, when you make a mistake it usually hurts, a lot. You therefore learn pretty quickly. I was very fortunate the first time I dumped the clutch on Bob's old Honda. I pretended I could start it and Bob called my bluff. He said, "If you can start it, I'll let you ride it." The pressure was on. I managed to kick-start it, I engaged what I thought might be first gear, dumped the clutch and launched myself down the church driveway towards the main road, barely in control. Once the front wheel hit the ground again I just pulled, pressed, twisted and trod on every available option. The bike came to an abrupt halt, the engine revs hit the sky and with a jolt forward I stalled. I had successfully managed to travel 30 yards and not broken anything, either the bike or me. I was hooked; my passion for riding motorcycles had begun.
God's Biker  Sean Stillman  pp28-9
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2739 on: January 24, 2019, 09:42:39 AM »
So I was feeling isolated and almost second class in terms of my faith experience, but I continued to enjoy band gigs and many miles on the road with my new biker mates. Some of them have remained my closest friends on the planet, well over three decades on. Great friendships are formed on the road. I learned this early on with riding bikes; it's one of motorcycling's attractions.
A chemistry forms between you. It can be freezing cold, with rain beating against your face at 70 miles per hour and the bike only firing on one cylinder, but you've got your mate alongside you. As you pull in at the petrol station, sopping wet, fingers numb, you still find strength within you to keep going; someone will even crack a joke maybe, as pale-faced motorists look on as if you are mad. This kind of relationship doesn't exist in many other circles.
God's Biker  Sean Stillman  p32
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2740 on: January 25, 2019, 10:19:15 AM »
Whatever we lacked in formal labelling at this time, we were beginning to function as a unit and that felt cohesive. We started riding as a group, we started thinking as a group. Most of our contact with clubs was at public events, but even in those days clubhouse invitations were coming our way and significant personal friendships had already developed with senior officers in some clubs.
These individual friendships proved crucial in brokering our desire to put up God's Squad colours. While God's Squad in Melbourne had long-established relationships with many clubs there, including some international ones, we had to earn our own right to speak and build our own credibility. Starting an intentional missional move within a subculture such as the motorcycle club scene would be a long process. Unless you want to risk upsetting everyone, which is what some Christian clubs have done, you need to play by the same rules. Becoming accepted to a certain degree before you start formally is par for the course. Putting in the miles, the time and the hard yards is what is expected.
God's Biker  Sean Stillman  pp81-2
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2741 on: January 29, 2019, 12:07:28 PM »
At the bar in the clubhouse, stories will be shared over drinks all night as the rumble of Harleys arriving from far and wide punctuates the conversation. There will be warm embraces, reunions, and in a quiet corner club officers making sure the logistics are in place for giving their brother a respectful send-off the following day. By the time the cortege leaves the following morning, the neighbouring streets will be full of bikers. The coffin is carried on the shoulders of club brothers out to the hearse or other vehicle of choice - a sidecar, a trailer, a truck. In a regimented fashion, the club and guests organise themselves in strict formation and riding order behind the hearse, with the host club at the front. Once the cortege starts rolling, nothing will stop it. This unifying act of respect processes through town to the burial site. Different clubs have different traditions, the coffin sometimes being passed along giving each person an opportunity to share in carrying it. At the conclusion of a ceremony that may or may not involve religious content, once the coffin is placed in the ground the club brothers usually take shovels and fill the grave themselves.
God's Biker  Sean Stillman  pp91-2
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2742 on: January 30, 2019, 09:46:23 AM »
While on the surface there may be a hundred and one reasons to divide us, the shared vision and active ministry on the road, and on the margins, is the cohesion that bonds us together. It's a journey of ongoing discipleship with a commitment to Christ and his call that will not be diluted. Our members include clergymen, high-flying businessmen and academics. We have surgeons, aircraft engineers, and also those who struggle to hold down a job on minimum wage. Some love a whisky and a cigar, others are teetotal, some are covered in tattoos and piercings, others can't see the point of getting ink. The Eastern Europeans and Scandinavians will be comfortable to sit naked in a clubhouse sauna together, while the Aussies are petrified at the thought! Diversity in culture and life experience is a wonderful thing when the foundations are clearly defined and are able to support such a glorious mix. Each person comes into the club with different things to learn; that's why the process is a long one. Each member knows that by the time they are granted their colours, their calling has been tested, their motives quizzed and their commitment verified.
God's Biker  Sean Stillman  p127
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2743 on: January 31, 2019, 09:50:50 AM »
It was to be a relatively straightforward visit. We had contacts in Ukraine who wanted to explore the process for starting a chapter of God's Squad. I was to spend some time with all those interested, ride with them to a motorcycle event, get a feel for how they interacted with the clubs and also engage the clubs there in some early dialogue. Bearing in mind I speak no Ukrainian or Russian, I had to rely completely on Pasha's basic English for translation.
The bike show went well and I was received warmly as the first ever overseas visitor to the event. I was invited to present the winners' trophies and speak about God's Squad's mission. It was a real throwback to the 1970s for me to see so many radical back-yard modified bikes with extreme handlebars and kicked-out front wheels. The bike culture was alive and well in Ukraine, but it felt like a different decade in respect of engineering!
God's Biker  Sean Stillman  p168
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2744 on: February 01, 2019, 11:25:26 AM »
In the years I have entrusted my soul to the motorcycling gods, I have learned a bit. I have learned that I am powerless over my need to ride. It is beyond desire. Its not a love/hate relationship, as many relationships turn out. It is a love/love relationship. The cost is my hard earned money for gas, tires, and oil. That's a fair price for an experience that feeds my soul, a humble tithing to the motorcycle gods.
Who else benefits from this most self-loving activity? All those I come into contact with. I am more in love with the world and life; I have passion and joy to truly share. I have also learned that bikes don't like neglect. They don't need to be pretty, but they do need to be maintained. Ironically, I have applied this lesson to maintain my body and soul as well. I doubt I would have quit my intolerably toxic job if the bike hadn't taught me I could be so much happier. I realised I didn't have to settle for mediocre survival; I could thrive and feel joy beyond words. At mid-life there were still challenges I could spend a lifetime pursuing. I became childlike in spirit again and realised how jaded and cynical I had become. The bike became the light that shone through the darkness of this tough, old world.
Motorcycle Meanderings  Johnny Winterer  p15
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2745 on: February 02, 2019, 09:53:32 AM »
For all its glorious technology, BMW cannot seem to make a "saddle" that feels good. Sure, make a motor that can last forever; I once met a guy who had 850,000 miles on his 1978 R100RS with only two top end rebuilds. Sure, make a bike that loves to go all day and purrs like a sewing machine. But is it that hard to make a seat that fits my ass and feels good? If I am going to ride eight hours, I can only do so if my derriere is comfortable. But no, after two hours, this dull ache becomes a searing tortuous pain all through my spine. This physical pain soon can become mental suffering.
Because I love motorcycling around everywhere and salivate at the idea of a week-long trip for thousands of miles, I am my own Grand Inquisitor. Who needs medieval torture instruments when we have BMW making seats?
Motorcycle Meanderings  Johnny Winterer  p31
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2746 on: February 03, 2019, 02:00:46 PM »
When Han Solo yells at C3PO, "Never tell me the odds!" while entering an asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back, I relate. There are some people out there that fret like the Star Wars robot. God Bless them. They are annoying. I don't like telling anyone anymore that I ride motorbikes, for fear that they will spew off a diatribe of safely bullshit, warning me about how dangerous it is. Like I don't already know. "Hi, I ride a motorbike and therefore I must be a dumbass, who doesn't possibly know what is at stake."
Ironically I ride partly because I do know what is at stake and know its incredible value. Not only do these well-intending people tell me some horror story about someone they knew six degrees to Kevin Bacon that died or got maimed while riding, they must also look at me like I'm ignorant and judge my passion as pathological, a "phase" I will "grow out of", like a pubescent teen trying out face piercings. It must be a "mid-life crisis" or an addiction. The warning is born of care and love, but reeks of condescension and self-righteousness.
Motorcycle Meanderings  Johnny Winterer  p43
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2747 on: February 04, 2019, 03:04:22 PM »
They are my role models like my dad. My pops is eighty-one and still skiing. So here we are at Bonneville, and that movie with Anthony Hopkins playing Burt Munro in The World's Fastest Indian, is very accurate to what I am seeing. Most men out at the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials are well into the white salt-and-pepper stage, reaching for the blue horizon. They have that glint in their eyes, much like I would imagine Burt Munro. These are living mythological beings who are trying their damnedest to fly on two wheels.
And it warms my hackles to see so many women out there as well, but that is for another essay. I will just say whoever has the benefit of knowing, dating, and marrying one of these women is so damn lucky.
Motorcycle Meanderings  Johnny Winterer  p64
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2748 on: February 05, 2019, 09:54:53 AM »
Like old-fashion cavalry brigades, outlaw motorcycle packs were followed by baggage trains, which were made up of pickup trucks, panel trucks, and cars with trailers. While it was mandatory that you show up for a run, it was not mandatory that you show up on a motorcycle. You just had to get there. Bikes got wrecked, or were impounded by the police. Brothers had just gotten out of jail, others were in casts.
The old '60s outlaws would do almost anything for a brother, but hauling one around on the backseat of his machine was not one of them. So the grounded brothers were condemned to ride in the baggage train with tools, stray women, citizen hangers-on, and the weekend supply of beer. If a grounded brother could not ride, he could at least get drunk.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  p29
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2749 on: February 06, 2019, 11:14:49 AM »
The Triumph, or "Trumpet" as it was called, and the Beeser started in all weather, and the front ends were the best ever made. You could even ride them on snow and ice, just put your feet down and glide along slow. If the rear wheel went sideways, you caught your balance with your feet and straightened the bike out. Try this with a Hog, and you broke your leg. But best of all, the Triumph and BSA were also designed for British roads, which, back in the mid-twentieth century, for all intents and purposes, were the same as off-road. If a cop was chasing you down the back roads of Berks County, you could take off through a cornfield. You could never get away with that on a Hog.
I rode through the winter. And I froze. On weekends my Triumph was the only bike parked outside the Gaslight East on Hempstead Turnpike. In the summer the place was a motorcycle hangout with 50 bikes lined up in the street, but in the winter these guys travelled by car. They weren't outlaws.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  pp42-3
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

OzSTOC #16  STOC #6135  FarR #509  IBA #54927