H
HONDARIDER
Guest
One only needs to turn on the evening news to see that the modern world is an apocalyptic nightmare of terrorism, natural disasters, rapists, gang violence, crime, corruption, animal attacks, financial crisis, zombies, and general unpleasantness. I think a substantial portion of the population is just laying low and staying as close to home as possible. The world is scary. Breaking down at midnight on a desolate stretch of dark highway in West Texas is the stuff of nighmares...having to ask for roadside help in the deep south from someone with an accent unlike your own is certainly going to result in dire consequences...I hear they'll rob you Americans blind while you sleep up there in Quebec...and everyone in California is stoned on legalized marijuana.
I think that what you're doing is shocking to 95% of the population. You're living a lifestyle where you confront danger every day just by swinging a leg over your bike and doing so without so much as a pane of automotive glass between you and the scary world. You might as well tell people that you're a professional bull rider on the weekends or you enjoy swimming with great white sharks. I think that the mere existence of motorcycles in today's safety-centric, litigious society is shocking. They should have gone away years ago with the advent of the seat belt or the air bag.
I'm not irritated for a second when folks are shocked or point out the risks involved...they just don't get it...that's OK...maybe they're scared...maybe they lack the motor skills or the mental acuity...maybe their mother made them promise to never go near a motorcycle. It's just as well...if EVERYONE rode motorcycles, the number of accidents would be staggering...we'd have a national crisis...the evening news would be all over it...there would be one more thing to fear...motorcycles would be legislated out of existence. I prefer to count myself amongst a minority of the population...a small number of people who have taken a risk and taken in all that motorcycle travel has to offer. What we're doing is shocking...embrace it.
In my experience, breaking down on the side of the road...far from home...is often just the first step of an adventure that may allow me to meet amazing new people, exercise my problem-solving skills, or recall all those things I learned as a Boy Scout or a soldier...hell, I might navigate by the stars or even look at a paper map. Motorcycles put you out there...without the safety and security of a car or SUV to hide inside...you're immediately accessible...strangers will talk to you...some of them will go to amazing lengths to help you or to hear what you're up to so far from your home. Now, depending on your mindset, that might be the height of exercising your human spirit...or...as I suspect the majority of the populace might think...a terrifying nightmare where your incompetent mechanical, navigational, communication, and basic survival skills leave you at the mercy of a Mad Max style modern world. Fear is pervasive amongst your negihbors and coworkers.
I think that what you're doing is shocking to 95% of the population. You're living a lifestyle where you confront danger every day just by swinging a leg over your bike and doing so without so much as a pane of automotive glass between you and the scary world. You might as well tell people that you're a professional bull rider on the weekends or you enjoy swimming with great white sharks. I think that the mere existence of motorcycles in today's safety-centric, litigious society is shocking. They should have gone away years ago with the advent of the seat belt or the air bag.
I'm not irritated for a second when folks are shocked or point out the risks involved...they just don't get it...that's OK...maybe they're scared...maybe they lack the motor skills or the mental acuity...maybe their mother made them promise to never go near a motorcycle. It's just as well...if EVERYONE rode motorcycles, the number of accidents would be staggering...we'd have a national crisis...the evening news would be all over it...there would be one more thing to fear...motorcycles would be legislated out of existence. I prefer to count myself amongst a minority of the population...a small number of people who have taken a risk and taken in all that motorcycle travel has to offer. What we're doing is shocking...embrace it.
In my experience, breaking down on the side of the road...far from home...is often just the first step of an adventure that may allow me to meet amazing new people, exercise my problem-solving skills, or recall all those things I learned as a Boy Scout or a soldier...hell, I might navigate by the stars or even look at a paper map. Motorcycles put you out there...without the safety and security of a car or SUV to hide inside...you're immediately accessible...strangers will talk to you...some of them will go to amazing lengths to help you or to hear what you're up to so far from your home. Now, depending on your mindset, that might be the height of exercising your human spirit...or...as I suspect the majority of the populace might think...a terrifying nightmare where your incompetent mechanical, navigational, communication, and basic survival skills leave you at the mercy of a Mad Max style modern world. Fear is pervasive amongst your negihbors and coworkers.
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