Cause some time around 1968 I saw "WILD ANGELS" with Fonda,Sinatra, and such!!! Brother I was hooked!

 

WARING!!! THIS IS A LONG POST!!!

I've explained this to so many non-riders it's not funny!

There are so many reasons I ride..... I'm sure many echo completely other's reasons and experiences, but, the OP asked, so here we go.....

I had the cool experience of riding through a two mile-long basil farm one time..... Reminded me of the homemade pesto sauce my Wife and I make from the basil from her garden.

I've been over Vail pass when it was 10 degrees. My riding Bud and I froze our asses off..... Stopped at the next gas station that serviced truckers and took a steaming hot shower...... Then we bought like 20 each of those little pop-and-shake heating packets, putting them in our boots, gloves, chest pockets, pants pockets etc...... Not bad from that point on!

I've slid down the off-ramp from I-70 to Kansas City Airport on snow and ice, and had a Missouri State Trooper help me and escort me to work. (See the riding in snow thread)

I can smell hay, and freshly cut grass, and sage grass in eastern Colorado, and cows, and fall leaves, and taco stands, and burger joints, and pizza places, and firs and yews and evergreens at altitude in Colorado like NOBODY'S BUSINESS compared to a car.

I FEEL the WIND, like a lover caressing me..... Like a road companion..... Like a Mariah burning and twisting..... Like an onrushing tornado sometimes..... Like an enemy, when it's a 65 mile per hour headwind..... Like an outrageous and great friend, when it's a 65 mile per hour TAILWIND.....

I've camped among those Mesa's in Arizona, and in the mountains of Colorado and other states, and in upstate New York in the Adirondacks, and on the Great Plains, and in hot, steamy Georgia redwood forests, and in a really cool KOA campground in Texas to find that the owner was in the same Army Unit that I was in, and who put on a FREE steak cook-out for the entire campground every Saturday night, every one of those trips etched indelibly in my memory.....

You all know what I mean.....

Riding clears my head...... Of just about ANY GOD D%$NED PROBLEM..... Even a BAD DIVORCE experience..... As a matter of fact, I don't even remember it, other than to mention it here.....

Riding cures whatever ails me, every day I ride, every time, every short or long jaunt, every trip, every quick hop to the dealer to pick up a new part, and even, NOT riding, when I clean and polish, wax and detail, and cover my Baby for the night.

There is this certain John Lennon "Instant Karma's Gonna' Get You" thing that happens to me EVERYTIME I ride.....

Then, of course, there is that absolutely PERFECT downshift before a corner..... That PERFECT line through that corner..... That PERFECT and TIGHT U-Turn..... that perfectly STILL and quiet Sunday morning next to the river, with steam rising off the water, and fish jumping, and a big Stag Deer stands by the side of the road as you pass, and you slow WAY DOWN to give HIM the right-of-way if he wants it, but instead, he just stands there, and salutes you with his big and great and majestic antlers as you Glide by.....

DAMN I WANT THIS WINTER TO BE OVER!!!!! Last winter here in the Chicago burb's, I was able to ride 4-5 time each of the winter months because we had such a mild season..... This winter is a polar opposite so far, with cold, and hurricane-like winds, and salt on the roads, and........ ****, I gotta' move........

None of my car-driving-only friends feel like this..... Even the BMW car club members........ NOT THIS DEEP AND PSYCHOLOGICAL!!!!!!!!

HA!!!! ALL OF YOU ON THIS FORUM KNOW THAT WE ARE ALL COLLECTIVELY INSANE, RIGHT?

YEAH!!!!!!!

RIDE ON, MY BROTHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1978 75th Anniversay Sportster
1982 Low Rider
1986 Low Rider
1993? Super Glide
2010 Super Glide Custom
2012 Street Glide
...And Hondas, and Ducatis, and BMW's...

250,000+ Motorcyle miles so far, 58 years old, retired, hopefully another 100,000+ to go!

 

Although you have summed things up quite nicely I ride because somewhere along the way somebody tried to tell me it was dangerous and that adrenaline cannot be found any place else. I ride because I'm forced to go to work every day and do a Job I don't really want to do when I could be out riding all day every day and not think twice about it. I ride because no matter how much I'd rather be ****ing some nice tight ***** but you can't **** all the time and because you can't **** all the time , the only other thing to do is ride. One way or the other it's still riding something and you know what is that all that really matters right ?? I ride because I'm a man and men love sex and men like to do manly things, and getting on a Harley Davidson motorcycle is the second most manly thing you can do except for........ well we already covered that! So I guess that's why I ride.