Well, I don't go for Harleys.....too much stone-age technology, but as to bikes..............

For those of you who can't figure out why anyone would ride or that this should be a warning or whatever.....I cannot begin to explain and you will probably never understand the reasons we ride. I'm of moderate intelligence, know all of the dangers, have been to the hospital, have lost a friend and seen others crippled, and all that stuff. There is just something special about motorcycles.

Some refer to it as freedom but that's not really it. Nor is it simple thrills or exhilaration. And it certainly isn't just for "transportation." No real bike nut rides just to get somewhere.

It's 7 PM on a warm summer evening and you go out to a winding stretch of highway and wick it up. You're aboard a machine that exceeds the legal speed limit in first gear. You sweep along through esses and rocket down the short straights and when the road comes to an end you take a leisurely ride on a different road to unwind and just cruise along for miles. Maybe you find another route again and another road that leads home and you ride it with enthusiasm like a child with a new toy. If I could bottle up those feelings and sell them, they'd outsell cocaine.

You need a healthy respect for the machine you're on and the power it has but you don't think about the injuries and deaths or even simple fear......None of that matters and it isn't even a factor. It's a feeling and you either have it or you don't. Understanding the dangers and the potential loss of life or injury means next to nothing to you. Ya' know, when I came home from the hospital after by-pass surgery and after the aneurysm as well, within a week I had gone out on one of those "profficeincy rides." You love 'em or you don't, but lecturing a true bike nut on the dangers is a waste of time......we really don't care.

Spaw---half a million miles and still going