Having just spent a week putting 1100 miles on a 2015 Triumph Daytona R, I
was pleased to see Motorcyclist named it Sportbike of the Year. And suddenly I
liked the bike more. It is really just a race bike for the street, add lights
and turn signals. Quite the opposite of when we used to take the lights off and
turned our street bikes into racers. Add low bars, a header to sound cooler,
and we had a race bike. Café’ed out we called it. Now you can buy a full on
race bike to ride on the streets, how times have changed. I can even remember
riding our bikes to the race, removing parts, racing, then putting them back on
and riding home. One particular afternoon spent chasing a wobbling Bouke down
the road on his Z-1 with a knobby on it stands out. Vans were for the second
prize you won from your girlfriend, or your dirt bike, or where you lived when
your mother threw you out because you always smelled like racing castor. We had
one bike, and never thought of it in any category, we rode. But some had
reputations, BMW was known as the Cadillac, the ultimate touring bike. Not know
for speed, but reading old road tests the R75/5 was actually faster than a Honda
750. Triumphs were turned into TT racers, they were light and handled, but
usually mostly chopped. Harleys were so big they went by cubic inches, a Harley
74 being 1200cc, while all others went by cc. A man’s bike, they were big,
heavy, and expensive. And started with a kick. Maybe some things never change,
but the riders do. Motocross were big four strokes, two strokes were coming,
and we rode Enduros, which became dual sports, which are now called adventure
bikes. So when I saw different categories of bikes of the year, I wondered how
far we have fallen. Can a café racer find peace on a cruiser? Can cruiser
types find fun on a café racer? Are adventure bike types fun only really begin
when the pavement ends? Can we tour on anything else but a dresser? Can we
chop anything but a Harley? And what’s with all these bobbers? Why don’t they
like choppers? Will the real motorcyclist please stand up? And ride
away!
I get strange looks when I show my Tiger 955 as my touring bike. But where
is the fairing? The radio? The trunk? Sport biker riders are used to seeing
Speed and Street Triples now, and know they are an even match for most sport
bike riders. Indian is back, challenging the cruiser set, who was and is being
confused by the Victory, it handles and has brakes. And BMW with its S1000R has
maybe the best if not most advanced sport bike on the planet. And people tour
on them...go figure.
But in my garage lies my favorite for all rides, my Bonneville. Not the
fastest, not the best handling, the shocks wear out after the first tank of gas,
and you ride it in the sitting up position. No fairing, no low bars, and it
only has two cylinders, horizontally mounted, the way God and Ed Turner designed
them. Yet of all the bikes I ride, I am always happy to get back on it. And I
only have to ride a few hundred feet and I find myself smiling. Go figure, and
I can ride it at my 10/10ths, rather than the 7/10ths I can on the Daytona. I
am actually a better rider than the bike, and I think I can ride pretty good.
And when I tell people that, they look at me funny. And like I tell Harley
guys, “I brought my little bike so I can keep up with you.” All 865cc’s of fun,
and it has taken me on 500 mile days, commuted on it, and taken many weekend
trips away from home. And it never fails to get noticed in any crowd, the old
Harley guys love it because they started on one, older married types tell how
they once had one, and wished they did again, and the wives tells of how they
first dated on one. A bike that brings back memories, and for many of us still
creating them. Something about cool that if you have to ask, or be told, you
won’t get. Evel jumped them, Steve McQueen raced them, Brando rumbled on one,
and Hollywood cool guys from Lee Marvin, to James Dean, to Dirty Harry all rode
one. They didn’t ride one to be cool, they rode one because they were cool. So
when people ask what I ride, I have no problem telling them a Bonneville. And
when being questioned why, I tell them you are what you ride, and I ride a
Triumph!
We are all motorcyclists, yet we all ride differently, and different
bikes. Bound together by a brotherhood, that unless you ride you don’t get.
Yet many within the ranks feel superior to others. A group where they feel $25k
and 2500 miles make them a biker. Another group who without tons of add ons,
and a little plush animals you aren’t a tourer. Some can’t have too much
chrome. Some have to have the quickest bike from the latest road test to be
fast. Some would rather push one brand than ride another. And I think you get
the idea, different but the same, our common bond-motorcycles. We all have that
same disease in common-so get over it! Let’s ride. Go back to the roots of
when you first started, and got so specialized in your riding style, get back to
the basics. You ride and they don’t. But yet some would argue...sorry I can’t
hear you at 75mph in my Arai.
I have many Catholic friends, who get bashed because they follow Catholic
teachings over the Bible. They know Jesus, let God help them. If he can save,
can’t he teach them too? I know some who must be in a traditional Lutheran,
Presbyterian, Baptist service, or they feel uncomfortable. They know Jesus, or
at least about him, and rely on the priest for all they need to know. Jesus
makes it personal. Some won’t use instruments, although King David played them,
and wrote about them in Psalms. Some must take notes, and go verse by verse.
Some music too loud, some too old. Saturday night service? Blue jeans in
church? You let bikers in too? And all these comments from within the body.
We don’t need to worry about what the world says, we can find enough battles
within the church. I love it when some aggressive Christian comes up to me and
tries to save me. Not knowing I am saved because of my long hair and
motorcycle. Asking me “have you heard about Jesus?” And not knowing to do with
my answer “yes, for some years now.” Zealous, but not spirit driven, if only
they let God guide them, but yet they are told some falsehood about to go out
witnessing, when Jesus tells us to be a witness. And sadly this is not a new
concept, for Jesus when asked “where did you get your wounds?” told them “in the
house of my friends.” Which I get, for I am many times respected more for who
and what I am by the unsaved than I am by some church folk. So let’s get one
thing straight-it is all about Jesus. Being born again gets you to heaven, and
without him you don’t. He is our common denominator, he allows us to worship as
we please. And like those of us who ride, some want all they can get, some are
happy cruising, and some are looking for adventure. But we all ride, and as a
church, we all have Jesus! And if you really want to confuse them, what about
those of us who love Jesus and ride? Where do we fit in? We are we
welcomed?
So get over your prejudices, your insecurities. Turn them over to Jesus.
Let those who ride decide, but remember not to divide the church. That little
old lady in the old Rambler may be a prayer warrior. That Presbyterian may be a
hospital chaplain. Some Catholic priest may offer communion to a non-Catholic.
Heaven will not be segregated neighborhoods, so why start trouble here? Park
your Harley by my Triumph, we invite you. Ride with a BMW owner, if they can
keep up. Dare to tour on an adventure bike. But get back to basics, it is all
about the two wheels that bring the excitement. Just like it is all about
Jesus, who brings the excitement. That biker next to you may just have stopped
and helped someone in need, and prayed with them. That church folk may have
just left from consoling a widow. We are all called, but few are chosen. We
choose Jesus because he chose us first. That’s love. Be brave and show some
today. Jesus is cool, loving others in his name is cool. Riding is cool,
riding with Jesus is the coolest. As for me, my rides and my life both reflect
who I am in Christ-a Triumph. Say, did you hear the one about the priest, the
Harley rider, and the Baptist? We may have more in common than we care to
admit. We may need many bikes, we only need one God. When Jesus is what we
have in common. Cool because we love him, because he loved us first.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com