this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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Out of curiosity, how does the motorbike help your mental health? Is it having transportation in general, or the feeling of riding a motorbike specifically?
I'm gonna be honest. I find it really hard to describe the feeling. I'll try, though, but I'll try. Sorry if it doesn't make sense.
It's not just a mode of transportation to me, at least. There's an insane sense of freedom to it. The adrenaline from having sports car acceleration speeds just straight between your legs. It's like when people say to play music as a coping mechanism. Only this mechanism isn't just sitting around. It actively forces your mind off those things. Like, yeah, you'll think about it. You may still have those megatove thoughts. But they just sorta melt away and get blasted away, almost. The raw sounds of the engine, only adding to it. Ot drains it all out, (If you like the sound, I personally have a stock exhaust, as thays more than enough, I really enjoy the sound of just amy exhaust, well, except the shitty tinny ones thay oiss everyone off. Or the unnecessarily loud ones)
And the fact that you are sat on top of a solid block of steel, with thousands of explosions happening right there. Woth a fuel tank just above it. Kicking out insane power, even a 67hp 650cc. With pretty much nothing protecting you. One slight mistake, and it all goes tits up. But you're in control of it. And it's gonna keep you upright if you handle it. It's relaxing. I also think it helps because you can feel what the bike is doing. Even with slight inputs.
Keanu Reeves said, "If you ride a bicycle, you can kind of understand."
Sorry if thays too long and doesn't make sense. And sorry if it's kinda cringe. But, I truly do love the bike.
(Also, from what I've seen, the biker community is insanely inclusive and nice. Even just riding past another rider. Just that simple gesture of "Hey man," it makes you feel like you're somewhere you belong)
Very good writeup.
That's the biiiiig thing for me. It's incredible meditation. The road demands the rider's full attention for short-time planning, spatial visualization, sensory inputs, and muscle control. It's literally a matter of life and death. At the same time other parts of the brain aren't required, so the mind wanders, but in a much subdued way where stormy thoughts turn into a calm flow.
Stay left, look in, lean, apex, watch out for the pothole, left again, shift down ahead of the intersection, ok they are yielding, back on the throttle, shift up, don't lean over the manhole covers, wow view's pretty, hey pedestrians looking to cross let's come to a smooth stop...
I think you described it very well! Thanks for that. It makes me want one. Sometimes you just want ant to zen out and it sounds like it's perfect for helping with that.
Oh, good, I'm glad it helped.
I will always suggest that if it's not gonna cause other issues, get a bike.
I won't lie, I'm one of the types that does little dances on ot when the right songs come on. And singing. But somehow, I can still concentrate on it, it is really relaxing.
You don't even have to jump straight to the big ones. Even a 125, whilst it won't give the full experience, will be more than enough to see if you can get on with them.
Straight up miss my bike. I like backpacking on a bike just because the freedom of it is an allure in itself. Still recall the days when I would just wake up on the weekends and decide on a trip for two days to some place unknown. The journey, the part of exploration and the freedom that you feel when you've the wind blowing through that is not describable. It needs to be experienced. Now the part where I miss it. I moved between countries and where I am now I don't (haven't still) felt safe enough getting a bike and riding in the highways.