Not for luxury, but to get around …
People say this is crazy. Why do they jump off a perfectly fine airplane? (with some sanity in mind and the parachute). Why do they ride a two-wheeler when far safer options are available with four? You don’t even need to be involved in driving at all — just type the destination address and press a button. I like extremes. From one to another. From the all-intelligent and omni-potent Tesla Model 3, to the very basics of mechanics — the traditional Harley-Davidson.Miles away, worlds apart. I am the connector.
One good friend of mine, not to name names, once said: there are essentially two good things left in America: Coca-Cola and Harley-Davidson. I gracefully disagree with the first one which I tried (yuck!!), but the second one got my attention.You can’t make an opinion, not to say judgment of something you have not experienced yourself — that being a book, way of life, harmony progression in music, or .. this very mundane and mechanical thing at the first glance called a motorcycle.
Indeed, a century or so ago due to various technological limitations it was the most affordable transport. After all, its 2 wheels are less than four of a carriage — precursor of what we call “car” nowadays — to say nothing about the total weight and mechanical complexity compared to wooden spoked wheels and a pair of horses.
**
Are you out of your mind? They say. Dangerous! They scream. Where is your life insurance? Calculate the smart ones. But where is your life? — I reply to them with no intentions to hear back again. One day we will all end up in a “safe place” of nothingness. No fear, no future or past, no emotions, no feelings, etc. etc. But before this time comes, before — citing Greeks — Hermes (Mercury for Romans) invites us there — there’s LIFE! Feel it, live it, two cylinders at a time.
It’s pointless to talk about an experience without getting one firsthand. Those of you who are into this will surely understand. And those who are not — have two choices:
1) Find excuses
2) Just do it no matter what.
You can’t have an opinion about the book you have not read. Same thing with Harley. Or the two wheels in general with my sincere apology to those riding other bands — Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki. To say nothing about India-, Thailand-, Brazil-, Germany-made BMW beasts. Small world, small world! Smile, my friends, smile.
**
And what exactly attracts people to such a dangerous two-week endeavor? The closestI can think of is skiing on a very steep slope, say in Arapahoe Basin or Loveland Pass (fresh powder ski tracks look near-suicidal) in Colorado’s Continental Divide. But you feel the energy. Moreover, you control it with the right-hand handle bar, the throttle. You live!
Unlike the common myth “the motorcyclists are dangerous” these are the most prudent participants of the traffic. They look ahead, they anticipate, they predict and often better than even-capable Tesla AI. Why? It’s their life that’s in question. You feel it the moment you switch from 2-nd to 3-rd.
**
Technology, technology. Safety first, and all that. I have to confess — I have not worn a seatbelt in spite of all the warnings and a few $400 tickets from various states. I don’t care. And I don’t understand why the State Almighty wants to protect me from me. I can easily end my life with no warning and no state can stop that. The rest is the game of money.
I test-rode all these modern Harley creations (Road Glide, American Touring, etc.) but the general feeling of a motorcycle on those is lost! You just “get back to where you once belonged”. Your Tesla Model 3 or your Harley-Devidson Heritage. It’s not one of the other — these are sides of the same coin.
**
Highway. To hell or stairways to heaven. You know your starting point, your speed more or less, but what about your destination? Does anybody know his destination or just pretends he does? I do not. It’s an illusion. Like a horizon beyond the sea, mountains or medows.
“The movement is everything, the final goal is nothing” This was coined by German Social Democratic theorist Eduard Bernstein, later attributed to Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, but both of them miss the point, for they have never ridden a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I am not a revolutionary, but I feel it.
**
And where would we go? To anywhere and nowhere. You start in point A and if you are lucky today, you’ll end up in the same point A. Life is a circle. Circle of life. Riding a bike is a form of meditation. “Some worship Mohammed, some worship Jesus, and some worship no one to anger the demon» was once said. I don’t believe in any of these, including the demon.
“I want to ride my bike, I want to ride it where I like”
2026