If You Ain't Riding, You Ain't Living

'Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul'. When I first heard this adage, I was too young to understand the significance of it. I did not fully comprehend why my cousin would say this to me every weekend like a 'Mantra', before getting on his old and dirty machine, and braping off onto the open road. What was it that inspired him to get back up on his motorcycle, even after three crashes, two of them life threatening. This question haunted most of my teenage life, the curiosity increasing like a viral fewer.

Once I got my drivers license, the first thing on my agenda was to go to the nearest motorcycle dealer and get myself this two wheeled death machine(That's what i called it then) my cousin much-publicized. It was love at first ride. The sense of freedom completely engulfed my body. The experience was pure, liberating and thoroughly addictive. Mind you, this was my first time riding after my motorcycle riding school. That did not stop me from wringing the handlebar for speed, even though I was riding well beyond my skill level.

I know you probably think I'm over-selling this idea of motorcycles to you, but if you haven't ridden a motorcycle before, I suggest you do yourself a favour and start now. If you still aren't convinced, here are three reasons why you should start riding now.

Riding makes you a better driver on the road

The number one cause of motorcycle accidents on the road are careless drivers who are either on their phone or completely ignorant of their surrounding. This is a pressing matter which is increasing day by day with more ludicrous drivers taking life's of motorcyclists. Hence motorcyclists tend to be more aware of their surrounding, because one dull-witted driver is all it takes to end up on the pavement.

Once you start riding, the next time you get in a car, you learn to be more aware. You learn to look out for lane splitting motorcycles, use your turn signals while changing lanes and stay attentive even if you're sitting at a red light. You also tend to make room for lane splitting motorcyclists, allowing them to sqeeze through without disrupting traffic.

One with the elements

Unlike cars, where the elements of nature have no effect on you, motorcyclists are exposed to the elements all the time. If it's a windy day and you decide to open the throttle a little, you will feel the force of the wind against your chest. You pick up on the smell of all the passing environments; the different restaurants, the smell of the forest while passing through, or that occasional 'vape bro' with that weird smelling flavour.

You learn to appreciate the small things like the warmth of the sun(trust me, you will feel it underneath that armoured motorcycle jacket), or the sudden drop in temperature while you drag knee up a mountain. All this might not sound like much now, but beleive me it is exhilerating when you experience them.

The adrenaline rush

Motorcycles accelerate like no other car. There are just a hand full of cars that can match the initial acceleration of a 1000cc sportbike. Personally, i ride a sportbike and i can tell you first hand the acceleration is scary. It might force you to question the safety of these machines. There is no doubt, these machines are bloody dangerous in the wrong hands, but once you familiarize yourself with the bike, the rush at high speeds is intoxicating.(To be absolutely clear, I do not encourage speeding on the public road. The speed limits on the road are there for a reason. If you stick to the assigned speed limits, you will have plenty of reaction time for emergency breaking.)

Once the adrenaline kicks in, your body adapts to the speed, and everything around seems to slow down despite the high velocity you are maintaining. At this point of time your body is working with superhuman reflexes. All your senses are in perfect sync, your eyes constantly supplying your brain with relevant information of your surrounding. At this hypnotic instant, you are truly living in the moment.

Most people have the bad notion that motorcycles are dangerous and if you get one, you will die. To these misinformed people I say, 'buy a motorcycle and you will not die, you will truly live.' If you don't trust yourself with high powered motorcycles, there are lots of motorcycles which are low on power but just as fun. So what are you waiting for, it's a whole big world out there and travelling it on motorcycle makes it that much more awesome.